Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagMelvin Vopson

ai-sim-city
photorealistic smoke sim in a sci-fi/knolling case - AI Generated
Type
post
Author
News
Date
January 8, 2023
Categorized
Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Physics
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A Physicist Rejects the Idea That We Live in a Sim Universe

At IAI News, Marcelo Gleiser worries that the claim that we are simulated beings with no free will reduces our ability to tackle the problems humanity faces
News
January 8, 2023
5
Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Physics

Dartmouth College physicist Marcelo Gleiser insists that the reality in which we live is not a simulation by advanced aliens or other intelligences — and that the fact that it isn’t is important. As the summary of his essay at IAI News explains, The idea that we are living in a simulation has become commonplace. Elon Musk, for example, thinks it is almost certain we are living in a simulation. But the simulation hypothesis comes up against insurmountable problems, and is, in the end, an excuse for us not to sort out our real moral failings… Marcelo Gleiser, “Reality is not a simulation and why it matters” at IAI News (January 4, 2023) The “simulation” idea may sound pretty far-fetched Read More ›

math-equations-of-artificial-intelligence-ai-deep-learning-computer-program-technology-illustration-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock
Math Equations of Artificial intelligence AI deep learning computer program technology - illustration rendering
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 12, 2022
Categorized
Information Theory, Mathematics
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Does Information Have Mass? An Experimental Physicist Weighs In

Physicist Melvin Vopson argues that information has mass; Eric Holloway replies that, if so, it must come from outside the universe. Meanwhile…
News
April 12, 2022
4
Information Theory, Mathematics

It’s generally held that information does not have mass. However, physicist Melvin Vopson, reflecting on the work of Rolf Landauer (1927–1999), offers a somewhat alarming view: Not only does information have mass but that — at the rate we humans output it now — its energy will outweigh Earth. Yesterday, Eric Holloway offered a response to that claim: Let’s accept that creation of information can indeed increase the amount of energy and mass in a system. But, according to the conservation of energy, the energy in a closed system remains constant. So, if Vopson is correct we now have a mystery because his theory is in tension with the conservation of energy. The only solution is that the system is Read More ›

visualization-of-virtual-world-stockpack-adobe-stock
Visualization of Virtual World
Type
post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
April 11, 2022
Categorized
Information Theory
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Does Information Weigh Something After All? What If It Does?

At the rate we create information today, one physicist computes that in 350 years, the energy will outweigh the atoms of Earth
Eric Holloway
April 11, 2022
4
Information Theory

In the 1960s, IBM researcher Rolf Landauer (1927–1999) observed that if the logical information in a computational system decreased, then the physical entropy in the system must increase (Landauer’s Principle). This conclusion follows from the principle that the entropy in a closed system can never decrease. A decrease in the logical information corresponds to a decrease in entropy. And factoring in the principle that the entropy cannot actually decrease, the physical system itself must increase in entropy when the information decreases. This increase in entropy will result in the emission of heat, and a reduction of energy in the system. Now Melvin Vopson, a physicist at the University of Portsmouth, has taken Landauer’s principle to the next logical step. He Read More ›

Dark matter black and white abstract background
Type
post
Author
News
Date
January 24, 2020
Categorized
Mathematics, Philosophy of Mind
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Could Information Be — at Long Last — the Missing Dark Matter?

Materialist thinkers may need to see information as material, whether that approach fits information or not
News
January 24, 2020
5
Mathematics, Philosophy of Mind

There is no evidence that information is dark matter or that consciousness is physical but materialists understandably long for evidence that would make their theory more viable.

Read More ›