Newsgroups: comp.ai.alife
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From: plugge@cs.rulimburg.nl (Leo Plugge)
Subject: Global Brain
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Date: Thu, 22 Sep 1994 09:12:10 GMT

OK, how about this one for a Minsky-like 'alife': the Internet.

* it's artificial (man made),
* many of it's consituent parts are without doubt alive in the
  conventional sense of the word,
* it's rapidly growing,
* it is rejuvenating itself (servers are replaced etc.),
* it produces ideas,
* ideas are transformed into products,
* tasks are distributed over dedicated networks
  (consituent parts on a higher level),
* it is organized, but it is impossible to say who is in control
  (sorry Searle, no homunculus),
* it seems to have a some sort of self awereness
  (when some part of the network goes down, it is 'known', i.e.,
  repaired, circumvented, whatever),

One can think of many more characteristics that were mentioned on
this list as 'essentials' in alife.

-Leo-

