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Q/T - i: HAL / Programming

On this page:  {Intro} 
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               {Language Problems} 
               {Binary Redux}
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               {Refs} 
               {Links} 

              

               
   

HAL: Intro

We take as read (at least viewed)

   "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Kubrick and Clarke.
   "2010: Odyssey II - The Year we Make Contact"
                       by Hyams and Clarke.

The texts would be nice as well, but
a bit heavy going for the newbie.

There are two aspects to HAL:

 1) A computer with which we can play 
    a good game of chess, have an
    intellegent conversation (even 
    on "art technique").

 2) A computer which is (potentially)
    more intellegent than us (humans; see map).



   
    

Language Problemsd

A result of being in a binary world, is that
we *still* tend to think in binary tems. Not
that there is anything wrong with this
(indeed Maria Montessori mentions that children
love the complex classifications structures that
originated (in part) with Lineaus.  See the LSTC (Linea Space/Time Conveyor

Regardless, let's start with a cat.

(i'll use the notation  ">this is a computer statement")

    >A cat is-a mammal;

Cat is one of several "objects" in our universe.
And a mammal is a CLASS in-category of BIOLOGY
or perhaps:

   >mammal is class-of animal in biology;

We go on,....

   >A cat HAS fur;
or 
   >cat HAS fur;

   >FUR IS-A-KIND-OF covering;

   >A shell is not fur;

   >Scales are not fur;

We see an immediate problem" or two...

   "shell is not fur"
   "a shell is also a thing not a kind-of thing"

   "scales" is a plural-collective noun of "scale"

   eg, "a fish has SCALE"
       "a fish has SCALES"

And this without really devling too deeply into
things like:

   "I watched the bakery robbery on the new last night."
   "This dish-washer soap certainly doesn't make a lot of sud."

That is nouns, which ONLY mean something in the plural.
There isn't a noun called "the new" - there's a "newbie".

But, we *can* talk about "the old vs. the new" as
sort of collective singular nouns which include
quite a few things and hence are "implicitly" 
plural. 




   <1------------------- qti hal:  binary redux --->
      

Binary Redux

A result of being in a binary world, is that
we *still* tend to think in binary tems. Not
that there is anything wrong with this
(indeed Maria Montessori mentions that children
love the complex classifications structures that
originated (in part) with Lineaus.  See the LSTC (Linea Space/Time Conveyor

Regardless, let's start with a cat.

(i'll use the notation  ">this is a computer statement")

    >A cat is-a mammal;

 
  <1------------------- qti hal:  refs --->


Refs

Heiserman, ().  Build your own self-programming robot.

 ().  Machines who think.

 


 


Links