4 ms·

"perceptronium"?

• henryaj 13y ago
  See also: 'utilitronium'. http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Utilitronium http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Utilitronium > Utilitronium is relatively homogeneous matter optimized for maximum utility (like computronium is optimized for maximum computing power). For a paperclip maximiz[ing artificial intelligence], utilitronium is paperclips. For more complex values, no homogeneous organization of matter will have optimal utility. These sorts of terms are popular in the utilitarianism/rationality/friendly AI communities.
  • mbillie1 13y ago
    These sorts of terms are 'dangerous' if you like, because it's very easy to invent new words or phrases without giving them any actual _meaning_... but inventing the word is often enough for people to latch on to. The best argument is from Wittgenstein: What if the diviner tells us that when he holds the rod he feels that the water is five feet under the ground? or that he feels that a mixture of copper and gold is five feet under the ground? Suppose that to our doubts he answered: "You can estimate a length when you see it. Why shouldn't I have a different way of estimating it?" If we understand the idea of such an estimation, we shall get clear about the nature of our doubts about the statements of the diviner, and of the man who said he felt the visual image behind the bridge of his nose. There is the statement: "this pencil is five inches long", and the statement, "I feel that this pencil is five inches long", and we must get clear about the relation of the grammar of the first statement to the grammar of the second. To the statement "I feel in my hand that the water is three feet under the ground" we should like to answer: "I don't know what this means." But diviner would say: "Surely you know what it means. You know what 'three feet under the ground' means, and you know what 'I feel' means!" But I should answer him: I know what a word means in certain contexts. Thus I understand the phrase "three feet under the ground", say in the connections "The measurement has shown that the water runs three feet under the ground", "If we dig three feet deep we are going to strike water", "The depth of the water is three feet by the eye". But the use of the expression "a feeling in my hands of water being three feet under the ground" has yet to be explained to me. http://www.geocities.jp/mickindex/wittgenstein/witt_blue_en.html http://www.geocities.jp/mickindex/wittgenstein/witt_blue_en....
    • simonh 13y ago
      I understand what the concept of computronium means. It makes a certain kind of sense. The problem I have is that both a slide rule and an iPhone are computronium, yet there is little about their organisation or physical function that is similar. I'm not sure what saying that they are 'computronium' does for us. Furthermore computronium would presumably need a power source, facilities for maintenance or repair, heat dissipation, protection from external disruption, etc. I don't think it's a given that an optimal design would be in any way homogenous. Ultimately I think it's very naive and simplistic way of thinking about things, but if it's just intended as a shorthand for the purposes of thought experiments that's fine. I'm just concerned that some people might take the idea too literally.
      • henryaj 13y ago
        If computronium is a substance 'optimized for maximum computing power', then neither an iPhone or a slide rule are computronium. Computronium by that definition would be more like an entire planet terraformed to be a massive supercomputer - something with maximum possible computation density.