Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!iear.arts.rpi.edu!kyriazis From: kyriazis@iear.arts.rpi.edu (George Kyriazis) Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy Subject: Re: Re: Emergent properties (was: What AI is exactly) Message-ID: Date: 29 Sep 90 05:12:46 GMT References: <15132@venera.isi.edu> <18070001@hp-ses.SDE.HP.COM> Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY Lines: 28 In article <18070001@hp-ses.SDE.HP.COM> david@hp-ses.SDE.HP.COM (David McFadzean) writes: >As for the human brain being the most complex organized system known to >exist, I would say that the system of all human brains that we call >human society is more complex (though calling it organized might be >stretching it. :) If this is true, could individuals be considered >analogous to neurons with respect to nations? Can countries be >considered sentient at some higher level? > I would agree that people are to nations, what neurons are to the human brain. Now the following questions arise: Humans are extremely inconsistent and unpredictable, as opposed to neurons or whatever else forms other organized systems. This increases the randomness of the system and the resulting global behavious is not so stable to be characterized organized. Now, here is the flip side: Neurons definetely cannot comprehend human behaviour, so a human (being part of a society) cannot comprehend the behaviour of the society. So, even if the organized behaviour of the human society exists, I think we won't be able to realize its existance! Monitoring humanity for long periods of time will be valuable for the understanding of the path of the human society, and maybe predicting its future, but I don't think it's going to get anywhere. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- George Kyriazis kyriazis@rdrc.rpi.edu kyriazis@iear.arts.rpi.edu