From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!torn!utcsri!rpi!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!mp.cs.niu.edu!rickert Thu Oct  8 10:11:03 EDT 1992
Article 7098 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
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>From: rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert)
Subject: Re: self-evolution
Message-ID: <1992Oct2.184106.12169@mp.cs.niu.edu>
Organization: Northern Illinois University
References: <BILL.92Oct1165428@ca3.nsma.arizona.edu> <1992Oct1.234648.21710@mprgate.mpr.ca> <BvIAv1.CLr@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 18:41:06 GMT
Lines: 18

In article <BvIAv1.CLr@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> pindor@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Andrzej Pindor) writes:
>In article <1992Oct1.234648.21710@mprgate.mpr.ca> siemens@mprgate.mpr.ca (Curtis Siemens) writes:
>>
>>But don't you think that a system like a computer or brain could first
>>run a simulation of its new self on top of the existing hardware/software,
>>to predict the effect of changing a structure?  If it liked the effect ...

>>This wouldn't work of course if the existing hardware/software didn't have
>>sufficient "power" to simulate the new structure.
>
>I do not think it is a matter only of "sufficient power". It is also a matter
>of being able to simulate its own simulation capabilities, which leads to
>infinite regression.

To put this in perspective, the VM operating system on the IBM-370 series
does a pretty good job of simulating an IBM-370, to the extent that you
can boot up VM in a simulated virtual machine.



