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Interesting article touching on the meaning of the "digital" in digital computers, and beyond that, how digital computation relates to thought (and even, what i

Interesting article touching on the meaning of the "digital" in digital computers, and beyond that, how digital computation relates to thought (and even, what is "computation"?). My personal guess is that the Church-Turing hypothesis is true, and that digital computers are enough for AGI (not anytime soon), although I'm aware of various thinkers positing that digital computation is insufficient for AGI and/or consciousness and some kind of analog "computing" is needed.

feoren 4y ago
> I'm aware of various thinkers positing that digital computation is insufficient for AGI and/or consciousness Those thinkers are being silly. They're basically saying that consciousness is literally magic. Humans are seemingly desperate to feel like they have a special unique place in the universe, but we just don't. Sorry. Totally agree that digital computers are absolutely capable of consciousness, and also that we're nowhere near that yet, despite the ChatGPT hype.
- IIAOPSW 4y ago
  I'm not so sure on the digital part. I don't want to type a lot, but there's a lot of scientific backing to the premise that the brain waves, not the on/off states of neurons, are the salient feature upon which reasoning ability is constructed. If not an analog computer per se, a digital simulation of a bunch of coupled non-linear oscillators may be needed. If nothing else, circular loops of activation and propagation time matters.
- mxkopy 4y ago
  > Those thinkers are being silly. They're basically saying that consciousness is literally magic. "...[the strong CT thesis] is widely believed to be wrong, primarily because quantum computation stands as a highly likely counterexample to the thesis." [0] If consciousness is even a little bit quantum, then those thinkers aren't so silly after all. [0] https://arbital.com/p/strong_Church_Turing_thesis/ https://arbital.com/p/strong_Church_Turing_thesis/
- ChatGTP 4y ago
  Except of course you're made of the actual universe, not separate from it and all of the universe appears only in a shared experience which we seem to refer to as consciousness which you experience directly. If we humans never existed, what we refer to as the universe, our very shared experience and interpretation of it may not have even happened? So I think when people say things like "oh we're not special", you might actually receive push back for other reasons besides the fact people have a large ego. Maybe it's because it seems like a kind of unwise suggestion given how little we know about actual experience and what it means to conscious. Let's say a computer, or quantum computer, or whatever became conscious, would it also not be special? I mean it's a totally subjective statement to make?

feoren 4y ago

> I'm aware of various thinkers positing that digital computation is insufficient for AGI and/or consciousness Those thinkers are being silly. They're basically saying that consciousness is literally magic. Humans are seemingly desperate to feel like they have a special unique place in the universe, but we just don't. Sorry. Totally agree that digital computers are absolutely capable of consciousness, and also that we're nowhere near that yet, despite the ChatGPT hype.

IIAOPSW 4y ago
I'm not so sure on the digital part. I don't want to type a lot, but there's a lot of scientific backing to the premise that the brain waves, not the on/off states of neurons, are the salient feature upon which reasoning ability is constructed. If not an analog computer per se, a digital simulation of a bunch of coupled non-linear oscillators may be needed. If nothing else, circular loops of activation and propagation time matters.
mxkopy 4y ago
> Those thinkers are being silly. They're basically saying that consciousness is literally magic. "...[the strong CT thesis] is widely believed to be wrong, primarily because quantum computation stands as a highly likely counterexample to the thesis." [0] If consciousness is even a little bit quantum, then those thinkers aren't so silly after all. [0] https://arbital.com/p/strong_Church_Turing_thesis/ https://arbital.com/p/strong_Church_Turing_thesis/
ChatGTP 4y ago
Except of course you're made of the actual universe, not separate from it and all of the universe appears only in a shared experience which we seem to refer to as consciousness which you experience directly. If we humans never existed, what we refer to as the universe, our very shared experience and interpretation of it may not have even happened? So I think when people say things like "oh we're not special", you might actually receive push back for other reasons besides the fact people have a large ego. Maybe it's because it seems like a kind of unwise suggestion given how little we know about actual experience and what it means to conscious. Let's say a computer, or quantum computer, or whatever became conscious, would it also not be special? I mean it's a totally subjective statement to make?