Re: [sl4] Complete drivel on this list: was: I am a Singularitian who does not believe in the Singularity.

From: Randall Randall (randall@randallsquared.com)
Date: Tue Oct 13 2009 - 08:37:44 MDT


On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 05:47:15AM +0100, Mu In Taiwan wrote:
>
> your reply to me: "What Turing proved is that in general there is no way to
> prove that any
> given algorithm will halt."
>
> your immediately subsequent reply to Robin: "what Turing proved is that in
> general the only way to know what a random program will do is to watch it
> for eternity and see."
>
> These claims are inconsistent ("any given" != "random", "prove" != "know,
> watch for eternity and see").

These claims are inconsistent if you assume John is using the usual
meaning of "in general" as a substitute for "typically". If you take
it completely literally, it's not inconsistent.

--
Randall


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