Re: Protean Self-Transformation

Gregory Houston (vertigo@triberian.com)
Mon, 31 Mar 1997 13:26:18 -0600

Eugene Leitl wrote:

> A perfect simulation of the photosynthesis process won't feed anyone in
> the real world directly. Yet ANN-controlled agents moving in a spatial
> ALife simulation, looking for food and enemies look very much alive to
> me. Primitive, yet clearly alive.

Eugene, I found your dialogue informative, but we have a major
discrepancy in our judgement of what is real. Alife is as real to me as
is someone being killed in a television show. It is *artificial*. Thats
why they call it *artificial* life. It is not real. If I am to be
uploaded into a computer I don't want *artificial* emotions. I want
emotions that I can really feel and experience. I would not accept a
conceptual abstraction of emotions that merely effected and did not
affect me.

In your dialogue you refer to "Alife" rather than "Artificial life". I
know this is common practice, but there might be another level of denial
involved.

Cheers!

-- 
Gregory Houston                 Triberian Institute of Emotive Education
vertigo@triberian.com           http://www.triberian.com 
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