[extropy-chat] Self replicating computer programs ?

[Emlyn O'regan]

> > 
> > I don't know why that would be a requirement for anything;
> > someone always needs to press the "go" button, if that's 
> > what you mean.
> > 
> > What about the various viruses & worms? Don't these 
> > count?
> 
> Seems to me that the notion that self-replication programs
> are the existence proof for the feasibility of self-replicating
> molecular assemblers and for artificial intelligence is suspect
> if self-replicating programs don't in fact exist. 

ok

> 
> Are viruses and worms good existence proofs of the 
> feasibility of either artificial intelligence or self-replicating
> nano-assemblers?  I don't think so.  This doesn't mean
> that artificial intelligence or assemblers are impossible like
> perpetual motion machines. It just makes me question the
> utility of viruses and worms and other software as a case
> for AI and for nano-assembler feasibility. 

Wait, you've shifted ground here. There's no doubt that viruses and worms
are self replicating. They definitely make copies of themselves, in
entirety. That's self replication. They don't need to be intelligent to
behave like this, and I didn't think that was the issue.

> 
> Perhaps we don't need truly fully "self-replicating" at all.
> 
> Regards,
> Brett
> 

It depends what you mean by "truly fully". I don't think MNT is a
discontinuity without self replication. But as others have said, the kind of
stuff we posit MNT being able to make should trivially include assemblers
themselves, thus we get self replication for free (just as we do with
computer programs).

Emlyn