<div dir="auto">On the way to Friam I said to Nick.  Turing Machines don't know anything.  They may store representations of knowledge.  I further said that a photograph also represents knowledge.  For example, the number of floors of a given building.  Most people would be puzzled by the question, "What does a photo know?"<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">There were multiple parallel conversations after we arrived.  I don't recall additional discussions about what Turing Machines know.<br><br><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="auto">-----------------------------------<br>Frank Wimberly<br><br>My memoir:<br><a href="https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly">https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly</a><br><br>My scientific publications:<br><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2">https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2</a><br><br>Phone (505) 670-9918</div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Apr 26, 2019, 8:06 PM Russ Abbott <<a href="mailto:russ.abbott@gmail.com">russ.abbott@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Nick, I can't believe you are asking such a question -- unless by "know" you mean something very different from the common understanding. No computer <i>knows</i> anything, although it may have lots of stored information. (<i>Information </i>is meant in the Shannon sense.) </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">For example, Oxford <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/knowledge" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">defines</a> knowledge as "<span style="color:rgb(42,42,42);font-family:"Open Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px">Facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject." This is distinct from, for example, having access to an encyclopedia--or even </span><span style="color:rgb(42,42,42);font-family:"Open Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px">having</span><span style="color:rgb(42,42,42);font-family:"Open Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"> </span><span style="color:rgb(42,42,42);font-family:"Open Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px">memorized the contents of one. Turing machines, and computers in general, do not have an <i>understanding </i>of anything--even though they may have lots of Shannon-style information (which <i>we </i>understand as) related to some subject.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">(Like Glen, though, I am interested in the results, if any, of this morning's meeting.)</div><div><div dir="ltr" class="m_4059499727791667914gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><font><u style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16.5px;line-height:20px"><br></u></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font><u style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16.5px;line-height:20px"> </u></font><span style="color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16.5px;line-height:24.75px"> </span>-- Russ Abbott                                       <br>Professor, Computer Science<br>California State University, Los Angeles<br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Apr 26, 2019 at 2:38 PM uǝlƃ ☣ <<a href="mailto:gepropella@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">gepropella@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">What was the result of this morning's conversation?<br>
<br>
On 4/25/19 10:50 PM, Nick Thompson wrote:<br>
> What does a Turing Machine know?<br>
<br>
<br>
-- <br>
☣ uǝlƃ<br>
<br>
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