eugene@ames.UUCP (Eugene Miya) (05/21/86)
<292@euclid.warwick.UUCP> > >In article <833@hounx.UUCP> kort@hounx.UUCP (B.KORT) writes: > >>It is not surprising that the space shuttle computers are taught ^^ Taught? Are teaching and learning that close to programming? Is this an inability of a human to discriminate between the two? Are you infering consciousness on the part of computers? > >>to care not only for the survival of the machine, but for the > >>survival of the crew as well. Mutual survival of man and machine > >>leads to a preferred state of the world for both parties. A > >>selfish survival strategy on the part of either machine or human > >>would lead to a mutually detrimental state of affairs. QED. ^^ all of the above ^^ This really sounds anthropomorphic. I think you infer too much about the computers, but I also think we limit computers too much in our use of them. Computers don't have instincts as instincts are defined: 1) a complex behavior, 2) invariance between inidividuals of a species, 3) an implication of inheritance, 4) etc., more etc. I am also reminded of the problems of self-destructive behavior of most "robots." Does this have anything to do with "greed algorithms?" :-) Perhaps we have to redefine survival? ;-) Another thing is recommended were some comments, I believe made by Nancy Levinson from UC Irvine on our seemingly growing difficulty in distinguishing between real "Laws" or "rules" from "literary rules" like The Original Law of Robots. > >>Barry Kort Gee, I didn't think the distinction between humans and machines was diminishing that fast? I thought it was only in films like Brade Runner. Maybe it's not that machines are getting smarter, but maybe that we as humans are losing any "uniqueness" we used to think of as humanity. [Probably both.] From the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers: --eugene miya NASA Ames Research Center com'on do you trust Reply commands with all these different mailers? {hplabs,ihnp4,dual,hao,decwrl,tektronix,allegra}!ames!aurora!eugene eugene@ames-aurora.ARPA