[ExI] simulation as an improvement over reality.

Eugen Leitl eugen at leitl.org
Sat Jan 1 18:24:48 UTC 2011


On Sat, Jan 01, 2011 at 12:20:58PM -0500, Mike Dougherty wrote:

> Sure, a perfect copy... But we can only asymptotically approach a
> perfect copy.  If we can accept that fact then we should discuss what

My next argument in this chain is that you don't need an atom-perfect
copy for an information-encoding object. The makeup of a particular
optical disk doesn't matter if it ships the same software version,
is in fact bit-identical. The color of the case of the synchronized
computers running the same program installed from the above disk
is irrelevant to the program running on it. In fact, the programs
can't know the case color is different, unless you supply that 
information, at which stage the synchronization boundary condition
takes hold, and witholds that information from one copy, or otherwise
ABENDs due to WHOOP WHOOP STATE BIFURCATION DETECTED WHOOP WHOOP.  

> constitutes a "good enough" copy.  In most cases I assume good enough
> is able to fool everyone that I need the copy to fool.  So early on,
> I'll have a copy that's good enough to fool SPAM; then I'll have a
> copy that's good enough to fool you-all on this discussion list that
> I'm me despite the fact that I'm a copy of me; then I won't even have
> to show up at obligatory family get-togethers because the copy will
> fool everyone except me.  Clearly I'm always ME, so the impersonator
> must necessarily be the damned copy.  Of course, the copy will feel
> the same way about me/us.  (after all, we think alike)

An synchronized copy doesn't just think alike, it thinks exactly
in unison. So you can't fool anybody else while you're fooling me.
The input is the exactly the same, the internal state is exactly
the same, the evolution at each clock tick is exactly the same,
the output is exactly the same.

Exact copies are terribly boring, terribly fragile things. They're
known as hot failover in HA circles. Divergence is default.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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