Artificial Minds?

Ron Cottam, Willy Ranson & Roger Vounckx

Abstract

           Classical analysis of large networked information-processing systems from a “quasi-external” point of view begins to create problems as the range of hierarchical structural scales is extended. Most particularly, the viability of deterministic distributed control becomes questionable in extended-scale temporally-dynamic (i.e. interesting!) networks. The “traditional” split between “body” and “mind” appears to be most particularly related to our mental incapacity to relate to large systems whose character is primarily distributed but whose characteristics collapse to those of a synchronous deterministic network when reduced to a unified perspective. The major problem in forming such a representation is the necessarily irrational coupling across multiple scales of a large disparate organization such as the brain and our consequent inability to formulate correctly a causal tree for the system. We investigate the implications of these difficulties beyond simply the establishment of an upper systemic scaling limit, and relate them to a recently recorded Windows Local Area Network browser election breakdown.

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