[FRIAM] computer models of the mind

[Phil Henshaw]

It was a beautiful response, though, both fascinating history and a
great example of the history dependence of the natural design process.
Can you separate things from how they evolve by any means but loosing
sight of them?
 
 

Phil Henshaw                       ¸¸¸¸.·´ ¯ `·.¸¸¸¸
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-----Original Message-----
From: friam-bounces at redfish.com [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] On
Behalf Of Douglas Roberts
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 1:21 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] computer models of the mind


You're starting to have too much fun with this, Roger.

;-]


On 7/19/06, Roger Critchlow <rec at elf.org> wrote: 

On 7/19/06, Robert Holmes <robert at holmesacosta.com
<mailto:robert at holmesacosta.com> > wrote:
> Not strictly true I think. Sure, Linux can't run without a PC but does
that
> mean it can't exist without one? Linux started its existence in
Torvalds'
> head before it appeared on a CPU and if all CPUs vanished tomorrow it
would 
> still exist in his and other experts heads.
>

There's a funny sort of ontology here.

Linus wrote Linux because he was inspired by Andrew Tanenbaum's Minix.
Andrew Tanenbaum developed Minix on a PC using Coherent, a UNIX clone 
from the Mark Williams Company, because it provided the necessary
tools.  It also provided an existence proof, but he didn't really need
that.  Coherent was the brainchild of Bob Swartz, but it was
originally developed on a DEC PDP-11 and ported to the Zilog Z8000 
before the 8086 or the IBM PC existed.  The Mark Williams Company
itself was originally a subsidiary of Embosograph founded to market a
7-Up knockoff soft drink formula called Dr. Enuf.  Coherent was
written by a core of students from the University of Waterloo, working 
in Chicago under sometimes questionable immigration status.  The work
took place in a huge brick building at 1430 West Wrightwood which had
the word Teletype engraved over the entrances.  But the only
profitable part of this family commercial empire was Embosograph 
itself and its profits derived from the manufacture of plastic beer
signs, embossed graphics on plastic augmented by lights and waterfall
illusions.

So beer rating, or the rating of the fizzy alcoholic beverage which 
many americans call beer, is where Linux started.

-- rec --

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-- 
Doug Roberts, RTI International
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