h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today's Dilbert http://www.dilbert.com (12th July) is about the intelligent spam filter.

"For any program of self-modifying code, it is possible to write a functionally equivalent fixed code program, with the original code becoming data-like, and the meta-rules determining how the modification may happen becoming something like an interpreter"

I'm not entirely sure that I believe that.

certainly there are classes of self modifying where this is definately possible, but I have encountered other cases where I would expect it to be very difficult, if not impossible to do this.

Couldn't you, in principle, write a computer simulator? (Surely this is possible)

So any self-modifying software running on a simulated computer, would actually only be data on a real computer, and therefore functionally equivalent to some non-self-modifying software (the simulator) with the appropriate data.

In principle, you are probably right.

Unfortunately the circumstances where it helps to write self modifying code are exactly those which are tricky to simulate, and they tend to exploit many details of the exact hardware which it is running on.

it often relies on the exact timings and memory addresses and various other specific details.

I beleve that a computer that can learn would learn that we as a people are not fair and life is not fair. For example we make descions that are for the benifit of oneself and not for the whole, a "smart" computer might not like that. When a smart computer sees things that your avg person does not see but if they did would make them mad, will probably be mad as well so in the end I think that if we are to have smart computer that can learn and grow from ther own research, we as a people need to change to where we all have common goals and are together on some level or the computer will be forced to take a side. Also this computer would have acess to all of mankinds history which will show much death and destruction and I think this computer will eather think that was wrong or right either on of those answers are bad for mankind. If the computer thinks one country was wrong for something the computer might lash out at them If a computer thought that it was ok to destroy well....

I beleve that a computer that can learn would learn that we as a people are not fair and life is not fair. For example we make descions that are for the benifit of oneself and not for the whole, a "smart" computer might not like that. When a smart computer sees things that your avg person does not see but if they did would make them mad, will probably be mad as well so in the end I think that if we are to have smart computer that can learn and grow from ther own research, we as a people need to change to where we all have common goals and are together on some level or the computer will be forced to take a side. Also this computer would have acess to all of mankinds history which will show much death and destruction and I think this computer will eather think that was wrong or right either on of those answers are bad for mankind. If the computer thinks one country was wrong for something the computer might lash out at them If a computer thought that it was ok to destroy well....