Gödel Machines give us a mathematical way to define the ineffable but fundamental rightness that maximizes one's benefit while maximally serving and supporting the entire Universe.
It seems like He's everywhere these days.
From
a post on the
VPRI mailing list I learned of the
Gödel Machine, a Turing machine loaded with an axiom solver and an
axiomatized description of itself, hardware + software (including the
solver software) that can make "provably optimal self-improvements"
.
Given a
utility function that can let the solver solve for whether a course
of action (self-modification) will improve some utility metric (shorter
runtime, lighter memory usage, whatever) the machine can decide to
rewrite itself to optimize that metric.
It's a general self-optimizing problem-solver.
Go look, it's amazing
Once the alternating waves of terror and elation subsided a little I had a curious idea.
How to decide what utility function to give to the machine? What
is the utility of the utility? What is the most useful way to become more useful?
How to optimize the optimization of optimizing?
Obviously this is one of those self-referential functions that
becomes totally abstract when detached from a specific “self”
with specific “goals” that can admit of optimization. Or does
it?
If, as seems unavoidable, the entire Universe is a great quantum
computer, then it must be just such a GM, and, since there's no place
outside the Universe for the fitness function to reside, it must also
be part of the GM's (self-optimizable) program.
So what is the Universe optimizing?
The only property that makes sense, across all known phenomenon,
is
time. The Universe is optimizing its own duration, it's
optimizing Eternity.
The Universe can be said to be that program which, when run across
all possible universes, results in itself (and this includes all
physical and quantum variables or what-have-you what-so-ever,
including time.)
Obviously the Universe must compute
your optimal “path”
too just like the spiritual folk have been saying all along.
In fact, there's an old Sanskrit word for this Universal (and
deeply personal) self-optimizing function:
Dharma
Mathematically, in the context of the GM machine you could say:
ॐ = ॐ(ॐ)
Biological organisms exhibit this property vividly: Life is a
chemical tautology, there's no meaning to the geometric
perambulations of the molecules and therefore no purpose. In the
absence of purpose there can be no measurement of
efficiency. The
only thing governing the chemical process is therefore
endurance.
Those systems which continue will tend to continue over time because
they continue, they optimize the optimizing of continuing, they are
the Dharma function.
Keep in mind that the chemical Dharma function has, apparently,
made
you, whatever you are, and now
you are on the hot seat
as far as carrying on the game.
Tag! You're it!
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