Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!bloom-beacon!ICASE.ARPA!csrobe From: csrobe@ICASE.ARPA (Charles S. Roberson) Newsgroups: comp.ai.digest Subject: Re: metaepistemology Message-ID: <880628230905.9.NICK@WITHERING.LCS.MIT.EDU> Date: 29 Jun 88 03:09:00 GMT Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 62 Approved: ailist@ai.ai.mit.edu Return-path: <@AI.AI.MIT.EDU:csrobe@icase.arpa> Received: from AI.AI.MIT.EDU by ZERMATT.LCS.MIT.EDU via CHAOS with SMTP id 167793; 27 Jun 88 09:17:29 EDT Received: from icase.arpa (TCP 20031413463) by AI.AI.MIT.EDU 27 Jun 88 09:18:43 EDT Received: from work18.icase by icase.arpa (3.2/SMI-3.0DEV3) id AA05651; Mon, 27 Jun 88 09:18:16 EDT Received: by work18.icase (3.2/SMI-3.0DEV3) id AA06857; Mon, 27 Jun 88 09:18:11 EDT Date: Mon, 27 Jun 88 09:18:11 EDT From: csrobe@icase.arpa (Charles S. Roberson) Message-Id: <8806271318.AA06857@work18.icase> To: ailist@ai.ai.mit.edu, ylikoski@finfun.bitnet Subject: Re: metaepistemology Assume the "basic structure of the world is unknowable" [JMC@SAIL.Stanford.edu] and that we can only PERCEIVE our world, NOT KNOW that what we perceive is ACTUALLY how the world is. Now imagine that I have created an agent that interacts with *our* world and which builds models of the world as it PERCEIVES it (via sensors, nerves, or whatever). My question is this: Where does this agent stand, in relation to me, in its perception of reality? Does it share the same level of perception that I 'enjoy' or is it 'doomed' to be one level removed from my world (i.e. is its perception inextricably linked to my perception of the world, since I built it)? Assume now, that the agent is so doomed. Therefore, it may perceive things that are inconsistent with the world (though we may never know it) but are consistent with *my* perception of the world. Does this imply that "true intelligence" is possible if and only if an agent's perception is not nested in the perception of its creator? I don't think so. If it is true that we cannot know the "basic structure of the world" then our actions are based solely on our perceptions and are independent of the reality of the world. I believe we all accept perception as a vital part of an intelligent entity. (Please correct me if I am wrong.) However, a flawed perception does not make the entity any less intelligent (does it?). What does this say about the role of perception to intelligence? It has to be there but it doesn't have to function free of original bias? Perhaps, we have just created an agent that perceives freely but it can only perceive a sub-world that I defined based on my perceptions. Could it ever be possible to create an agent that perceives freely and that does not live in a sub-world? -chip +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Charles S. Roberson ARPANET: csrobe@icase.arpa | |ICASE, MS 132C BITNET: $csrobe@wmmvs.bitnet | |NASA Langley Rsch. Ctr. UUCP: ...!uunet!pyrdc!gmu90x!wmcs!csrobe| |Hampton, VA 23665-5225 Phone: (804) 865-4090 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+