From: Thomas Buckner (tcbevolver@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Oct 10 2004 - 08:26:54 MDT
--- Robin Lee Powell
<rlpowell@digitalkingdom.org> wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 08, 2004 at 08:27:47PM +0200,
> Christian Szegedy wrote:
> > His argument is based on a proof by
> contradiction. It goes by:
> >
> >
> > 1) Assume that your brain can be modeled by a
> Turing machine
> > (This is true even if it is a finite
> state machine)
>
> Sorry, you can't make that leap. FSMs are
> strictly less powerful
> than Turing machines, and if our brains can be
> modelled by TMs, they
> can be modelled by FSMs (since they are
> finite). To have any
> convincing power at all, you must show that the
> problem applies to
> the least powerful thing that can be used to
> simulate our brains.
>
> -Robin
Another way to state this objection: Turing
machines are Infinite State Machines (since the
original Turing idea explicitly assumes an
infinitely long paper tape, for example). A true
Turing machine has or could have infinite memory
and infinite time for any operation.
Humans cannot model Infinite State Machines
because they are Finite State Machines, with
neither infinite memory nor infinite time to
perform operations.
An ISM, a Turing machine, *can* model a human.
Indeed it can model all humans at once and still
have infinite capacity left over.
The whole observable universe could be an
emulation on an ISM, still with infinite capacity
left over.
Tom Buckner
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