X-Message-Number: 12712
Date: Thu, 04 Nov 1999 18:06:30 -0500
From: Daniel Crevier <>
Subject: On the self-generation of goals
References: <>

Hi Tom.

You said:

> ...I do not count the
> ability of a computer to act out a program as any sign of feelings or
> goals. It's just a more elaborate version of the ability of a car to
> turn when you move the steering wheel and it is in motion. To be goals
> or feelings OF THE MACHINE, they must come from the machine, not from
> us or some separate entity.

Have you ever wondered how many of your goals really do come from you?
You inherited the brain structure that lets you think from your 
parents. This same brain structure was then imprinted and structured
by the cultural environment in which you grew up, and I dare say that
most (if not all) of your goals originate from that interaction between
nature and nurture.   

I'll grant you that your goals are more 'yours' than those of a word
processing program, because they are closely associated with your growth
and evolution. By the same token though, (and Mike Perry has already
pointed this out), a more sophisticated program that learns and modifies
itself can be said to generate its own goals.

Daniel Crevier

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