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Marvin Minsky dies at 88

nytimes.com

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Re: Marvin Minsky dies at 88

#131

Post by zo1 »

cmarschner wrote: post #128
zo1 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's more in reference to him being cryo-preserved. According to one of the other comments on this thread.

Resurrection from cerebral hemorrhage seems unlikely, though. How would they do it - wash it out? A brain that thought about the brain for a lifetime, wiped out in minutes.

I know, it's very unfortunate. And who knows, maybe the damage is irreversible even with potential and futuristic medical advances, simply due to information loss.

But, as someone who plans on being cryo-preserved eventually, I'd say that whatever chance there is of reviving whatever remains of this individual, it should be taken. I'd want to live in the future, even if that meant not having my full cognitive abilities. Maybe not as very cognitively-impaired individual, but I guess I'll put that type of stipulation in the contract if I was worried about it.

Re: Marvin Minsky dies at 88

#132

Post by maze-le »

When I first came into contact with AI at the University, I really enjoyed reading his Essays. As A Undergraduate I wasn't really ready to read his papers, but publications like "Why People Think Computers Can't" and "Matter, Mind and Models" (wich where recommendations of my prof.) really got me interested in this field.

Rest in peace, Mr. Minsky.

Re: Marvin Minsky dies at 88

#133

Post by JoshTriplett »

zo1 wrote: post #127
JoshTriplett wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We have temporarily misplaced a great mind. See you later, Professor Minsky. This kind of statement gives me great hope, and in particular represents the kind of fundamental mindset change that helps counter many of the painful aphorisms commonly pulled out when someone dies. I find it deeply unfortunate how rarely it applies, but as mentioned elsewhere in the thread, it applies here. Thank you.

I think it's more in reference to him being cryo-preserved. According to one of the other comments on this thread.

I'm aware; that was what I was referencing in the second to last sentence of my post, about it applying far too rarely but applying in this case.

Re: Marvin Minsky dies at 88

#134

Post by argonaut »

brianpgordon wrote: post #87
Houshalter wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NN weights need to start random because otherwise two weights with exactly the same value can get "stuck" and be unable to differentiate. Backpropagation relies on starting random patterns that kind of match so that it can fine tune them. But the weights are often initialized to be really close to zero.

Given the era though, Sussman may have actually been working with a neural net that's not the typical hidden-layer variety. "Randomly wired" could be a statement about the topography of the network, not about the weights.

There is no evidence he was actually working with a neural net.

https://web.archive.org/web/20120717041345/http://sch57.msk....

Re: Marvin Minsky dies at 88

#135

Post by koder2016 »

cmarschner wrote: post #128
zo1 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's more in reference to him being cryo-preserved. According to one of the other comments on this thread.

Resurrection from cerebral hemorrhage seems unlikely, though. How would they do it - wash it out? A brain that thought about the brain for a lifetime, wiped out in minutes.

How about a cybernetic creature that is 30% Minsky? Is it much worse then current approach - passing down DNA and spending 18 years on training?

Re: Marvin Minsky dies at 88

#136

Post by igravious »

ehudla wrote: post #118
igravious wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father had a book by Minsky which I swiped from his bookshelf and read cover to cover. I can't for the life of me remember the title but looking over his bibliography I think it was this one. This book, if indeed it was this one, had a big impact on my younger self, though I'm ashamed of two things now: 1) I can't remember exactly what it was about it that affected me so, and 2) I don't know where the book is! I d…

You can see the ToC here: https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1095587 Chapter 3 talks about McCulloch-Pitts. I remember being impressed with chapter 14 ("very simple bases for computability") as a kid. Finding UTMs with minimal number of states etc. are great riddles. I also fondly remember the discussion of the halting problem and related problems ("does program P output X") in chapter 8. This was my first introducti…

Neat-o. My searching didn't turn up that link for some reason. Thanking you kindly.

Re: Marvin Minsky dies at 88

#137

Post by JupiterMoon »

dang wrote: post #125
mikeash wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say the solution here is not to end the black bars, but to end the petty disputes by being more civilized in the discussions. Perhaps that's too much to ask, but we should give it a shot.

Thank you.

Why?

Re: Marvin Minsky dies at 88

#139

Post by pkd »

gonzo wrote: post #93

I met Minsky once in February 1987, at a rally in Las Vegas to protest the Nevada Test Site.. A lot of famous people (Carl Sagan, Barbara Boxer, Tom Downey, Ramsey Clark, Martin Sheen, Kris Kristofferson) were there, but I'd gone to meet Minsky. I had taken along a (quite early) copy of the GNU Emacs manual. The FSF was selling them, but I'd put this one together myself. Running TeX on the texinfo source, converting…

Thank you for sharing. Anecdotes like this is why I love visiting HN. They also help me humanize some of my CS heroes. FWIW, I'd also love to see the autographs.
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