Wandering towards a goal: How can mindless mathematical laws give rise to aims and intention PDF
Preview Wandering towards a goal: How can mindless mathematical laws give rise to aims and intention
THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION Series editors Avshalom C. Elitzur Iyar The Israel Institute for Advanced Research, Rehovot, Israel e-mail: [email protected] Zeeya Merali Foundational Questions Institute, Decatur, GA 30031, USA e-mail: [email protected] T. Padmanabhan Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, India e-mail: [email protected] Maximilian Schlosshauer Department of Physics, University of Portland, Portland, OR 97203, USA e-mail: [email protected] Mark P. Silverman Department of Physics, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 06106, USA e-mail: [email protected] Jack A. Tuszynski Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1Z2, Canada e-mail: [email protected] Rüdiger Vaas Bild der wissenschaft, Redaktion Astronomie, Physik, 70771 Leinfelden- Echterdingen, Germany e-mail: [email protected] THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION Series Editors A. C. Elitzur Z. Merali T. Padmanabhan M. Schlosshauer M. P. Silverman J. A. Tuszynski R. Vaas The books in this collection are devoted to challenging and open problems at the forefront of modern science, including related philosophical debates.In contrast to typical research monographs, however, they strive to present their topics in a manner accessible also to scientifically literate non-specialists wishing to gain insight into thedeeper implicationsandfascinating questions involved.Taken asa whole,theseriesreflectstheneedforafundamentalandinterdisciplinaryapproach to modern science. Furthermore, it is intended to encourage active scientists in all areas to ponder over important and perhaps controversial issues beyond their own speciality. Extending from quantum physics and relativity to entropy, conscious- ness and complex systems—the Frontiers Collection will inspire readers to push back the frontiers of their own knowledge. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5342 Forafulllistofpublishedtitles,pleaseseebackofbookorspringer.com/series/5342 Anthony Aguirre Brendan Foster (cid:129) Zeeya Merali Editors Wandering Towards a Goal How Can Mindless Mathematical Laws Give Rise to Aims and Intention? 123 Editors Anthony Aguirre Zeeya Merali Physics Department FoundationalQuestions Institute UC SantaCruz Decatur,GA SantaCruz, CA USA USA Brendan Foster FoundationalQuestions Institute Decatur,GA USA ISSN 1612-3018 ISSN 2197-6619 (electronic) THEFRONTIERS COLLECTION ISBN978-3-319-75725-4 ISBN978-3-319-75726-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75726-1 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018932537 ©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG,partofSpringerNature2018 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinor for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. Printedonacid-freepaper ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerInternationalPublishingAG partofSpringerNature Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland Preface This book is a collaborative project between Springer and the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi). In keeping with both the tradition of Springer’s FrontiersCollectionandthemissionofFQXi,itprovidesstimulatinginsightsintoa frontier area of science, whilst remaining accessible enough to benefit a non-specialist audience. FQXi is an independent, non-profit organization that was founded in 2006. It aims to catalyze, support and disseminate research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology. The central aim of FQXi is to fund and inspire research and innovation that is integraltoadeepunderstandingofreality,butwhichmaynotbereadilysupported byconventionalfundingsources.Historically,physicsandcosmologyhaveoffered a scientific framework for comprehending the core of reality. Many giants of modern science—such as Einstein, Bohr, Schrödinger and Heisenberg—were also passionately concerned with, and inspired by, deep philosophical nuances of the novel notions of reality they were exploring. Yet, such questions are often over- looked by traditional funding agencies. Often, grant-making and research organizations institutionalize a pragmatic approach,primarilyfundingincrementalinvestigationsthatuseknownmethodsand familiar conceptual frameworks, rather than the uncertain and often interdisci- plinary methods required to develop and comprehend prospective revolutions in physics and cosmology. As a result, even eminent scientists can struggle to secure fundingforsomeofthequestionstheyfindmostengaging,whileyoungerthinkers findlittlesupport,freedomorcareerpossibilitiesunlesstheyhewtosuchstrictures. FQXi views foundational questions not as pointless speculation or misguided effort, but as critical and essential inquiry of relevance to us all. The institute is dedicated to redressing these shortcomings by creating a vibrant, worldwide community of scientists, top thinkers and outreach specialists who tackle deep questions in physics, cosmology and related fields. FQXi is also committed to engaging with the public and communicating the implications of this foundational research for the growth of human understanding. v vi Preface Aspartofthisendeavor,FQXiorganizesanannualessaycontest,whichisopen toeveryone,fromprofessionalresearcherstomembersofthepublic.Thesecontests are designed to focus minds and efforts on deep questions that could have a pro- foundimpactacrossmultipledisciplines.Thecontestisjudgedbyanexpertpanel, and up to twenty prizes are awarded. Each year, the contest features well over a hundred entries, stimulating ongoing online discussion for many months after the close of the contest. We are delighted to share this collection, inspired by the 2016 contest, “WanderingTowardsaGoal:Howdomindlessmathematicallawsgiverisetoaims andintentions?”Inlinewithourdesiretobringfoundationalquestionstothewidest possibleaudience,theentries,intheiroriginalform,werewritteninastylethatwas suitable for the general public. In this book, which is aimed at an interdisciplinary scientific audience, the authors have been invited to expand upon their original essays and include technical details and discussion that may enhance their essays foramoreprofessionalreadership,whileremainingaccessibletonon-specialistsin their field. FQXi would like to thank its contest partner The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation. The editors are indebted to FQXi’s scientific director, Max Tegmark, andmanagingdirector,KavitaRajanna,whowereinstrumentalinthedevelopment of the contest. We are also grateful to Angela Lahee at Springer for her guidance and support in driving this project forward. Decatur, USA Anthony Aguirre 2017 Brendan Foster Zeeya Merali Foundational Questions Institute www.fqxi.org Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Anthony Aguirre, Brendan Foster and Zeeya Merali 2 A Tale of Two Animats: What Does It Take to Have Goals? . . . . . 5 Larissa Albantakis 3 Meaning and Intentionality = Information + Evolution . . . . . . . . . 17 Carlo Rovelli 4 Von Neumann Minds: A Toy Model of Meaning in a Natural World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Jochen Szangolies 5 Origin Gaps and the Eternal Sunshine of the Second-Order Pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Simon DeDeo 6 Agent Above, Atom Below: How Agents Causally Emerge from Their Underlying Microphysics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Erik P. Hoel 7 Bio from Bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Sara I. Walker 8 I Think, Therefore I Think You Think I Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Sophia Magnúsdóttir 9 World Without World: Observer-Dependent Physics . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Dean Rickles 10 The Role of the Observer in Goal-Directed Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Inés Samengo 11 Wandering Towards Physics: Participatory Realism and the Co-Emergence of Lawfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Marc Séguin vii viii Contents 12 God’s Dice and Einstein’s Solids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Ian T. Durham 13 Finding Structure in Science and Mathematics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Noson S. Yanofsky 14 From Athena to AI: The Past and Future of Intention in Nature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Rick Searle 15 No Ghost in the Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Alan M. Kadin 16 The Man in a Tailcoat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Tommaso Bolognesi 17 The Tablet of the Metalaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Cristinel Stoica 18 Wandering Towards a Goal: The Key Role of Biomolecules . . . . . 227 George F. R. Ellis and Jonathan Kopel Appendix: List of Winners... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 245 Titles in This Series .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 247 Chapter 1 Introduction AnthonyAguirre,BrendanFosterandZeeyaMerali If the moon, in the act of completing its eternal way around the earth, were gifted with self-consciousness,itwouldfeelthoroughlyconvincedthatitwastravelingitswayofits ownaccord….Sowouldabeing,endowedwithhigherinsightandmoreperfectintelligence, watchingmanandhisdoings,smileaboutman’sillusionthathewasactingaccordingtohis ownfreewill. AlbertEinstein(1931).1 Physicists tends to concern themselves with identifying the inanimate constituent elementsofnatureandusingthemtoanswerquestionsofwhathashappened,what willhappen,andhowthingsoccur.Atthemostbasiclevel,physicscanbeconceived ascomprisingasetofmathematicallawsthatenableustomakepredictionsabout thefuture,orthepast.Theydothisbyspecifyinghowasetofinitialconditionsdrive theseminutebuildingblockstocombine,tointeract,andtoinexorablyevolve. However, physical reality can also be thought of in terms of the whole, rather than just the parts. We can ask why something happened. Is there a reason? Or is there a reason why there seems to be a reason? Many phenomena admit an alternative—and sometimes vastly superior—description in terms of goals, aims and intentions. The motion of particles through spacetime, for instance, can either 1Einstein,A.quotedinStrawson,G.“Nietzsche’sMetaphysics?”,inNietzscheonMindand Nature,ed:Dries,M.&Kail,P.J.E.(OxfordUniversityPress,2015). A.Aguirre UCSantaCruzDeptofPhysics,SantaCruz,USA e-mail:[email protected] B B.Foster·Z.Merali( ) FoundationalQuestionsInstitute,Decatur,USA e-mail:[email protected] B.Foster e-mail:[email protected] ©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG,partofSpringerNature2018 1 A.Aguirreetal.(eds.),WanderingTowardsaGoal,TheFrontiersCollection, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75726-1_1
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