Re: Mathematics, Pseudomathematics, Artificial Intelligence

From: Daryl McCullough (stevendaryl3016_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 02/12/05 

Date: 12 Feb 2005 11:30:04 -0800

JXStern says...

>Daryl pretty well does answer Petry's complaint, yet I have a lot of
>sympathy for some of Petry's points, and for the relevance of the
>constructivist viewpoint in regards to AI, which, in a charitable
>reading, is what Petry is going on about.

There is nothing whatsoever getting in the way of using constructive
mathematics in the development of AI. That's what's so bizarre about
David Petry's diatribe. Nobody is *stopping* him from using only
computable mathematics.

I think maybe what he is saying is that he thinks AI could be solved
if it weren't for the fact that so many brilliant people are wasting
time doing something else. Maybe so, but it seems to me that Petry's
attitude is basically totalitarian---nobody should work on anything
except problems that Petry thinks are worth working on.

I really don't think that constructive mathematics has any relevance
to AI. The difficulties in achieving AI are not mathematical
difficulties. 

--
Daryl McCullough
Ithaca, NY

Relevant Pages

  • Re: the need for relevance
    ... Uncertainity is the gateway from abstraction to reality. ... there is more than _one_ set theory for infinite sets. ... no requirement to demonstrate relevance at the start, ... or alternatively "Purified Applied Mathematics". ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: the need for relevance
    ... Uncertainity is the gateway from abstraction to reality. ... there is more than _one_ set theory for infinite sets. ... no requirement to demonstrate relevance at the start, ... I have a page which is called "Snippets of Pure Applicable Mathematics" ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: the need for relevance
    ... Mathematics can be regarded as "the art of thinking abstractly". ... Sure it's been applied, and sure it uses the "scientific method", but at heart, it's art, not science. ... Uncertainity is the gateway from abstraction to reality. ... no requirement to demonstrate relevance at the start, ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: the need for relevance
    ... Math is not oblivious to the need for relevance, ... I have a page which is called "Snippets of Pure Applicable Mathematics" ... is an *autonomous* discipline with a conceptual framework of its own. ... autonomy. ...
    (sci.math)
  • the need for relevance
    ... Mathematics can be regarded as "the art of thinking ... I said "Hey, we're artists, not engineers", but I take that back. ... readily allows further abstraction in order to get a handle on it. ... no requirement to demonstrate relevance at the start, ...
    (sci.math)