Table Of ContentTHE FRONTIERS COLLECTION
Series editors
Avshalom C. Elitzur
Iyar The Israel Institute for Advanced Research, Rehovot, Israel
e-mail: [email protected]
Zeeya Merali
Foundational Questions Institute, Decatur, GA 30031, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
T. Padmanabhan
Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, India
e-mail: [email protected]
Maximilian Schlosshauer
Department of Physics, University of Portland, Portland, OR 97203, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
Mark P. Silverman
Department of Physics, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 06106, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
Jack A. Tuszynski
Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1Z2, Canada
e-mail: [email protected]
Rüdiger Vaas
Bild der wissenschaft, Redaktion Astronomie, Physik, 70771 Leinfelden-
Echterdingen, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION
Series Editors
A. C. Elitzur Z. Merali T. Padmanabhan M. Schlosshauer
M. P. Silverman J. A. Tuszynski R. Vaas
The books in this collection are devoted to challenging and open problems at the
forefront of modern science, including related philosophical debates.In contrast to
typical research monographs, however, they strive to present their topics in a
manner accessible also to scientifically literate non-specialists wishing to gain
insight into thedeeper implicationsandfascinating questions involved.Taken asa
whole,theseriesreflectstheneedforafundamentalandinterdisciplinaryapproach
to modern science. Furthermore, it is intended to encourage active scientists in all
areas to ponder over important and perhaps controversial issues beyond their own
speciality. Extending from quantum physics and relativity to entropy, conscious-
ness and complex systems—the Frontiers Collection will inspire readers to push
back the frontiers of their own knowledge.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5342
Forafulllistofpublishedtitles,pleaseseebackofbookorspringer.com/series/5342
Anthony Aguirre Brendan Foster
(cid:129)
Zeeya Merali
Editors
Wandering Towards a Goal
How Can Mindless Mathematical Laws Give
Rise to Aims and Intention?
123
Editors
Anthony Aguirre Zeeya Merali
Physics Department FoundationalQuestions Institute
UC SantaCruz Decatur,GA
SantaCruz, CA USA
USA
Brendan Foster
FoundationalQuestions Institute
Decatur,GA
USA
ISSN 1612-3018 ISSN 2197-6619 (electronic)
THEFRONTIERS COLLECTION
ISBN978-3-319-75725-4 ISBN978-3-319-75726-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75726-1
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018932537
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Preface
This book is a collaborative project between Springer and the Foundational
Questions Institute (FQXi). In keeping with both the tradition of Springer’s
FrontiersCollectionandthemissionofFQXi,itprovidesstimulatinginsightsintoa
frontier area of science, whilst remaining accessible enough to benefit a
non-specialist audience.
FQXi is an independent, non-profit organization that was founded in 2006. It
aims to catalyze, support and disseminate research on questions at the foundations
of physics and cosmology.
The central aim of FQXi is to fund and inspire research and innovation that is
integraltoadeepunderstandingofreality,butwhichmaynotbereadilysupported
byconventionalfundingsources.Historically,physicsandcosmologyhaveoffered
a scientific framework for comprehending the core of reality. Many giants of
modern science—such as Einstein, Bohr, Schrödinger and Heisenberg—were also
passionately concerned with, and inspired by, deep philosophical nuances of the
novel notions of reality they were exploring. Yet, such questions are often over-
looked by traditional funding agencies.
Often, grant-making and research organizations institutionalize a pragmatic
approach,primarilyfundingincrementalinvestigationsthatuseknownmethodsand
familiar conceptual frameworks, rather than the uncertain and often interdisci-
plinary methods required to develop and comprehend prospective revolutions in
physics and cosmology. As a result, even eminent scientists can struggle to secure
fundingforsomeofthequestionstheyfindmostengaging,whileyoungerthinkers
findlittlesupport,freedomorcareerpossibilitiesunlesstheyhewtosuchstrictures.
FQXi views foundational questions not as pointless speculation or misguided
effort, but as critical and essential inquiry of relevance to us all. The institute is
dedicated to redressing these shortcomings by creating a vibrant, worldwide
community of scientists, top thinkers and outreach specialists who tackle deep
questions in physics, cosmology and related fields. FQXi is also committed to
engaging with the public and communicating the implications of this foundational
research for the growth of human understanding.
v
vi Preface
Aspartofthisendeavor,FQXiorganizesanannualessaycontest,whichisopen
toeveryone,fromprofessionalresearcherstomembersofthepublic.Thesecontests
are designed to focus minds and efforts on deep questions that could have a pro-
foundimpactacrossmultipledisciplines.Thecontestisjudgedbyanexpertpanel,
and up to twenty prizes are awarded. Each year, the contest features well over a
hundred entries, stimulating ongoing online discussion for many months after the
close of the contest.
We are delighted to share this collection, inspired by the 2016 contest,
“WanderingTowardsaGoal:Howdomindlessmathematicallawsgiverisetoaims
andintentions?”Inlinewithourdesiretobringfoundationalquestionstothewidest
possibleaudience,theentries,intheiroriginalform,werewritteninastylethatwas
suitable for the general public. In this book, which is aimed at an interdisciplinary
scientific audience, the authors have been invited to expand upon their original
essays and include technical details and discussion that may enhance their essays
foramoreprofessionalreadership,whileremainingaccessibletonon-specialistsin
their field.
FQXi would like to thank its contest partner The Peter and Patricia Gruber
Foundation. The editors are indebted to FQXi’s scientific director, Max Tegmark,
andmanagingdirector,KavitaRajanna,whowereinstrumentalinthedevelopment
of the contest. We are also grateful to Angela Lahee at Springer for her guidance
and support in driving this project forward.
Decatur, USA Anthony Aguirre
2017 Brendan Foster
Zeeya Merali
Foundational Questions Institute
www.fqxi.org
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Anthony Aguirre, Brendan Foster and Zeeya Merali
2 A Tale of Two Animats: What Does It Take to Have Goals? . . . . . 5
Larissa Albantakis
3 Meaning and Intentionality = Information + Evolution . . . . . . . . . 17
Carlo Rovelli
4 Von Neumann Minds: A Toy Model of Meaning in a Natural
World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Jochen Szangolies
5 Origin Gaps and the Eternal Sunshine of the Second-Order
Pendulum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Simon DeDeo
6 Agent Above, Atom Below: How Agents Causally Emerge
from Their Underlying Microphysics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Erik P. Hoel
7 Bio from Bit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Sara I. Walker
8 I Think, Therefore I Think You Think I Am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Sophia Magnúsdóttir
9 World Without World: Observer-Dependent Physics . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Dean Rickles
10 The Role of the Observer in Goal-Directed Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Inés Samengo
11 Wandering Towards Physics: Participatory Realism
and the Co-Emergence of Lawfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Marc Séguin
vii
viii Contents
12 God’s Dice and Einstein’s Solids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Ian T. Durham
13 Finding Structure in Science and Mathematics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Noson S. Yanofsky
14 From Athena to AI: The Past and Future of Intention
in Nature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Rick Searle
15 No Ghost in the Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Alan M. Kadin
16 The Man in a Tailcoat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Tommaso Bolognesi
17 The Tablet of the Metalaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Cristinel Stoica
18 Wandering Towards a Goal: The Key Role of Biomolecules . . . . . 227
George F. R. Ellis and Jonathan Kopel
Appendix: List of Winners... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 245
Titles in This Series .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 247
Chapter 1
Introduction
AnthonyAguirre,BrendanFosterandZeeyaMerali
If the moon, in the act of completing its eternal way around the earth, were gifted with
self-consciousness,itwouldfeelthoroughlyconvincedthatitwastravelingitswayofits
ownaccord….Sowouldabeing,endowedwithhigherinsightandmoreperfectintelligence,
watchingmanandhisdoings,smileaboutman’sillusionthathewasactingaccordingtohis
ownfreewill.
AlbertEinstein(1931).1
Physicists tends to concern themselves with identifying the inanimate constituent
elementsofnatureandusingthemtoanswerquestionsofwhathashappened,what
willhappen,andhowthingsoccur.Atthemostbasiclevel,physicscanbeconceived
ascomprisingasetofmathematicallawsthatenableustomakepredictionsabout
thefuture,orthepast.Theydothisbyspecifyinghowasetofinitialconditionsdrive
theseminutebuildingblockstocombine,tointeract,andtoinexorablyevolve.
However, physical reality can also be thought of in terms of the whole, rather
than just the parts. We can ask why something happened. Is there a reason? Or
is there a reason why there seems to be a reason? Many phenomena admit an
alternative—and sometimes vastly superior—description in terms of goals, aims
and intentions. The motion of particles through spacetime, for instance, can either
1Einstein,A.quotedinStrawson,G.“Nietzsche’sMetaphysics?”,inNietzscheonMindand
Nature,ed:Dries,M.&Kail,P.J.E.(OxfordUniversityPress,2015).
A.Aguirre
UCSantaCruzDeptofPhysics,SantaCruz,USA
e-mail:[email protected]
B
B.Foster·Z.Merali( )
FoundationalQuestionsInstitute,Decatur,USA
e-mail:[email protected]
B.Foster
e-mail:[email protected]
©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG,partofSpringerNature2018 1
A.Aguirreetal.(eds.),WanderingTowardsaGoal,TheFrontiersCollection,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75726-1_1
