(OPE-L) The Church-Turing thesis

From: gerald_a_levy (gerald_a_levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Fri Jan 16 2004 - 18:04:23 EST


Ian wrote:

>   A more
>  philosophical point is that, according to the Church-Turing thesis, the
>  reduction of human mental activity to the simplest operations has been
>  achieved, which completes Babbage's program. The Church-Turing thesis is
>  informally the hypothesis that all human mental activity is replicable by
a
>  particular class of machines, of which an ordinary personal computer is a
> finite example. This means that all mental labour can in principle be
> automated.

The Church-Turing thesis, evidently, assumes that all human mental
activity is expressed through formal logic.  This is a very dubious
proposition.

(btw, will machine dialogue at some point in time replace OPE-L and
other forums for the discussion of political economy, Ian?)

Paul C wrote:

> This raises the question of whether the law of value would
> still operate were the church turing principle to be taken to
> its limit.

(it's de ja vu' ... all over again)

At the limit, v would equal -0- since there would be no wage-
labour employed by capital.  No wage-labour, no capitalism.
Not capitalism, but another mode of production perhaps ....

In solidarity, Jerry


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