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From: speaker@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.ai
Subject: Re: Parallelism and Conciousness
Message-ID: <3523@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 1-Nov-83 22:01:59 EST
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.3523
Posted: Tue Nov  1 22:01:59 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 4-Nov-83 03:44:20 EST
References: <13089@sri-arpa.UUCP> <3489@umcp-cs.UUCP> <3498@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 39


			No algorithm is inherently parallel.
		
		The algorithms you are thinking about occur in the serial world of
		the Turing machine.  Turing machines, remember, have only only one
		input.  Consider what happens to your general purpose turing machine
		when it must compute on more than one input and simultaneously!
		
		So existence in the real world may require parallelism.


	How do you define simultaneously?  If you mean within a very short
	period of time, then that requirement is based on the maximum speed of
	a processing unit that we can currently build.  If you mean 'at the
	exact same time', then I defy you to show me a case where this is
	necessary.

A CHALLENGE!!!  Grrrrrrrr......

Okay, let's say we have two discrete inputs that must
be monitored by a Turing machine.  Signals may come in
over these inputs simultaneously.  How do you propose
to monitor both discretes at the same time?  You can't
monitor them as one input because your Turing machine
is allowed only one state at a time on its read/write head.
Remember that the states of the inputs run as fast as
those of the Turing machine.


You can solve this problem by building two Turing machines,
each of which may look at the discretes.

I don't have to appeal to practical speeds of processors.
We're talking pure theory here.
-- 

					- Speaker-To-Stuffed-Animals
					speaker@umcp-cs
					speaker.umcp-cs@CSnet-Relay