Human mind: complex. Cybernetic diagram of minds-in-general: simple.
A thermostat doesn't have a "mind that predicts the future". So, it is off the table in the second definition I proposed.
Human mind: complex. Cybernetic diagram of minds-in-general: simple.
Dude, have you seriously not read the sequences?
First you say that defining minds is simple, and now you're pointing back to your own brain's inbuilt definition in order to support that claim... that's like saying that your new compressor can compress multi-gigabyte files down to a single kilobyte... when the "compressor" itself is a terabyte or so in size.
You're not actually reducing anything, you're just repeatedly pointing at your own brain.
Sweet, there's another Bloggingheads episode with Eliezer.
Bloggingheads: Robert Wright and Eliezer Yudkowsky: Science Saturday: Purposes and Futures