Re: How hard a Singularity?

From: James Higgins (jameshiggins@earthlink.net)
Date: Wed Jul 03 2002 - 20:29:30 MDT


At 09:31 PM 7/2/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>Gordon Worley wrote:
>
>>First, Ben, this is just a diction issue, but intuition, unless used in
>>some technical sense, is a misleading word. The only reason a thought is
>>an `intuition' is because your brain thought it up and only told you the
>>answer, not the process involved in reaching the answer. Since we know
>>that the only black box aspect of `intuitions' is that you don't have
>>accesses to the specifics of how you reached an answer (though your
>>interpreter will be happy to rationalize a reason for you), it's more
>>accurate to say that this is simply what you think. Intuition constantly
>>sounds to me like you're claiming you were divinely inspired in your
>>thoughts (which may be possible if science isn't right, but AFAIK such a
>>possibility is not readily within your world view).
>
>Hmmm. Actually, science could be perfectly right and there could still be
>intuition that was not from merely subconscious processing within the
>brain. One way this could be true is if (short form) we are in fact
>within a VR/sim and in certain modes we either have a flash of access to
>or get bleed over from the underlying computational matrix. This could
>also explain some mystical inspired states.

A more likely cause (in my book at least) would stem from quantum
mechanics. I'm defiantly no expect on this stuff but the little I do know
about is pretty amazing. For instance, you can tangle 2 quantum particles
together and they will then maintain exactly opposite states (switch one
and the other switches). Then you can move these particles a very long
distance and they still have this effect, and it is virtually instantaneous
(ie: I believe can be faster than light).

There have been theories that general intelligence my rely on quantum
computing. If nothing else it seems reasonable that our brains could
contain a number of quantum particles that are somehow entangled with
others (not in our brain). Quite possibly with particles in other people's
brains. I've never believed in ESP and the like, but this could actually
provide a scientific method for such things to occur. Thus this
"intuition" you speak of could be our subconscious detecting various
patterns in its entangled particles.

Then again, quantum mechanics in all its complexity and oddity could simply
be our interpretation of bleed over from the underlying computational
matrix of our VR universe.

SL4 - Where reality is stranger than fiction.

James



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