X-Message-Number: 8501
From:  (Thomas Donaldson)
Subject: Re: CryoNet #8474 - #8475
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 09:56:35 -0700 (PDT)

For John K Clark:

First of all, with biotechnology I think the split between bio- and (say)
electronic technology becomes meaningless. The crucial issue in computer 
playing of various intellectual games (chess, go, etc) is not the substrate
on which the computing is performed but the organization of the computer. If
you find yourself 100 years from now doing computations on a computer based
on DNA you will know what I mean. I hope the point is clear even now.

Second, the mode in which computers work differs from that in which human
beings work --- we are organized differently. Computers are designed to carry
out a sequence of commands provided by their programmer, and do so fully and
accurately. These commands often involve math computations, but need not; they
may simply be logical computations, for instance. And yes, a sufficiently
powerful computer can compute all the different possibilities for a chess move
much better than human beings can. 

Does this mean anything? I will note that both human beings and other biologic-
al entities evolved to optimize their adaptation to the world around them;
computers were constructed specifically to perform a class of tasks for us. 
Not only that, but no animal or plant has yet evolved equivalent computational
ability to a computer: suggesting that for living in our environment, all those
computational abilities just haven't been very useful. Sure, some very
specialized computational abilities have turned out very useful for animals, 
but not the kind of general ability shown by computers. 

If there is a contest at all it is between the programmers, who now get to 
compete with their chess programs. Computers have exceeded the computational
abilities of human beings almost from the time of their invention. To produce
one more instance of this just emphasizes that we are different from computers.
We can't normally fly, either, nor can we survive for long underwater, nor
can we move very fast on land. Unlike other animals, we make tools and devices
which let us do these things. And so, with computers, we have made devices 
which let us compute much faster and at much higher volume than we can do
naturally. The programmers must have studied hard, and come up with some
new methods, to create their chess program. They merit praise, and lots of it.
As for the computer, it is just a tool.

			Long long life,

				Thomas Donaldson

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