Re:Building a computer in Conway's game of life
by Strilanc on Tuesday October 20, 2020 @01:09AM
(#24834103)
It would be difficult. In particular, unlike in our world, it's very difficult to create anything like a stable membrane or barrier in the game of life. And patterns are extremely susceptible to falling apart if perturbed. So you would generally expect a game-of-life-based entity touching anything to die as a result.
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Re:Building a computer in Conway's game of life
by FartyMcFarter on Tuesday October 20, 2020 @05:06AM
(#24835278)
Since the game of life is Turing complete, it can simulate any computer. If a computer can eventually simulate the world (including humans), so can the game of life.
This doesn't mean the patterns would visually look like cells and membranes though...
Re:Building a computer in Conway's game of life
by Strilanc on Tuesday October 20, 2020 @08:59AM
(#24836762)
Turing machines in the game of life have the same problem of being unprotected and extremely sensitive to perturbations. It drastically lowers the chance of generating a working one (even when running for extremely long times on extremely large boards). Contrast with our world, where it seems like just starting with a whole lot of randomly distributed hydrogen could be enough.
Re:Building a computer in Conway's game of life
by hansbo on Tuesday October 20, 2020 @08:08AM
(#24836377)
It's hard to imagine an emulated version of a human having a consciousness, however. What is it that separates transistors firing randomy from a CPU executing specific consciousness-generating instructions? I find these things thought-provoking.