Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #05257



To: "'beam@sgiblab.sgi.com'" beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Wilf Rigter Wilf.Rigter@powertech.bc.ca
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 20:46:40 -0700
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: What does purposeful mean, anyway?



John A. deVries II" wrote:
>
> >On Thu, 8 Jul 1999 08:10:36 EDT, JVernonM@aol.com wrote:
>
> >>Now, Mr. Tilden gave us a new
> >>definition. A robot is an automaton that survives for it's own purpose.
--8<---
> As soon as you talk about "owning" a purpose, you -have- to allow for the
> concept of "not owning" or even "actively avoiding" a purpose. None of
the
> robots described in this list have any CHOICES along those lines. The
> choice of purpose (whether survival or anything else) is entirely up to
the
> builder.
>
> Zoz
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> John A. deVries II
> zozzles@lanl.gov


Right Zoz,

But let's discuss the possibilities:

If we, the builders, give a robot the explicit purpose to survive and evolve
independently and it has the capability to do so, it becomes a purpose of
it's own since in the process we also plant the seeds of future free will.

Setting aside religious arguments, the _non_sentient_ living world as
individuals, species, and eco-systems (which separately and collectively I
will call organisms) have only one purpose : survival . In fact, only the
genetic code for survival, the environment and luck counts. Organisms are
subjected to the order and chaos of the real world by trial and error.
Reproductive success stores the genetic survival data including any
statistically significant advantageous mutations that make the organism more
fit to survive (reproduce actually) in an environment. That purpose doesn't
mean the organism _will_ survive but only that it has a possibility to do
so.

While the "living world" may be distinguishable from the non living world,
it is in fact completely _inseparable_ from it. For example, the environment
ultimately includes "everything" from cosmic rays induced mutations, the
sun, the atmosphere, competing organisms, predators to the effects of the
metabolism of the organism on it's surroundings. So where does one draw the
line between life=purpose=survival=reproduction when the biological world is
so thoroughly and circularly intertwined with
the totality of the environment. For example, despite it's central role in
the biological world, one could hardly describe the "purpose" of the sun to
be the primary energy source of all life since to the sun that role is
entirely incidental to it's existence. On the other hand, the steady state
level of free oxygen (O2) in the atmosphere, as a product of the complex
dynamics between the living world and it's environment, could be said to
have a purpose in the survival of the metabolic pathways of aerobic life.

With the great biological experiment of consciousness comes encoding of
thoughts, ideas, information in memory, language and symbols, and the
previously simple meaning of "purpose = survival", has for humans become
insulated from the real world. And so it is that in the microcosm of BEAM
land, whose purpose it is "to have some fun and learn a little", we design
anaerobic solar BEAM robots whose purpose, it would please us, is to
survive, to evolve and perhaps to compete with us. The fact that we have not
yet achieved our BEAM objectives gives us another moment to ponder on the
self similarity of all things and to reflect on the difficulties we would
face in our own future survival if these bots ever found a way to turn off
the O2.

Vision of a far flung future (or past 8^) BIO land, where a bunch of bots
tinker around with bits of experimental biological protoplasm and argue
about it's ability to survive and evolve.

Groaning? It's only a little byte of BEAM philosophy - 4 bits of serious
mixed with a nibble of fun.

Ok, time to go back to the drawing board to whip up some telepathic sensors
for/between robots (if you are still there Steven, you know what I'm
thinking!)

regards

Wilf Rigter mailto:wilf.rigter@powertech.bc.ca
tel: (604)590-7493
fax: (604)590-3411


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