JanetK comments on Two straw men fighting - Less Wrong

2 Post author: JanetK 09 August 2010 08:53AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (157)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Lightwave 09 August 2010 09:26:40AM -2 points [-]

We cannot just predict what the outcomes of our decisions will be, we really, really have to go through the whole process of making them. We cannot even pretend that decisions are determined until after we have finish making them.

And what about an AI that can predict it's own decisions (because it knows its source code)?

Also, are you a compatibilist?

Comment author: JanetK 09 August 2010 01:16:45PM 2 points [-]

I believe that a compatibilist can accept both freewill and determinism at the same time. I reject them both as not useful to understanding decisions. I think there is a difference between believing both A and B and believing neither A or B. It seems to me unlikely that an AI could predict its own decisions by examining its source code but not running the code. But I am not sure it is completely impossible just because I cannot see how it would be done. If it were possible I would be extremely surprised if it was faster or easier that just running the code.