Morning, the mind afresh, chance (if not the right symbol, no matter the true(?) word would come forth) has it I landed on that page, 184 to be exact, of John H. Holland's book of emergence, from chaos to order.
I started by reading the paragraph with the heading, Computational Equivalence, and my thoughts were stirred ahoy.
"In one sense, a cgp-v can tell us no more about emergence than a cgp with fixed structure. After all, a cgp with fixed structure has the power of a general-purpose computer, so we can embed in it any kind of computation-based model. That is, the different versions are equivalent with respect to computational power."
Though, I started with this paragraph, now that I have finally written it, the deluge of thoughts which it has unleashed in my mind, just mere minutes ago, if not fizzled out, have been overtaken by other thoughts, in a sense I can not keep up with myself. So many concepts are dealt with, in this paragraph, which can not be taken all at the same time, either being fully comprehended or taken as fodder for further thoughts to develop.
The main distinction that struck me, is that either fixed or variable cgp's, the constrained generating procedures, have the same computational power. Fixed cgp's, which in my mind is taken as static of sorts, and the variable cgp's as dynamic. Though the distinction of static and dynamic taken as a matter of the time interval assumed. Within the limits of a given time interval fixed cgps, appear static. .....
"Formalists sometimes treat a search through equivalent structures as irrelevant, or at least as not part of the scientific process.
But scientists and mathematicians know the importance of an appropriate framework and diligently search for it-hence the familiar saying, "The problem is nine-tenths solved when the question is asked in that right way." In the present case, equivalence with respect to computational power does not mean equivalence with respect to insight. Insights differ even when confine ourselves to the familiar architecture of commercial computers and something as mundane as word processing. Different programs for word processing provide quite different flexibilities, even when the end product is the same. Such differences are multiplied many times over when we look to broader questions."
The distinction brought out by Holland, of computational power and insight, the difference between the fixed and variable cgps, at the heart of my stirred up thoughts. The constraints appearing as laws, norms, even habits, the parameters in any system that within their constraining fields apply the procedures to generate behaviours. Fixed cgps, equivalent to sticking to the letter of the law as opposed to variable cgps, the flexibilities it brings forth, expressing the notion of insight. Insight augmented beyond the confines of the human mind's ingenuity to the realm of any system, even to a society impregnated by insight.
"The trick is to choose structures that are well-tuned to the question(s) at hand. A study that is straightforward in an appropriate framework can become almost impossible in an inappropriate framework."
Almost impossible in an inappropriate framework, based on cgps that are fixed, constraints that are fixed, inflexible. Laws that do not offer leeways, do not act solely as guides but rigid directions for free agents to follow, providing inappropriate frameworks, the constraints imposed unbearable for the agents of a system. Appropriate frameworks, the structures made out of, well-tuned to the questions at hand, the problems faced by agents, the solutions sought after.
... the thoughts are unleashed -- , I can not catch up with them, which by saying so, it appears absurd and folly, talking about myself as being somebody out of myself. The interplay of my conscious and unconscious within me, what my unconscious can contemplate my conscious can not keep up with. The associations, (talking about the performance rate of associations and/or the quality of an association) my unconscious can perform, far exceed what my conscious can manage. What mechanisms are underlying either form of contemplation both distinct, with the conscious being so slow and the unconscious exceeds speeds, compared with the colloquially referred to as lightning bolt, what is taken as humanly impossible. Something I have contemplated upon in the past and made a post. Which apart from being posted, it has been lodged in my mind, and guides it.