More than Computing

August 10th, 2006 Fred McVittie

The properties exhibited by inert matter are, for the most part, unspectacular. Matter exists, it displays form, texture, colour, mass etc. It may be reflective, magnetic, absorbent, or even give off radiation of various sorts. What inert matter cannot (usually) do is to compute. In order to perform acts of computation an entity must display a certain level of cybernetic complexity which is beyond inert matter. This complexity is available however, to a large number of systems.

Cybernetic systems, from the simple thermostat to human brain tissue, performs, at various levels, acts of computation, this ability however may not be the last word. It may be that some systems, structures, or materials are capable of exhibiting exotic properties that is a far beyond computation as computation is from the properties exhibited by inert matter.

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Agency and Complexity

September 1st, 2006 Fred McVittie

It is common practice even (especially) for computer specialists, when talking about the behaviour of systems, to use expressions like ‘handshake’, ‘talks to’, ‘finds’, etc. In other words, the language of intention and agency usually reserved for sentient beings. Two observations follow from this. Firstly, it seems that the greater the level of complexity in an entity, the more likely the language used to describe that entity assumes the existence of such agency; when talking of simple systems there is much less tendency to use this language. For example, we would not describe a broken transmission in a car as ‘an inability for the engine to talk to the wheels’. Secondly, it is tempting to argue that this apparent attribution of agency is simply ’shorthand’ and that more accurate descriptions could be given, but this assumption brings its own implications; if it is the case then the suggestion is that ‘agency’ is a simpler concept than the systems which embody that concept, whether applied to computer systems or to other agents.

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