Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #03045
To: beam@corp.sgi.com
From: Jean auBois aubois@trail.com
Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 10:54:46 -0600
Subject: [alt-beam] Functionality vs. Complexity
At 10:18 PM 5/5/99 , Wilf Rigter wrote:
>
>Personally I lean towards:
>
>"I have frequently observed a linear increase in functionality emerge from a
>linear reduction in complexity"
In fact, that is exactly what one observes when you consider the evolution of
Mr. Tilden's robots. The Lobster is fairly complicated, Walkman is moderately
so, and Bigfoot is actually fairly simple. Using the four neurons in two
coupled
oscillators (the embedded-suspended bicore design) produces a more
reactive system than in a single oscillator loop (microcore) which is sort
of a sideways move in complexity, so it doesn't quite fit into the spirit
of your
quote -- particularly when one considers that (as you and Wouter have written)
the bicore is certainly more difficult to understand than a simple nervous net
loop.
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