I wrote this poem yesterday in an unusual mood. I don’t entirely agree with it today. Or at least, I would qualify it.
What is meant by computation? When I wrote that intelligence is not computation, I must have meant a certain sort of computation because of course all thought is some kind of computation.
To what extent has distinction been made between systematic/linear/deductive thought (which I am criticizing as obviously limited in the poem) and intelligent pattern-based thought? Has there been any progress in characterizing the latter?
For example, consider the canonical story about Gauss. To keep him busy with a computation, his math teacher told him to add all the numbers from 1 to 100. Instead, according to the story, Gauss added the first number and the last number, multiplied by 100 and divided by 2. Obviously, this is a computation. But yet a different sort. To what extent do you suppose he logically deduced the pattern of the lowest number and highest number combining always to single value or just guessed/observed it was a pattern that might work? And then found that it did work inductively?
I’m very interested in characterizing the difference between these kinds of computation. Intelligent thinking seems to really be guesses followed by verification, not steady linear deduction.
What is meant by computation? When I wrote that intelligence is not computation, I must have meant a certain sort of computation because of course all thought is some kind of computation.
Gah, Thank You. Saves me the trouble of a long reply. I’ll upvote for a change-of-mind disclaimer in the original.
Intelligent thinking seems to really be guesses followed by verification, not steady linear deduction.
My recent thoughts have been along these lines, but this is also what evolution does. At some point, the general things learned by guessing have to be incorporated into the guess-generating process.
I wrote this poem yesterday in an unusual mood. I don’t entirely agree with it today. Or at least, I would qualify it.
What is meant by computation? When I wrote that intelligence is not computation, I must have meant a certain sort of computation because of course all thought is some kind of computation.
To what extent has distinction been made between systematic/linear/deductive thought (which I am criticizing as obviously limited in the poem) and intelligent pattern-based thought? Has there been any progress in characterizing the latter?
For example, consider the canonical story about Gauss. To keep him busy with a computation, his math teacher told him to add all the numbers from 1 to 100. Instead, according to the story, Gauss added the first number and the last number, multiplied by 100 and divided by 2. Obviously, this is a computation. But yet a different sort. To what extent do you suppose he logically deduced the pattern of the lowest number and highest number combining always to single value or just guessed/observed it was a pattern that might work? And then found that it did work inductively?
I’m very interested in characterizing the difference between these kinds of computation. Intelligent thinking seems to really be guesses followed by verification, not steady linear deduction.
Gah, Thank You. Saves me the trouble of a long reply. I’ll upvote for a change-of-mind disclaimer in the original.
My recent thoughts have been along these lines, but this is also what evolution does. At some point, the general things learned by guessing have to be incorporated into the guess-generating process.