Computation has turned out to be a far more general concept than I think was imagined, up to the point that many computer scientists now seem to equate computation with the functioning of the universe. Recently it's been shown that there are real, physical processes which are undecidable (we cannot know if a latice of atoms has a spectral gap or not, we cannot determine if a specific particle in a fluid flow will reach a specific place or not, we cannot determine if a ray of light will reach a specific target in certain configurations of reflection).
Our world appeared computable, but it isn't, even if P=NP.
- The physics of the universe can be completely modeled as computation
- It's possible to pose undecidable problems about the way the universe unfolds
This is intrinsic to the idea of undecidability even for Turing machines – we equate computation with the functioning of Turing machines, but there are real processes executable in Turing machines that are undecidable.
What even is computation? State-based inference. But intelligence itself does not rely on computation, only its biological counterweight seems to and only in certain situations. If Computation is a "Universal Concept" then there are at least 4 or 5 more "Universal Concepts" analogous to intuition and spontaneity.
Computation has turned out to be a far more general concept than I think was imagined, up to the point that many computer scientists now seem to equate computation with the functioning of the universe. Recently it's been shown that there are real, physical processes which are undecidable (we cannot know if a latice of atoms has a spectral gap or not, we cannot determine if a specific particle in a fluid flow will reach a specific place or not, we cannot determine if a ray of light will reach a specific target in certain configurations of reflection).
Our world appeared computable, but it isn't, even if P=NP.
It can be the case that both:
- The physics of the universe can be completely modeled as computation
- It's possible to pose undecidable problems about the way the universe unfolds
This is intrinsic to the idea of undecidability even for Turing machines – we equate computation with the functioning of Turing machines, but there are real processes executable in Turing machines that are undecidable.
What even is computation? State-based inference. But intelligence itself does not rely on computation, only its biological counterweight seems to and only in certain situations. If Computation is a "Universal Concept" then there are at least 4 or 5 more "Universal Concepts" analogous to intuition and spontaneity.