Nonhuman Minds: Animal, Artificial or Other Minds
Cognitio 2011
Young researchers conference in cognitive science
Montréal, July 3rd, 4th and 5th 2011
Rocks, Frogs, Bots, and Gods: Cosmology and the Information Architecture of Non-Human Minds
Julian Arndts
Abstract:
One of many properties of minds is that they process information, so in order to understand minds one has to understand the information architecture of information-processing systems. The history of the universe can be described as the evolution of computational systems, especially mind-carrying systems, where the "hardware" of the mind is embedded in the universe, hence embodied by a subsystem of the universe. Due to the combination of replication, variation and selection, information-processing, potentially mind-carrying systems evolve towards ever more refined information architecture. Our main focus will be on the two extreme cases of minds: the mind of the rock, which we may call zero mind or minimal mind, and the mind of God, which we may call infinite mind or maximal mind.
The mind of the rock: We analyze the information architecture of the extreme case of the zero mind. At first glance this type of mind seems trivial; it is not even a proper mind. But we know from mathematics and physics, that the zero or the absence of things is far from trivial. There are two different approaches we apply in order to describe the information architecture of the zero mind. First, we interpret it as the limit of a sequence of minds of decreasing sophistication. Second, we analyze how a physical subsystem, such as a rock or an electron, is embedded into the universe. Interestingly, cosmology helps us understand the information architecture of such zero-mind-carrying systems. Here we distinguish between two fundamentally different approaches to cosmology and information theory, including the Landauer-Wheeler principle.
The mind of the frog: Biological systems of computation can be seen as a bridge between purely physical systems on the one hand and the human mind on the other side. The information architecture of biological systems is characterized by highly bounded rationality, and hence first-order and sometimes second-order information tends to be most important, but Schelling points, or focal points, may suddenly transform low-order information into common knowledge.
The mind of the bot: Bots, or articificial-intelligence systems, may display a subtle information architecture. One AI may duplicate by uploading a copy, including all its qualia. Two or more AIs may merge, forming a new AI. Hence, new concepts of identity are required. Due to the finiteness of computational capacity in the universe, even highly advanced AIs will face computational tradeoffs, such as the tradeoff between time and precision. Using cosmology and quantum physics, one can determine the maximal information transmission rate, given parameters such as mass, volume or entropy. We consider a sequence of AI bots with ever increasing sophistication and information-processing power, converging or diverging (depending on the cosmological model) to an information-processing system of maximal mass and volume. Of all minds whose hardware can be embedded in the universe, this mind is maximal within the universe.
The mind of God: Of course, analyzing the mind of God must be highly speculative, but it is nevertheless very instructive because understanding the two extreme limit cases of a minimal mind and a maximal mind helps us to analyze the mind space in its entirety and learn more about intermediate mind types as well. We apply two approaches: First, we interpret the mind of God as the limit of a sequence of minds of increasing sophistication. As the mind of God is of maximal greatness, the sophistication of the largest mind within the universe, as previously specified, can serve as a lower bound. We distinguish between two different cosmological models, regarding the expansion of the universe, and furthermore between the existence and the non-existence of an actual infinite. Second, we study what common theistic arguments, such as the modal ontological argument, the Kalam cosmological argument and the teleological argument, imply about the mind of God.
In summary, we conclude that the underlying models of cosmology and information-processing are crucial when it comes to understanding the information architecture of minds, be it rocks, frogs, bots, or Gods.
The mind of the rock: We analyze the information architecture of the extreme case of the zero mind. At first glance this type of mind seems trivial; it is not even a proper mind. But we know from mathematics and physics, that the zero or the absence of things is far from trivial. There are two different approaches we apply in order to describe the information architecture of the zero mind. First, we interpret it as the limit of a sequence of minds of decreasing sophistication. Second, we analyze how a physical subsystem, such as a rock or an electron, is embedded into the universe. Interestingly, cosmology helps us understand the information architecture of such zero-mind-carrying systems. Here we distinguish between two fundamentally different approaches to cosmology and information theory, including the Landauer-Wheeler principle.
The mind of the frog: Biological systems of computation can be seen as a bridge between purely physical systems on the one hand and the human mind on the other side. The information architecture of biological systems is characterized by highly bounded rationality, and hence first-order and sometimes second-order information tends to be most important, but Schelling points, or focal points, may suddenly transform low-order information into common knowledge.
The mind of the bot: Bots, or articificial-intelligence systems, may display a subtle information architecture. One AI may duplicate by uploading a copy, including all its qualia. Two or more AIs may merge, forming a new AI. Hence, new concepts of identity are required. Due to the finiteness of computational capacity in the universe, even highly advanced AIs will face computational tradeoffs, such as the tradeoff between time and precision. Using cosmology and quantum physics, one can determine the maximal information transmission rate, given parameters such as mass, volume or entropy. We consider a sequence of AI bots with ever increasing sophistication and information-processing power, converging or diverging (depending on the cosmological model) to an information-processing system of maximal mass and volume. Of all minds whose hardware can be embedded in the universe, this mind is maximal within the universe.
The mind of God: Of course, analyzing the mind of God must be highly speculative, but it is nevertheless very instructive because understanding the two extreme limit cases of a minimal mind and a maximal mind helps us to analyze the mind space in its entirety and learn more about intermediate mind types as well. We apply two approaches: First, we interpret the mind of God as the limit of a sequence of minds of increasing sophistication. As the mind of God is of maximal greatness, the sophistication of the largest mind within the universe, as previously specified, can serve as a lower bound. We distinguish between two different cosmological models, regarding the expansion of the universe, and furthermore between the existence and the non-existence of an actual infinite. Second, we study what common theistic arguments, such as the modal ontological argument, the Kalam cosmological argument and the teleological argument, imply about the mind of God.
In summary, we conclude that the underlying models of cosmology and information-processing are crucial when it comes to understanding the information architecture of minds, be it rocks, frogs, bots, or Gods.