Re: poly: The singleton hypothesis

Nick B. writes:
>> What if a war with aliens were like a game of Go, where subtle strategy
>> choices could make a big difference? Does analysis of a game like Go also
>> reach limits, where more analysis won't give more ability?
>
>I think the most computationally demanding battle decisions would be
>ones one a small scale. Then, even if it is not feasible to come up
>with an optimal strategy, what would determine the outcome at a
>particular battle scene might not be the general level of
>technological development (as long as it's above a certain very high
>level) but rather how much computing power the combatants have
>available at the scene.

The level of technological development might matter if winning a battle
was aided not just by lots of computer hardware available locally, but
also by a long history of trying to win similar battles. If practice and
experience allowed one to gain useful knowledge about how to win such
games, the the level of such experience could constitute a technological
level. Will this sort of technology might asymptote as well?

Robin Hanson
hanson@econ.berkeley.edu http://hanson.berkeley.edu/
RWJF Health Policy Scholar, Sch. of Public Health 510-643-1884
140 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-7360 FAX: 510-643-8614
Received on Tue May 5 16:54:04 1998