Re: Computers and Conspiracies

[stevewallis <stevewallis@supanet.com>]

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lsi accidentally replied to the list, so I might as well reply to the list
too.

He pointed out:
> First off, the zipped and gzipped versions of SDML 4.1 are not on
> ftp://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/sdml/

Yes, the "ftp" program is meant to automatically compress the ".im" file
when a user attempts to fetch a compressed version of the file. This is not
working now and I don't know why. Fetching the uncompressed file seems to
work, but is obviously slower. If you have Windows, then you can fetch the
set-up program (which contains compressed versions of the basic SDML image
and the tutorial) as lsi has done anyway.

I am off work now and my access to my university account is disabled :-( so
I can't fix it. It doesn't look as though I'll ever be back in that job (my
contract runs out at the end of February and my boss, Scott Moss, doesn't
want to renew it; I could probably win an industrial tribunal since my boss
is clearly victimising me on political grounds but I don't particularly want
the job back so I probably won't fight for it).

Bruce Edmonds, who does the stuff on memetics is an (inactive) anarchist and
I have got on very well with him (and he has helped hide some political
stuff I'd been doing from my boss so I think he is on the side of the
working class in the conspiracies that are going on).

Yes, the CPM (where I have worked) is part of a business school, formerly
called the "Faculty of Management and Business". I've always had some qualms
about working in a place like that, but sometimes you have to work against
capitalism from the inside...

lsi's opinions are very interesting; maybe I'll comment on them a bit more
when I have a bit more time, except I will comment on the following now:

> I'm not sure whether that's anything like what you're up to over
> there but it seems to me that coding an intelligence is going to
> take a bit of lateral thinking.  Humans DON'T only proceed when
> they are sure - they take risks.  Computers should thus do this too.

Yes, I think some of the models that have been developed using SDML have
used lateral thinking. I don't know if computers *should* do this - maybe
they're safer under more human control. I'm not paranoid about computers
getting out of control of humans - the ruling class will make sure they put
enough safeguards in them so that they are in control of them rather than
vice versa - but really powerful computers with minds of their own are
something to beware of...

I'm not a modeller myself; I have done some test models but that's about it;
I have been the only developer of the language since I took over a very
different language from my boss in 1992.

Best wishes,
    Steve.



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