Re: Can computers be self-producing?
DON MIKULECKY (MIKULECKY%VCUVAX.BITNET@letterbox.rl.ac.uk)
Thu, 31 Aug 1995 07:29:24 -0400
Don Mikulecky,MCV/VCU,Mikulecky@gems.vcu.edu
Reply to Onars reply to Bruce:
I agree with Onar on this, the literature on this point is overwhelming.
Computers can easily write their own software, but the idea of computers
constructing computers is not that evident. This is best dealt with in terms
of causality and the hardware/software distinction. Systems closed to
efficient cause contain non-computable steps. The causalities are mixed.
Computers can not, by definition, EVER fulfill these requirements (by computers
I mean syntactical machines) See the book "The Machine as Metaphor and Tool"
Springer-Verlag 1993 for a set of excellent articles from Rosen, Haken and
others backing up this position.
Best wishes,
Don Mikulecky