The Algorithmic Mind and the Limits of Computation
On this bingecast archive episode of Mind Matters News, guest host Pat Flynn welcomes Dr. Winston Ewert to the show to discuss Ewert’s chapter in the volume Minding the Brain.
In his contribution, titled “The Human Mind’s Sophisticated Algorithm and Its Implications,” Dr. Ewert argues that the human mind’s problem-solving cognition can be modeled as a sophisticated algorithm. Ewert explains that any cognitive task can be expressed as a version of the halting problem from computer science, where an algorithm either halts or continues infinitely. He suggests that humans are able to solve a large and sophisticated subset of these problems, but are limited in the same way that no algorithm can solve all halting problems. Ewert contends that this algorithmic view of human cognition has implications that challenge reductive materialist and neo-Darwinian views, despite resistance from some thinkers who believe human abilities transcend any algorithm.
Dr. Ewert also explores the implications of likening human cognition to a sophisticated algorithm. Ewert contends that an algorithm can only construct an algorithm less sophisticated than itself. This poses challenges for views like the “singularity” hypothesis that predict exponentially increasing artificial intelligence. Ewert’s argument suggests there are limits to how intelligent an artificial intelligence can become, and that something beyond an algorithm must be responsible for creating human-level intelligence.
Additional Resources
Get a copy of the book Minding the Brain: Models of the Mind, Information, and Empirical Science.
Related: Check out Dr. Ewert’s latest book The Heavens, The Waters, and the Partridge.
