How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?

Most modern people today would consider the sages of past who partook of long conversations to answer a question such as the one above to be an exercise in futility. And while detailed arguments were presented by many of the sages of the day, a precise answer was not discovered and agreed upon, at least not brought forth to the arena of public knowledge today. I'm almost sure though other lessons such as the art of debate and rules of rhetorical style were promulgated and polished by the people who partook of these debates. All was not a lost cause; perhaps a sense of camaraderie and friendship developed between the geeks of the day, a sense of belonging which they sought and could find no where else. Being nerdy types social discourse probably did not come easy. So it goes ..., alas.

This type of spirited, general inquisitiveness is perfect to begin to contemplate designs for future systems and models of computers which will someday mimic the many different, diverse biological cognitions found on earth. And as the geeks and nerds of today will sift through present day theories and utilize present day paradigms to do so, through trials and error, by what is found to work and what does not function as aspects of cognition, eventually, sometime in the future answers will be churned out what the words and opinions and the art of rhetoric, and what all the camaraderie could not produce through forums such as asa <at> calvin.org.

Inquisitiveness needs a rudder, a captain to direct the energy towards a practical goal. The time and effort put forth by generations to devise and create the models and systems of computer cognition will set the stage to answer the questions of, not how many angels can fit on the head of a pin, but can a silicon chip, a machine have a free will?

... can a machine have a free will?

Ha! How silly the question, the idea. It is almost like asking how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. I mean, first one would have to define the specifics of what one implies by use of the phrase "free will." And then to consider practical systems of software and hardware configurations to imagine creating working functional computer models ...? Maybe it would be more practical to consider the cognition of an arthropod, maybe a daddy-long leg spider, and begin to contemplate and devise computer systems that simulate and mimic whatever we define to be an arthropodic cognition.

When America, the West has set a generation of youth on a course to tackle this goal of computer cognition, the world will never be the same. The Industrial Age will begin to close its doors, and the doors to the Technology Age will slowly start to swing open. Forget messy fission reactors, there are fusion engines, the size of a lawnmower Briggs & Stratton, turning clean steam turbines for everyone all over the earth.

And history will record my book as the catalyst that started it all. Wow.

(Charles Darwin, you can sit down now. I'll take it from here.)

Cordially typed to the good people at asa <at> calvin.edu, I am,

Kurt L. Hanson
New York City

http://homepage.mac.com/k24anson

ny_mergatroid@mac.com

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Mergatroid will live ...!
Received on Wed May 3 12:18:50 2006