Yet Another Mathematical Proof of God

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!

Fun with IPython

Recently I had to git-rename (move) a few files according to a simple pattern (prepend "test_" to the name if it ends in ".py") and my shell fu had become rusty.  I wanted to do it in Python.

Enter IPython and its wonderful facility for mixing a little bit of shell goodness into your Python code.  Look what worked:

In [3]: fs = !ls

In [4]: fs
Out[4]: ['base.py', 'cache', '__init__.py', 'rss.py', 'util.py']

In [5]: for fn in fs:
   ...:     if fn.endswith('.py'):
   ...:         dest = 'test_' + fn
   ...:         !git mv $fn $dest
   ...:        

In [6]: !ls
cache  test_base.py  test___init__.py  test_rss.py  test_util.py

Neat, huh?

Stallman is Correct

• Confusion around the GPL and its purpose
• Many folk writing fine FOSS software are condemning GPL et. al. for being what it is designed to be.
• Indicates misunderstanding of fundamental purpose.
• The GPL is a weapon.
• Meant to curb anti-social behavior on the part of people who will not do it voluntarily.
• Fools vs. Genius
• Making money is not the same thing as creating value.
• Non-physical restrictions on copying bit-patterns attempt to create an artificial scarcity.
• As foolish as attempts to legislate the value of Pi.
• People are foolishly introducing want and lack where none previously existed.
• They're not creating value but rather interfering with it, restricting it.
•  But what about the starving artists!?
• Bucky calculated that we would be able to work two years and retire, having paid for our living for the rest of our lives in those two years, by sometime in the 1970's.
• The trick is we have to align our technology with our needs efficiently.
• If we align our technology with our actual needs we should expect a nearly Utopian system to happen automatically.
• We make a system where nobody starves, artist or otherwise.
• The solution to the starving artist problem is global. Nobody starves.
• It doesn't solve the human condition, but it does alter the set of daily problems with which we all must cope.
• Do we want to be miserable and venal, or joyful and abundant?
• Understanding the GPL and its purpose in light of the larger context and sweep of history is essential to the "Open Source" movement and to the very spirit of being a hacker.
• Hackers are very much warriors against fear and lack and sorrow and the myriad miseries of human history.
• The GPL is a weapon to prevent ignorant or anti-social people from using the value you create as a "hook" to ensnare people into artificial dependence.
•  The only obstacles are in our minds.
• The technology exists to create an abundant Utopian physical environment for everyone.
• Emotional problems- tons of solutions EFT, Kindness, Prayer, etc. We have that "technology" too.
• Ignorance
• Not enough people simply know that this is possible. Now YOU are one of the ones who do.
• The GPL is a part of this, that's why it is designed the way it is, and that's why it's ludicrous to criticize it in ignorance of its purpose.
• Will. Choose life, love, abundance, joy, happiness and well-being. Choose GPL.

NoSQL (which should be NoRM, but that's silly) is actually NoACID

ACID-compliance and the Relational Model are orthogonal and it would be unfortunate to throw out the baby of a mature and well-known data modeling ecosystem with the bathwater of unscalable constraints on data access.

Scaling your database becomes crucial as number of simultaneous clients you're attempting to serve begins to ramp up exponentially. A modern web app can make ridiculous demands on the software even with powerful servers running it.

As a reaction to the limits of ACID-compliance in scalable data storage people have begun to use new tools collectively referred to as "NoSQL".

The "NoSQL movement" is a name for the general recognition that RMDB solutions were beginning to seem overwhelmed by the task.  Lots of interesting and useful software has grown up to fill the perceived gap. But as this has happened, many folk who maybe should know better but are blissfully unaware that SQL (a Query Language) is not and has never been the same thing as RM, the Relational Model, have, in the push for scalable data storage, largely overlooked the benefits of RM.

Mapping real-world phenomenon into digital representation is still a very open field. It's not really possible to capture reality in digital form. Our best efforts to come should not be expected to involve disregard for the best efforts of the brilliant people who have come before us.

Building a data storage system in ignorance of Cobb is like building a theory of physics in ignorance of Newton.

You might be able to do it, but why?

Wealth in an Age of Ecological Turmoil

The times they are a changing. We want to live abundant lives, but the current crop of consumer products and their attendant manufacturing and distribution bases are destroying our Mother Earth. How can we justify wealth-seeking in a time when the material badges of that wealth are themselves anti-life?

Local Sustainable "Consumption"
The first piece of the puzzle of reconciling wealth and abundance with sustainable practices is your commitment to "source" your material goods and services from local sustainable producers.

Buying from local sustainable producers saves resources and prevents destruction of the Earth's bounty. If the producers then also buy locally the effect of your spending choice is multiplied.

Ideally, everyone involved in the production of your consumer products would be using sustainable methods and materials. The physical buildings and other infrastructure would be constructed and maintained in sustainable ways, with sustainable materials.

By factoring in our social requirements to our purchasing decisions we can easily signal the business world to adapt themselves to supporting a healthy and long-term life. Most of them already want to, they just need the economic gateways opened up for them by our ready dollars.

Spiritual Wealth
The very nature of wealth is changing. Old fashioned ideas of wealth based primarily on status symbols and ability to command the productive capacity of your fellows are rapidly failing.

Material items don't improve your happiness once you've reached a certain "norm". Your need for personal growth can't be fed by any increase in trinkets. The solution to existential malaise takes the form of moving beyond yourself, of trying to be a better person, a greater human being.

So we find ourselves talking about spiritual wealth, and here we have a plethora of sound advice and guides. Reach out to your fellow earthlings and serve them, engender episodes of warmth and human compassion in daily life. Let your existence become a poem of service and kindness. This is a sure path to true wealth.

Imagine that you're an eco-entrepreneur. Perhaps you bake bread with local ingredients. In comes a new customer and, with a smile on her face, she buys some of your bread. Now, granted there's an equitable exchange going on there, but can't you imagine that you'd feel a bit like that person had done you a good turn?

When you patronize responsible businesses that are competing with irresponsible ones you are, in no small measure, serving the whole world. You still need to do more than shop responsibly to be a good person, but it is a simple way to bring spiritual values into your life.


If we make the decision to buy goods and services that are created in harmony with the systems of the Earth, and if we go beyond material abundance to the true wealth of the spirit, then the drive to live well can be harnessed in a healthy manner and become, not part of the problem, but part of the solution.

Scrollback on Screen

Hit ctrl-a [ and you're in scroll "cut and paste" mode, ESC to return to normal mode.

• GNU Screen: an introduction and beginner's tutorial || kuro5hin.org
• How to scroll in GNU Screen - Sofeng's Blog
• GNU Screen - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation

Honda's next-generation thin film solar cells

From a flash Honda "press piece" that shows off information and photos of their new thin film solar panel technology:

Honda's next-generation thin film solar cells achieve approximately a 50 percent reduction in the amount of energy consumed during the manufacturing process.