tl;dr: the iron bar prefers the taste of Coke to Pepsi, and wants to "make America great again".
Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
11–20 of 36 posts
Re: Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
#12I really dont understand this...
Re: Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
#13It's a weird analogy, but it makes sense in the context of the paper's authors' statement:
> "The most important implication that we wish to claim is that the proposed scheme will provide a new perspective for understanding the information-processing principles of certain lower forms of life," Kim, from the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics' National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, told Phys.org. "These lower lifeforms exploit their underlying physics without needing any sophisticated neural systems."
Re: Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
#14So, basically, a small set of rules for keeping score over time works?
Re: Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
#15The simplest Braitenberg machine to date?
Re: Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Instead of 'decision-making', they could have said 'computation'. Does that make it less ridiculous? I think it's a little interesting.
It's interesting, but I'm at a loss as to what's even remotely new about it. Unless the computer that you typed this on is very, very different from mine that I'm typing this on, there isn't any living components in it, yet it is "computing" and "deciding" quite a bit. There's a ton of natural processes that incorporate some feedback element and can be said without much stretching to be doing a computation. We're bey…
I'm also surprised this is publishable, particularly in NJP, as it is a respectable journal and their scope explicitly states:
"An article must meet the highest scientific quality standards, both in terms of originality and significance, and the research results should make substantial advances within a particular subfield of physics."
Re: Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
#17Is this a thought experiment or something, or an early April fool's joke?
Instead of 'decision-making', they could have said 'computation'. Does that make it less ridiculous? I think it's a little interesting.
My idea was that this choice for words might have been culturally influenced. Take note that this research is performed in Japanese institutions by Japanese authors. A western author, Koren (author on Wabi-sabi, a phenomenon in japanese culture), makes note of how prevalent non-dualism is in Japanese culture and tradition. He descibes non-dualism as:"More spiritually, the idea of non-dualism is a relationship to reality that proposes that everything is inextricably connected and alive, even inanimate objects."
I can see how someone with such views would find it logical to attribute decision-making to objects or find it a sensible choice of words. It doesn't really change the conclusions of the research anyway.
Re: Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
#18I hope someone can provide a deeper indication to what is going on - on first reading it looks like the iron bar is simply recording past events. The observer would be the one who decides to use this information to extrapolate into future events - the iron bar just sitting there.
Exactly this, the bar doesn't move towards the machines by itself, its just a tool a sentient being is using to record data. Isn't the proposition analogous to proposing that a typewriter is able to compose a novel or that a violin is capable of playing a song? Neither the violin, the typewriter nor the iron bar work without a sentient human using them.
Re: Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
#19It's a weird analogy, but it makes sense in the context of the paper's authors' statement: > "The most important implication that we wish to claim is that the proposed scheme will provide a new perspective for understanding the information-processing principles of certain lower forms of life," Kim, from the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics' National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Iba…
Iron Bar for President!
I think it's a very weird analogy, and a terrible title for an article on phys.org.
Re: Researchers show that an iron bar is capable of decision-making
#20After reading the original publication, the analogy to an iron bar is just confusing the point. The article states: "Every time the outcome of a play of machine A ends in a reward, the bar moves to the left a specific distance, and every time the outcome ends in no reward, the bar moves to the right a specific distance. The same goes for a play of machine B, but the directions of the bar movements are reversed. After…
Not to be too thick but wouldn't it seem like a banal point if instead of "iron bar" we were to say "measurement dial" and instead of "specific distance" we say "number of units on dial" and if instead of "left" or "right" we said "positive" or "negative".
So if we then say "after enough trials, the measurement dial's positive or negative reading tells us which slot machine offers the better winning probability", would that still seem like something worth publishing a paper on?
Or have I just totally missed the point?