Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!oliveb!pyramid!prls!philabs!linus!mbunix!bwk
From: bwk@mitre-bedford.ARPA (Barry W. Kort)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Self Simulation
Summary: Only in my wildest dreams...
Keywords: philosophy, causality, free will, self modeling, unconsciousness.
Message-ID: <33245@linus.UUCP>
Date: 31 May 88 14:10:08 GMT
References: <30472@yale-celray.yale.UUCP>
Sender: news@linus.UUCP
Reply-To: bwk@mbunix (Barry Kort)
Organization: IdeaSync, Inc., Chronos, VT
Lines: 15

Drew McDermott's lengthy posting included a curious nugget.  Drew
paints a scenario in which a robot engages in a simulation which
includes the robot itself as a causal agent in the simulation.  Drew
asks, "What on earth could it mean for a system to figure out what
it's doing by simulating itself?"

I was captured by the notion of self-simulation, and started day-dreaming,
imagining myself as an actor inside a simulation.  I found that, as the
director of the day-dream, I had to delegate free will to my simulated
self.  The movie free-runs, sans script.  It was just like being asleep.

So, perhaps a robot who engages in self-simulation is merely dreaming
about itself.  That's not so hard.  I do it all the time.

--Barry Kort