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From: sticklen@cpswh.cps.msu.edu (Jon Sticklen)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Simulating thinking is NOT like simulating flying
Message-ID: <6373@cps3xx.UUCP>
Date: 9 Feb 90 16:00:29 GMT
Sender: usenet@cps3xx.UUCP
Reply-To: sticklen@cpswh.cps.msu.edu (Jon Sticklen)
Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, Michigan State University
Lines: 55



> My thought exp:
> 	Put a man on a space ship traveling near the speed of light.
> 	During his round trip from Earth out and back, he comes up with
> the theory of relativity.
> 	In our time (here on Earth) his trip takes several million years.
> 	To the man on the ship, only say 50 years have passed.
> 	You have just said that he was thinking too slow, and is therefor
> unintelligent.  Imagine that, great thoughts, but just too slow to be 
> thinking.
> 
> Well?
> 
> Dean Hougen
> --


the issue of relativistic effects is a red herring. all you have to
do "solve" this issue is to
	... ask the great thinker when he comes back from his
	journey how long it took him to come up with the idea.
	at that point there will be two answers: one in the
	frame of the traveler, and one in the frame of the
	earth bound observer. which one is relavent? i would suggest
 	that the only relavent frame is the travelers because a
	cessium clock (eg) would have had N ticks for the traveler
	to come up with his idea. if the traveler had stayed at
	home, the same cessium clock would have had the same number
	ticks for the idea to incubate. the process of thinking
	is not slowed down for the traveler except as effected by
	*every* physical process that the traveler undergoes; ie
	includes things that have nothing to do with thinking at
	all.

	the reason the relitivistic example is a red herring is
	that the observer of (putative) intelligent behavior should
	be in the same frame as the agent performing the behavior.








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	Jon Sticklen
	Artificial Intelligence/Knowledge Based Systems Group
	Computer Science Department
	Michigan State University
	East Lansing, MI  48824-1027
	517-353-3711
	FAX: 517-336-1061
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