[FRIAM] new directions at the michael levin lab
steve smith
sasmyth at swcp.com
Mon Jun 17 15:35:24 EDT 2024
I'm loving the fact of the recent news around what might be the first
computer game?
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/06/retired-engineer-discovers-55-year-old-bug-in-lunar-lander-computer-game-code/
I don't know how the backwater HS I went to (Douglas AZ) in the early
70s acquired a PDP-8 but the (Chemistry) teacher who ran the Basic
programming labs used the original Teletype version of Lunar Lander as
an example of the potential. I was building Popular Electronics
prescribed video-signal injectors to add Chiron text to a standard
(NTSC) video signal and working at an AM radio station which had an
entirely relay/mechanical based "programmable" automation system which
allowed me to arrange the "playlists" to be anywhere from entirely
predictable to pseudo-random (scrambled by the beat frequency between
various song lengths and the patchboard logic which decided with of 4
carousels of infinite loop 4-track tapes to play next. In principle I
could set up an entire hour of auto-play of music, PSAs and
commercials. This also felt like a "computer game" in it's own way.
One of my first assignments in my first "computer graphics" class was to
re-implement Lunar Lander on a Tektronix storage-screen (green-screen
etch-a-sketch) (circa 1978)... vector refresh video games were already
common (asteroid and battlezone and a few others?)...
I find it very difficult to separate (predictive) simulation from video
games excepting the details of interface and seriousness of simulation
subject.
On 6/17/24 9:09 AM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
>
> I’ve never been able to understand people that play or write video
> games. There’s one game some colleagues were playing that simulated
> navigating academia and becoming a PI. People like nursing their
> PTSD? Ick.
>
> *From:*Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Roger Critchlow
> *Sent:* Sunday, June 16, 2024 2:53 PM
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> <friam at redfish.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] new directions at the michael levin lab
>
> My older daughter knows Baba Is You, she says it's very interesting in
> a tear down the boxes sort of way.
>
> -- rec --
>
> On Sun, Jun 16, 2024 at 1:44 PM Frank Wimberly <wimberly3 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Like. I have grandkids ranging in age from 3 to 27. I wonder if
> I'll have great grandkids. My adult grandsons' girlfriends think
> babies are "disgusting". I hope many others in their generation
> feel differently.
>
> ---
> Frank C. Wimberly
> 140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
> Santa Fe, NM 87505
>
> 505 670-9918
> Santa Fe, NM
>
> On Sun, Jun 16, 2024, 12:59 PM steve smith <sasmyth at swcp.com> wrote:
>
> This is all so apropos of my quest to provide "elder advice"
> to my children (40-somethings), nieces/nephews
> (30-somethings), and grandchildren (5, 12)... I know (most)
> everything I experienced/learned a half-century ago is only
> marginally relevant as most of what my parents/grandparents
> tried to pack me up were both sage and ill-advised at the same
> time...
>
> I'll be passing this down a generation or two...
>
> On 6/16/24 9:35 AM, Roger Critchlow wrote:
>
> Interesting post on hackernews today. Michael Levin is
> arguing that a video puzzle game, Baba Is You
> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Is_You or
> https://hempuli.com/baba/), is good preparation for
> working in his lab.
>
> What’s cool about this puzzle game (besides the fact
> that it’s challenging and fun) is that it gets you to
> break a number of mental categories and think more
> continuously and fluidly about topics relevant to the
> understanding of life and mind. Among other things, it
> dissolves barriers between data and algorithm, between
> a cognitive system and its contents, and gets you to
> think differently. People often ask me what kind of
> preparation they need to join our lab; I think I’ll
> put this game on that list. It’s a good introduction
> to the relevant mental flexibility, especially given
> our latest directions
> <https://drmichaellevin.org/research/newdirections.html>.
> Hofstadter’s incredible, classic GEB
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach> is
> another such.
>
> -- rec --
>
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