^TagRandomness

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 27, 2023

Categorized
Information Theory

Tagged
Biology, Computers, Darwinism, Evolution, evolving systems, Information Theory, Randomness, teleological view of nature, telos}

Directed Goals in Living and Evolving Systems

_{Nearly every action that an organism does is for something.} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 27, 2023

9

Information Theory}

Teleology is the technical term for goal-directedness, especially when describing living systems. Teleology has been problematic in the sciences because of the amount of hand-waving that teleology has historically allowed. From the outside, it is difficult to tell if something happened because it was intended or if it just happened to be beneficial. Determining the precise goal can be problematic, even if an action is goal-directed. It is easy to construct a story about why an organism does an action, but how do we ascertain whether this story is true? When are attributions of teleology science, and when does it degenerate to mere invention? Additionally, the lack of ability to measure goal-directedness has often placed teleology in the realm of storytelling instead of science. Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
October 28, 2021

Tagged
algorithm, algorithmic specified complexity, Analog computers, anthropic principle, Anthropic Principles, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Artificial Intelligence, causation, Claude Shannon, Correlation, Correlation vs. causation, Creativity, dead man syndrome, design in nature, evolutionary computing, informaiton, information science, Information Theory, Intelligent Design, Jacob Bernoulli, Kolmogorov information, Meaningless correlations, Norbert Wiener, physical information, Randomness, Robert J. Marks, Rolf Landauer, Shannon information, Specified Complexity, survival of the fittest}

Define Information Before You Talk About It: Egnor Interviews Marks

_{Michael Egnor

October 28, 2021

2}

Has anyone ever given you some useless information? What does it even mean for information to be meaningful? This week, on Mind Matters News, guest host Dr. Michael Egnor interviews our own Robert J. Marks about information, as well as the creative limits of artificial intelligence, and why evolutionary algorithms aren’t the magic bullet they’re often presented to be. Show Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
August 31, 2021

Categorized
Science

Tagged
Randomness}

Why Is Randomness A Good Model, But Not A Good Explanation?

_{After all, random processes are used all the time to model things in science} _{Eric Holloway

August 31, 2021

5

Science}

The previous article I wrote about randomness proved quite controversial. After all, random processes are used all the time to model things in science. How can I say randomness is not a scientific explanation? Let me first make a distinction between a model and an explanation. A model shows us how some physical thing operates, but it does not explain the cause of the thing. An explanation, on the other hand, tries to explain the cause. But surely if we can effectively model something with randomness, then randomness must also be part of the causal explanation for the thing? Well, not so fast. Let’s look at how we model randomness with computers. Computers themselves are not random in the slightest. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
August 9, 2021

Categorized
Science

Tagged
Andrey Kolmogorov, Gregory Chaitin, Origin of life, Randomness, Ray Solomonoff}

Randomness is Not a Scientific Explanation

_{We can never know if anything is truly random} _{Eric Holloway

August 9, 2021

2

Science}

It is common in the sciences to claim aspects of our universe are random: In evolution, mutations are random. In quantum physics, the wave collapse is random. In biology, much of the genome is random. In business theory, organizational ecologists state new ideas are random. There is a general idea that everything new has its origins in randomness. This is because within our current philosophy of science, the two fundamental causes in our universe boil down to randomness and necessity. Since necessity never creates anything new, then by process of elimination the source of newness must be randomness. Similar to how the ancient Greeks believed the universe originated from chaos. Here’s the irony of the view that whatever is unique Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 20, 2021

Categorized
Information Theory, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
Ascent of Information (book), Caleb Scharf, dataome, Frank Knight, free will, Freebits, Ghost in the Quantum Turing Machine (essay), Knightian uncertainty, qubits, Randomness, Scott Aaronson}

Freebits: An Interesting Argument From the Big Bang for Free Will

_{There are two types of uncertainty, we learn, only one of which could create free will} _{News

June 20, 2021

5

Information Theory, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

Caleb Scharf (pictured), author of The Ascent of Information (2021), offers an excerpt at Nautilus that introduces two new terms, the “dataome” and “freebits.” The dataome is all the ways human beings create information, from cave paintings to cloud servers. He asks, “Was all of this really inevitable? Did we ever have a choice in creating a dataome or doing any of the things we do, and does any self-aware entity in the universe have a choice either?” Relying on theoretical computer scientist Scott Aaronson’s 2013 essay, “The Ghost in the Quantum Turing Machine,” he asks us to consider that there are two types of uncertainty, only one of which could create choice. Typical “randomness” actually follows statistical laws, a Read More ›

Real Php code developing screen. Programing workflow abstract algorithm concept. Lines of Php code visible under magnifying lens.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 15, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Programming

Tagged
Compression (of information), Featured, Gregory Chaitin, Hector Zenil, Kolmogorov complexity, Marvin Minsky, Paul Vitanyi, Randomness, Ray Solomonoff, Robert J. Marks}

How did Ray Solomonoff Kickstart Algorithmic Information Theory?

_{He started off the long pursuit of the shortest effective string of information that describes an object} _{News

March 15, 2021

10

Artificial Intelligence, Programming}

In last week’s podcast,, “The Chaitin Interview II: Defining Randomness,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed mathematician and computer scientist Gregory Chaitin on how best to describe true randomness but also on what he recalls of Ray Solomonoff (1926–2009), described in his obit as the “Founding Father of algorithmic information theory.” https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-125-Gregory-Chaitin.mp3 This portion begins at 10:30 min. A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Gregory Chaitin (pictured): Ray Solomonoff was interested in prediction but I was more interested in looking at a given string of bits and asking, does it have structure or not, and the incompleteness results regarding this question. For example, most strings of bits have no structure, according to this definition. They Read More ›

Infinite random numbers, original 3d rendering background, technology and science concepts

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 12, 2021

Categorized
Mathematics, Programming

Tagged
Algorithmic Information Theory, David Hilbert, Discours de Metaphysique (book), Featured, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Gregory Chaitin, Hermann Weyl, Incompleteness (information theory), Karl Popper, Logic of Scientific Discovery (book), Randomness, Randomness (definitions), Robert J. Marks}

Chaitin’s Discovery of a Way of Describing True Randomness

_{He found that concepts from computer programming worked well because, if the data is not random, the program should be smaller than the data} _{News

March 12, 2021

12

Mathematics, Programming}

In this week’s podcast, “The Chaitin Interview II: Defining Randomness,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed mathematician and computer scientist Gregory Chaitin on randomness. It’s a subject on which Chaitin has thought deeply since his teenage years (!), when he published a journal paper on the subject. How do we measure randomness? Chaitin begins by reflecting on his 1969 paper: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-125-Gregory-Chaitin.mp3 This portion begins at 1:12 min. A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Gregory Chaitin: In particular, my paper looks at the size of computer programs in bits. More technically you ask, what is the size in bits of the smallest computer program you need to calculate a given digital object? That’s called the program Read More ›

Close up cute little child girl spinning a coin to make decision. Heads or tails game.

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
March 11, 2021

Tagged
Algorithmic Information Theory, Computer science, Fermat's Last Theorem, Gregory Chaitin, Kurt Gödel, Mathematics, Randomness}

The Chaitin Interview II: Defining Randomness

_{Robert J. Marks

March 11, 2021

2}

In the 1960s, mathematician and computer scientist Gregory Chaitin published a landmark paper in the field of algorithmic information theory in the Journal of the ACM – and he was only a teenager. Listen in as Robert J. Marks explores that paper with Chaitin, covering Chaitin’s definition of randomness and his philosophical interest in algorithmic information theory. Show Notes 00:27 Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
January 21, 2021

Tagged
algorithm, algorithmic specified complexity, anthropic principle, Artificial Intelligence, dead man syndrome, evolutionary computing, Information, Intelligent Design, no free lunch theorem, Randomness, survival of the fittest}

Robert J. Marks On AI Evolutionary Computing (Part III)

_{Michael Egnor

January 21, 2021

2}

Can artificial intelligence algorithms prove Darwinian evolution? Why won’t some scientists admit the design inherent in evolutionary computing? Do random processes disprove intelligent design? Dr. Michael Egnor discusses evolutionary computing, the no free lunch theorem, and the role of purpose in chance with Dr. Robert J. Marks. Show Notes 00:41 | Introducing Dr. Robert J. Marks 01:10 | The role Read More ›

burst set of random numbers glowing on a black background

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
December 8, 2020

Categorized
Data Privacy, Science

Tagged
Enrique Blair, Entanglement, Featured, photons, Quantum communications, Quantum Computing, quantum encryption, Random numbers, Randomness, Robert J. Marks}

How Spooky “Quantum Collapse” Can Give Us More Secure Encryption

_{If entangled photons linked to random numbers are transmitted, parties on either end can know, via high error rates, that they’ve been intercepted.} _{News

December 8, 2020

7

Data Privacy, Science}

In a recent podcast, “Enrique Blair on quantum computing,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks talks with fellow computer engineer Enrique Blair about why quantum mechanics is so strange but important to our future. They discussed “quantum communication” (generally, quantum encryption) and why safer quantum encryption might be easier to achieve than general quantum computing. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-110-Enrique-Blair.mp3 The discussion of quantum communication begins at approximately 55:32. The Show Notes and transcript follow. Robert J. Marks: I know there’s lots of interesting quantum communication today. The NSF and the Department of Defense are throwing big bucks at it. What is it, just roughly? Enrique Blair: Quantum communication really is the use of quantum mechanics to share information in a secure manner. Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
November 26, 2020

Tagged
Adiabatic Quantum Computing, double-slit experiment, Encryption, Enrique Blair, Erwin Schrödinger, Google, IBM, John Polkinghorne, Moore's Law, Nobel Prize in Physics, nonlocality, optimization, photoelectric effect, photons, Physics, Planck, Quantum bits, Quantum Collapse, Quantum Computing, quantum decoherence, Quantum Dots, Quantum Entanglement, Quantum Indeterminacy, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics, quantum superposition, Quantum Supremacy, qubits, Randomness, Ray Kurzweil, Reclaiming Conversation (book), Schrödinger, superluminal, wave function, wave-particle duality, Werner Heisenberg}

Bingecast: Enrique Blair on Quantum Computing

_{Robert J. Marks

November 26, 2020

2}

What is quantum mechanics? What can quantum computers do that classical computers can’t? Has Google achieved quantum supremacy? Robert J. Marks discusses the weird world of quantum mechanics with Dr. Enrique Blair. Show Notes 00:54 | Introducing Dr. Enrique Blair, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Baylor University 03:08 | The history of quantum mechanics 13:16 | Quantum Read More ›

upset sick mature woman in kerchief looking at smiling reflection in mirror, cancer concept

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
November 9, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health

Tagged
Cancer causes, Cancer cluster, Cancer fortress, Cancer maps, Featured, Phantom patterns, Randomness}

Cancer Maps—An Expensive Source of Phantom Patterns?

_{Is the money the U.S. government spends on tracking cancer patterns a good investment? There’s a way we can tell} _{Gary Smith

November 9, 2020

6

Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health}

The U.S. government puts interactive maps on the internet that show the geographic incidence (all the way down to census blocks) of various types of cancer. Millions of dollars are spent each year maintaining these maps, but for what purpose? The problem with cancer maps is that they tempt the curious and fearful to scrutinize the brightly colored chunks, thinking that any patterns they discover must be meaningful. However, statistical patterns are sometimes meaningless. For example, I flipped a coin ten times and got these results: There is a cluster of 3 heads in a row and a cluster of 4 tails in a row: These clusters are not at all surprising. If a fair coin is flipped ten times, Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 6, 2020

Tagged
Adiabatic Quantum Computing, Encryption, Enrique Blair, Google, IBM, optimization, Quantum bits, Quantum Collapse, Quantum communication, Quantum Computing, Quantum Entanglement, Quantum Indeterminacy, Quantum Supremacy, qubits, Randomness}

Enrique Blair on the Future of Quantum Computing

_{Robert J. Marks

February 6, 2020

1}

Google has claimed quantum supremacy. What does that mean? What is the future of quantum computing? Robert J. Marks discusses quantum communication, supremacy, and computing with Dr. Enrique Blair. Show Notes 00:49 | Introducing Dr. Enrique Blair, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Baylor University 01:14 | Problems with quantum computing 01:54 | What is quantum supremacy? 03:06 Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
January 20, 2020

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Mathematics

Tagged
Bridge (game), Randomness}

Bridge: Why Shuffle the Deck Seven Times?

_{For years, competitive bridge players complained that computer shuffling of cards produced goofy results. Statisticians sided with the computers} _{Gary Smith

January 20, 2020

6

Arts & Culture, Mathematics}

Bridge is one of the few games where computer algorithms have not yet demolished the best human players but, despite claims to the contrary, algorithms do a much better job of random shuffling of the deck.

How Can We Measure Meaningful Information?

_{Neither randomness nor order alone creates meaning. So how can we identify communications?} _{Eric Holloway

December 27, 2018

4

Machine Learning}

Dropping a handful of toothpicks on the table seems to produce a different sort of pattern than spelling out a word with toothpicks. Surprisingly, this intuitive distinction is harder to make in math and the sciences. Algorithmic specified complexity (ASC) enables us to distinguish them. Read More ›