The thermodynamics of prediction · HackerPapers discussions

The thermodynamics of prediction — HN submission

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 16:12:40 GMT

The Thermodynamics of Prediction

2 points; 0 discussion replies on HN. Paper and source history. A submission is not an endorsement.

The thermodynamics of prediction — mentioned by FluffyClouds

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 11:30:27 GMT

We are a tad beyond handwaving, but with all the information overload it's hard to recognize scientific breakthroughs anymore. Anyway thermodynamics did it. https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3271 Most people won't like this answer, because it's too impersonal. Thus the search for a more inspiring origin story continues. There is no drama in thermodynamics, no love, no revenge, although there are explosions.

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The thermodynamics of prediction — mentioned by Comevius

Sun, 30 Oct 2022 14:30:11 GMT

So there are two forces at work when it comes to evolution. The first is natural selection, which may start with random changes, where the structures that are beneficial tend to survive, hence there is a selection for them. The second is however that those random changes are restricted to changes that can physically happen, which depends on the laws of physics, and the structure itself. The laws of physics themselves favor the selection for certain structures, and then those structures favor specific selections. It all keeps building up to more specific selections. Thermodynamics itself…

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The thermodynamics of prediction — mentioned by Comevius

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 12:25:01 GMT

No interpretation of quantum physics proposed by scientists ever required a conscious observer, that's more of a misinterpretation of what an observer is. It's an interaction, not a person or animal. As for the theory of consciousness, of course we are not special, it's information-processing, and it looks like thermodynamics is responsible for the emergence of information-processing structures. https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3271

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The thermodynamics of prediction — mentioned by Comevius

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 23:47:28 GMT

The physical realm as you call it is the entire reality, it's the only thing you can interact with in an empirical manner. You don't need anything else to create consciousness, it's 100% physics, and would work quite differently if it wouldn't be. It's actually thermodynamics. As it turns out there is a selection for information-processing structures due to the connection between energy efficiency and prediction. Any system interacting with it's environment has a state that's changed by the interaction, and some of that state happens to be predictive of the future. Turns out how much of that…

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The thermodynamics of prediction — mentioned by Comevius

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 08:42:48 GMT

It's physics. Any system responding to a stochastic driving system can be considered computing. In fact any system that retains information about past environmental fluctuations must have information that is predictive of future ones for the system to be thermodynamically efficient. https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3271 This physics creates complexity. It selects for increasingly complex thermodynamically efficient structures with predictive power. Stars die, they become entropy, but until they run out of fuel they drive the creation of localized complexity maxima.

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The thermodynamics of prediction — mentioned by Comevius

Sun, 05 Sep 2021 18:55:17 GMT

> In other words, even if it were possible to map out the exact pattern of brain waves that give rise to a person’s momentary complex of awareness, that mapping would only explain the physical correlate of these experiences, but it wouldn’t be them. This is where Nagel is wrong. Mental activities don't map directly to brain functions, but this doesn't at all mean that they are not part of the physical world. https://www.quantamagazine.org/mental-phenomena-dont-map-int... Computers have mental activities too, simple ones, but we are not tapping into a different realm to make that happen. Would…

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The thermodynamics of prediction — mentioned by Comevius

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 11:35:58 GMT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth Even with a constant entropy production rate there would be nowhere to run eventually. The Universe is a closed system. So you would always want to be thermodynamically efficient, which appears to also produce lifelike behavior. "Any system built to have nonzero memory has to be predictive to operate at maximal energetic efficiency." https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3271

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