biep@cs.vu.nl (J. A. "Biep" Durieux) (08/04/87)
In article <902@bsu-cs.UUCP> dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes: >Enough to say that supreme beings are in general >poor subjects for discussion in the same breath as mathematics and >logic. Perhaps two or three years ago, I read an article about a book in which the author applied game theory to the (supposed) wishes of Supreme Beings, like people choosing to follow Him, or to believe in him without coercion, etc. Does anyone know about the book, the article, or the results? Thanks, -- Biep. (biep@cs.vu.nl via mcvax) Unix is a philosophy, not an operating system. Especially the latter.
news@nysernic (Wengyik Yeong) (08/04/87)
I don't know of the reference you were asking about, but I remember that
in _The Mind's I_ edited by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett, there
was a quite amusing essay called "Is God a Taoist," in which God puts a
mortal through quite a (mental) wringer, without (completely) meaning to.
-D.H.
----
David Hiebeler hiebeler@csv.rpi.edu
R.D. Box 225A "Illusions, Richard! Every
Chatham, NY 12037 bit of it illusions!"walton@tybalt.caltech.edu (Steve Walton) (08/04/87)
(I have cross-posted to talk.philosophy.misc and talk.religion.misc, with followups directed only to the latter two. Feel free to change this if net consensus is that this is happy in either sci.math or sci.philosophy.tech.) In article <839@klipper.cs.vu.nl> biep@cs.vu.nl (J. A. "Biep" Durieux) writes: >In article <902@bsu-cs.UUCP> dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes: >Perhaps two or three years ago, I read an article about a book in which >the author applied game theory to the (supposed) wishes of Supreme Beings, >like people choosing to follow Him, or to believe in him without coercion, >etc. The book is called Superior Beings, and is by Steven Brams, published by Springer-Verlag (sorry, don't have it here so don't have an ISBN). He uses as a starting point the self-description of Jahweh in the Old Testament and shows very neatly that you can arrive at various non-optimum results, in which (for example) the SB exists but the person chooses not to believe. Brams also attempts to model the implications of omniscience and omnipotence on SB's actions. I found it a fascinating book, and agree with Martin Gardner that it almost single-handedly revives a great intellectual tradition of applying rationality to human-God rleations, and that modern theologians cannot ignore it. Steve Walton, guest as walton@tybalt.caltech.edu AMETEK Computer Research Division, ametek!walton@csvax.caltech.edu "Long signatures are definitely frowned upon"--USENET posting rules
mojo@reed.UUCP (Huddie Ledbetter) (08/05/87)
In article <839@klipper.cs.vu.nl> biep@cs.vu.nl (J. A. "Biep" Durieux) writes: }Perhaps two or three years ago, I read an article about a book in which }the author applied game theory to the (supposed) wishes of Supreme Beings, }like people choosing to follow Him, or to believe in him without coercion, }etc. } }Does anyone know about the book, the article, or the results? } Sounds like the book could be _The Mind's I_, edited/partially written by Douglas R. Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett. At least one of the pieces (the book is basically a compilation with commentaries) deals with the concept of a Supreme Being in a logical context, though I don't remember if game theory was involved per se. It, like Hofstadter's two other books, is indispensable reading in any case. }Thanks, }-- } Biep. (biep@cs.vu.nl via mcvax) }Unix is a philosophy, not an operating system. Especially the latter. Nathan Tenny ...tektronix!reed!mojo