hackenslash wrote:Look up the concept of a Probabilistic Turing Machine.
Okay, but what's your point?
You seriously can't work it out from 'probabilistic'? In that case, I have to ask, on what basis do you assert your qualification to engage in such a discussion?
You gave me three words to google, not one, which I did... and was subsequently presented with mountains of text and mathematics. You seem to presume that I'm psychic.
If you have a point, then state it.
About me: I have prehensile eyebrows. I speak 9 languages fluently, one of which other people can also speak. When backed into a corner, I fit perfectly - having a right-angled arse.
Xamonas Chegwé wrote:I agree with jamest on his point about algorithms. An algorithm requires an agent because it is a list of things to do.. Physical laws just happen - you don't have to do them.. You don't need an algorithm to get an apple down from a tree when it's ripe!
You're only saying that so I stop calling you a cunt.
No. You're right so rarely it's only fair to give credit when it does happen.
A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return. Salman Rushdie You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic. House MD Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view. Sandy Denny This is the wrong forum for bluffing Paco Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish! Calilasseia I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants. Twoflower Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse Millefleur
Xamonas Chegwé wrote:I agree with jamest on his point about algorithms. An algorithm requires an agent because it is a list of things to do.. Physical laws just happen - you don't have to do them.. You don't need an algorithm to get an apple down from a tree when it's ripe!
You're only saying that so I stop calling you a cunt.
No. You're right so rarely it's only fair to give credit when it does happen.
You're doomed now. 96% of people who have ever given me credit have either committed suicide or ended up living in a bedsit.
About me: I have prehensile eyebrows. I speak 9 languages fluently, one of which other people can also speak. When backed into a corner, I fit perfectly - having a right-angled arse.
I find that people always pay up. It might take a kneecap. Sometimes two. but they pay.
A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return. Salman Rushdie You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic. House MD Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view. Sandy Denny This is the wrong forum for bluffing Paco Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish! Calilasseia I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants. Twoflower Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse Millefleur
JimC wrote:I am a landlord, actually. My tenant pays on time, so I'm not bitter at all...
Rent-seeking capitalist parasite!!
Sent from my penis using wankertalk. "The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007. "Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that.. "Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt. "I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.
JimC wrote:I am a landlord, actually. My tenant pays on time, so I'm not bitter at all...
Then whence cometh the bitter notion that giving credit is a risky business? You've said that twice tonight (UK time), so I know for sure that you've been stung [badly] before.
rEvolutionist wrote:
So why does an algorithm seem to need intelligent input? An algorithm is just a recipe for change from one state to another. It could be said that the process of star formation follows an algorithm due to the laws of physics. Are you going to tell me the laws of physics are intelligently designed? (Shit, you probably are going to tell me that... )
I have a problem incorporating processes instigated by physical laws into the definition of an algorithm. From my understanding, an algorithm amounts to a set of instructions with a definite purpose. Thus, the way you are using the concept implies that there's a God pulling the strings.
No, the way you are interpreting it implies that. I don't mean it's literally an algorithm. It's like an algorithm in the sense that it is a recipe* for changing from one state to another.
* - If you tell me I'm now implying that God is a cook, I swear I'm going to hunt you down!
Sent from my penis using wankertalk. "The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007. "Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that.. "Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt. "I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.
Xamonas Chegwé wrote:I agree with jamest on his point about algorithms. An algorithm requires an agent because it is a list of things to do.. Physical laws just happen - you don't have to do them.. You don't need an algorithm to get an apple down from a tree when it's ripe!
No, but the process of an apple falling from a tree due to gravity is algorithmic. There's a clear process of events that happen. Notwithstanding Hume's philosobabble about cause and effect....
Sent from my penis using wankertalk. "The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007. "Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that.. "Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt. "I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.
Xamonas Chegwé wrote:I agree with jamest on his point about algorithms. An algorithm requires an agent because it is a list of things to do.. Physical laws just happen - you don't have to do them.. You don't need an algorithm to get an apple down from a tree when it's ripe!
Obviously, for an algo to exist requires a conceptualizer with a reason. It is therefore a category error to call a natural process an algorithm.
But lighten up, everything an algorithm does is dependent upon and takes advantage of fundamental properties. On or off, conservation of mass, etc.
About me: I have prehensile eyebrows. I speak 9 languages fluently, one of which other people can also speak. When backed into a corner, I fit perfectly - having a right-angled arse.
Xamonas Chegwé wrote:I agree with jamest on his point about algorithms. An algorithm requires an agent because it is a list of things to do.. Physical laws just happen - you don't have to do them.. You don't need an algorithm to get an apple down from a tree when it's ripe!
No, but the process of an apple falling from a tree due to gravity is algorithmic.
No. It really isn't. An algorithm is the precursor of a computer program - with conditional statements, repeated loops, sub-routines, etc. "Physics" cares for none of this. It does exactly the same thing all the time based simply on how its various fields are interacting. To call that process algorithmic would be to invoke a designer agent - rather shaky ground (although I think you might actually find jamest agreeing with you. )
Gravity just pulls at that apple all day, every day, and, when it ain't hanging on tight enough, down it comes! It never decides that now would be a good time to have it fall based on a list of "due apples".
A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return. Salman Rushdie You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic. House MD Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view. Sandy Denny This is the wrong forum for bluffing Paco Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish! Calilasseia I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants. Twoflower Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse Millefleur
wiki wrote:An informal definition could be "a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations."[14]
"Algorithm" has a meaning outside of a strict mathematical context. If we were to limit it to mathematics, then yes, a description of the deterministic process of physical laws wouldn't be an algorithm. But informally, it is. It's basically just a set of instructions describing a process. Which is what a physical law is (as formalised by humans). It describes a process of change from one state to another. In the case of an apple it describes the process of change from being attached to the tree to falling to the ground.
Edit: unless we deal in the probabilistic like Hack mentioned earlier, in which case it wouldn't be a "precise" definition, I guess.
Sent from my penis using wankertalk. "The Western world is fucking awesome because of mostly white men" - DaveDodo007. "Socialized medicine is just exactly as morally defensible as gassing and cooking Jews" - Seth. Yes, he really did say that.. "Seth you are a boon to this community" - Cunt. "I am seriously thinking of going on a spree killing" - Svartalf.