A World of Ideas

In his blog post about social discovery, Gideon Burton states that the typical college student performs research by ferreting out print or electronic sources that consist mostly of texts or other artifacts that he or she can analyze, synthesize, generate data or arguments about, then writing about what he or she discovered.   Burton mentions that even though this process of research is solid in many respects, he feels that most of us will find this method to be increasingly inadequate and ultimately irresponsible. 

I decided that I wanted to put Dr. Burton’s opinion to the test.  The bulk of my outside research about “computing and intelligence” came from the book A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs, and Thinkers by Chris Rohmann.  Even if the information is relevant and applicable, to me, it is a pain to do research this way.  I feel that using social discovery would not only be more effective but more fun as well.   Here are a few key points from A World of Ideas:

·         Artificial intelligence is the emulation of human thought processes by mechanical devices.  Alan Turning composed the turning test to see if machines are intelligent.  So far, no device has been constructed that can pass the Turning test.  I feel that the reason that machines struggle to pass the test are because computers can’t feel, show emotion, or think like humans.  Do you think there will ever be machines that are so human-like that they will pass the ‘Turning test’?

·         Kurt Godel caused a decline in interest in formalism (any approach to theory or practice that emphasizes form, structure, or formal rules) with his incompleteness theorem which demonstrates htat not all true statements can be proven.  Pound it for Godel!!!  Since working with the referral center and sharing the gospel through digital media is the topic for my final project, missionary work has been on my mind a lot recently.  I can’t imagine what would be like trying to teach the gospel (gospel truths) if you had to prove every truth that was taught.  It’s pretty hard or even impossible to prove ones feelings, beliefs, and testimony. 

One think I like about computing is that in order for a computation to function, once must pay attention to detail.  This concept is very prevelant in the business world.  Financial statements are analyzed and reports are created in order to help companies be more profitable.  Small errors or changes can pay large dividends for businesses.  I guess that can be applied to our lives too. 

I agree with Murry Leinster that logics (computers) are civilization.  Computers are used for everything today.  They play a large role in our society and what kind of society we’ve become.  I don’t really agree with Leinster that if we shut off computers, we would become a civilization that we’ve forgotten how to run.  Isn’t that what history is for?  To learn from what people did in the past and how to avoid making similar mistakes.  Computers are new.  If we survived without them in the past, we would certainly be able to survive without them again.  Couldn’t we??