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From: kovsky@netcom.com (Bob Kovsky)
Subject: Re: Is the mind/brain deterministic?
Message-ID: <kovskyCzIwHK.DEI@netcom.com>
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References: <kovskyCz0B4G.Aqr@netcom.com> <CzDLJu.Hoq@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca> <kovskyCzF8D4.Bxv@netcom.com> <CzH9G7.Awy@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca>
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 1994 16:29:44 GMT
Lines: 37

In article <CzH9G7.Awy@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca>,
Andrzej Pindor <pindor@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca> followed up a thread with 
materials relating to "land rovers" on Mars and (deleting the extensive 
lead-in material) stated:

>In any case, be it space rovers or Hans Moravec's autonomous vehicles, their
>capabilities seem to indicate that you should look harder since what you see
>(little liklihood ....) seems to be false. Perhaps you should consider again
>your notion that known laws of physics are valid only in laboratory settings,
>and in "real" world there operate some other laws.

	Actually, my "notion" is somewhat different.  My "notion" is that 
the laws of physics approximate reality and are not universally valid.  
The approximation can be made as close as desired under suitable 
laboratory conditions.  As conditions deviate from the laboratory, the 
approximation becomes less accurate.  Physicists hypothesize that their 
mathematical formulations are universally true and that the messiness of 
the naturally-occurring world prevents us from verifying this.  I 
hypothesize otherwise.  I hypothesize that our experience is pervaded by 
systematic defects and limitations that prevent us from formulating 
"universal truths" and that all we can do is forumlate approximations.  

	Step functions can be used quite successfully to approximate continuous 
curves.  With sufficient detail, you can come as close as desired.  But 
the results are not quite "true."   And there exist problems where the 
step functions fail.

	Although not conversant with the nature of the surface of Mars, I 
suspect that it is sufficiently "close" to laboratory conditions that the 
formulations of physics make a dandy approximation.  My hypothesis is 
that conditions in the brain are otherwise.

-- 

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    Bob Kovsky          |  A Natural Science of Freedom 
    kovsky@netcom.com   |  Materials available by anonymous ftp
                        |  At ftp.netcom.com/pub/freeedom
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