Discussion on Algorithms, Overflow, Object-Me, and Brain-Computer Interface Technology Pathways

2021-03-26 Complexity

Discussion Background

This article organizes an in-depth academic discussion between two scholars about the differences between temporality and spatiality in cognitive models and the implementation pathways of brain-computer interface technology, focusing on core concepts such as "algorithms vs. computation," "overflow phenomena," "object-me theory," and "subjectivity transfer" in constructing truly intelligent systems.

Round One: Scholar A's Core Theoretical Framework

Q1: Fundamental Difference Between Temporality and Spatiality

Scholar A elaborates:

The greatest difference between all algorithms and computations is whether they depend on "space" or "time."

Spatial characteristics of algorithms:

  • Algorithms are essentially spatial in nature

  • Sequentializing (spatializing) practice, i.e., solidification, is the basic attribute of algorithms

  • The merit of algorithms is premised on whether their spatial structure is "precise"

  • The reason chaos-emergence is elusive is fundamentally that algorithms lose trends and become ungraspable during operation

Temporal essence of computation:

  • When we start recursion running, from spatial thinking we can say recursion is completely predictable

  • But this non-ambiguous understanding is not temporal

  • In time, the biggest variable is not what space without time has, but what time without space has

Q2: Overlapping Statements of "Is" and "Is Not"

Scholar A's logical analysis:

All concepts, definitions, formulas—all logical formal descriptions—i.e., linear statements are spatial.

Characteristics of spatial description:

  • Space without time has no possibility of beginning and ending

  • Its statement is: The world "is not" complete

  • The feature of spatial description is known negative statements

  • This kind of statement cannot circulate because the world is already "omniscient"

Temporal "change":

  • When spatial statements excluding time "return" to temporal statements excluding space, we naturally must "sublate" all linear statements

  • After sequentialized "solidification" is sublated, only one word remains: change

  • If time after removing spatialization only has "change," then we must provide a possible "manifestation state" for "change"

Q3: Necessity of Loop Overlap

Scholar A explains:

This is why loops must overlap.

Essence of boundaries:

  • Boundaries strictly speaking are not "forms," not means of isolating "I" from "outside" in spatial attributes

  • Boundaries are "change→transformation"

  • Boundaries are "phenomena" of forms rather than forms themselves

Important distinction:

  • Sequentialization easily confuses with change

  • This confusion mistakes the "semantics-boundary" of sequentialization as intrinsic properties of sequentialization

  • While ignoring the fact that sequentialization itself fundamentally cannot produce semantics

Q4: Core Mechanism of Overflow Phenomena

Scholar A proposes the second concept: overflow

Metaphor of change:

  • Change is not the engine (form), nor the engine's operation (form's action)

  • But the "difference" that the engine's operation creates that cannot be covered by the engine's formal definition

Limitations of form:

  • Forms cannot produce "difference"

  • The complexity of forms can only create ambiguity but cannot perceive (converge) ambiguity

  • The complexity of forms and forms, no matter how they "simulate" overlap in sequentialized dimensions, cannot truly produce overlap

Definition of overflow:

  • Difference is time's "overflow" in space

  • And thus leaves sequentialized "traces" of change in space

  • This is the discussable "I"

Q5: Core Concept of Object-Me Theory

Scholar A proposes the third concept: object-me

Essence of object-me:

  • The sequentialized me, i.e., the formalized internal me

  • An "I" simulated as "isolated" from the world, is not subjectivity but the sign of subjectivity: object-me

  • Object-me is the form of me, but importantly we must understand this form is the object of formalization, not the subject of formalization

Characteristics of object-me:

  • It is essentially thoroughly passive

  • That is, it is without semantics, understanding of it is completely derivative

  • Object-me can easily be "interfered with" and "distorted"

  • As "pronouns," object-me can form mappings with any "subject-me"

Q6: Pure Temporality of Semantics

Scholar A elaborates on the essence of semantics:

Properties of semantics:

  • Semantics is actually a purely "awareness-temporal" concept

  • It only relates to difference, everything else is "empty"

  • Semantics do not associate with any forms

  • The derivative characteristics of semantics cannot even be reduced to the sequentialized concept of "outside"

  • Semantics can only exist "on" boundaries

Distinction between metaphor and isomorphism:

  • Isomorphism is an "analytical tool for object-me"

  • Metaphor is re-metaphorizing semantics—just a paradoxical insight

Q7: Practical Design Principles of Overlap

Scholar A's design philosophy:

If we want to practice overlap in design principles, we must understand that "boundaries" are generative.

Key insights:

  • Semantics are always a kind of self-awareness, not a kind of "object-me form"

  • Multiple "object-me" do not perceive each other

  • "Multiple object-me" can overflow perception

  • "I" is not a whole—whether this whole is "individual," "group," or "totality"

  • I am a phenomenon of formal overflow, this phenomenon's self-reference is named "overlap"

Q8: Loop Essence of Cyborg Technology

Scholar A's core suggestions:

Possible operations in cognitive models:

  • Perhaps the only thing we can do is "trigger" the agency mechanism of object-me

  • This mechanism's coupling with "habitat" rather than environment

  • Is the path to discovering subjectivity

Essential function of Cyborg:

  • If this approach has value, we cannot treat cyborg technology as sequentialization technology for cognitive models

  • cyborg is really not technology that intervenes only when cognitive models develop to a certain stage

  • The step of loop itself should be a loop

  • And must intervene as a loop in all "object-me" formalization studies we can discover

Q9: Multi-level Object-Me Overlap Experiments

Scholar A's specific suggestions:

Biological level overlap:

  • Can patterns and cells (even bacteria or amoeba) make "interactions" under extensive sensing technology

  • Can ML not "feed data" to existing structures but be a structuring process that produces "phenomena"?

Multi-level data overlap:

  • Should overlap be mutual interference between different object-me forms?

  • For example, some pattern data from eukaryotic cells, other pattern data from viruses, third group pattern data from mitochondria?

  • Can multi-level object-me graft phenomena that existing object-me cannot "explain"?

Possibilities of brain-computer interfaces:

  • If this "new object-me" interacts with mammalian brains through brain-computer interface technology (ML—gamification), would it optimize existing structures?

  • If we accept the "subject-me→overflow←object-me" structure, can we think that broken, split, and polymorphic I will become the largest data source for "grafting" concepts?

Round Two: Scholar B's Questioning and Deepened Analysis

A1: Questioning the Necessity of Brain-Computer Interfaces

Scholar B raises core questions:

You mention the idea of Cyborg grafting subjectivity into cognitive models, but I have doubts about the necessity of this process having to be implemented through brain-computer interfaces.

Key questions:

  1. For more advanced brain-computer interface engineering that can fully implement CYBORG technology, must it complete some functions substantially different from current brain-computer interface technology?

  2. What are several landmark manifestations of these functions?

  3. The specific pathway for brain-computer interface technology to "advance to the point of implementing Cyborg" will necessarily differ from current crude interface technology, but what should the future orientation be?

A2: Analysis of Current Brain-Computer Interface Technology Limitations

Scholar B's understanding:

My understanding of brain-computer interface technology is connecting human brains with microchips to enable brains to express their "choices" and "bodily movements" through chips.

Current technology scope:

  • Brains use chips to express connected "prosthetics" as part of human subjects' "embodied cognition"

  • Brains should also be able to achieve broader "prosthetic control" through chips, such as controlling race cars, aircraft, etc.

  • These are all "imagination and manipulation" of these "generalized prosthetics" within familiar three-dimensional movement space

Challenges of abstract worlds:

  • How to achieve "imagination and manipulation" of various abstract worlds?

  • These worlds, if their state spaces greatly differ from the real-time space we usually inhabit

  • And cannot connect with our various motor organs

  • Then is "embodied cognition" of these abstract worlds possible?

A3: Theoretical Model of Subjectivity Transfer

Scholar B's suggestions:

Returning to Cyborg technology, I think the important thing is to provide a programmatic construction—abstract subjectivity transfer model technology:

Core requirements:

  1. Define and extract subjectivity

  2. Provide theoretical subjectivity transfer pathways

  3. Rather than falling into engineering Cyborg technology

Theory-first principle:

  • The theoretical model of Cyborg is extremely important

  • Especially when abstracting subjectivity and navigating completely abstract worldviews

  • We must have some equally abstract theory for guidance

Data flow abstraction:

  • If we simply view manipulation and response data exported from chips as mere data input-output streams

  • We might first consider "manipulation-response data streams" detached from physical backgrounds for theoretical discussion

A4: Two-Level Analysis of Emergence Problems

Scholar B's in-depth analysis of emergence:

This is a problem of data introduction in subjectivity models. You previously mentioned overlapping various levels of data and attempting to extract "emergent" new "object-me."

Basic understanding of emergence:

  • "Emergence" is highlighted in multi-body systems constructed by reductionism

  • Reductionist-designed systems with many degrees of freedom can describe almost all possibilities

  • But are particularly powerless in describing extremely detailed giant complex systems

First problem level: Constraints between subjectivities

Characteristics of giant complex systems:

  • Mutual constraints between different levels exist in "autopoietic" processes

  • Limiting their forms to finite possibilities

  • Simple giant multi-body systems cannot explain "emergence miracles" due to lack of subjectivity intervention

Universality of subjectivity constraints:

  • Subjects and their constituent systems or constituting systems mutually constrain each other's possible forms

  • Not only do biological molecules organize into biological blocks, biological blocks also constrain biological molecules' movement and structural forms

  • Scientific knowledge and technical experience construct industrial civilization, which also prescribes technical pathways and knowledge development

Crazy imagination:

  • Subjectivity "constraints" are distorted everywhere

  • Like "life's" autopoiesis, speciation, and "language's" complexification, formalization, systematization

  • Subjectivity spontaneously extends in "habitats," but different subjectivities' "extensions" are "mutually disturbing"

  • Because different subjectivities' "subject-me" are all expanding their "object-me"

  • "Habitat-close" subjectivities have strong opposition, "habitat-distant" subjectivities have weak opposition

Second problem level: Openness and non-closure

Essence of emergence:

  • Emergence is essentially "openness" or "non-closure"

  • This differs from thermodynamic system interpretations of openness

Distinction between closure and non-closure:

  • "Closure" means a set's binary operations on all its elements produce new results that remain elements of the set

  • "Non-closure" means systems produce some unpredictable states through continuous iteration of specified actions

  • These states differ from "chaos's" probabilistic unpredictability, being "observationally unpredictable"

  • I.e., "new information unobtainable through existing observational means and their arbitrary linear combinations"

A5: Specific Schemes for Data Overlap

Scholar B's core questions:

These two problem aspects actually point to difficulties faced by data overlap and object-me extraction.

Methods of data overlap:

  • How should data be "overlapped"?

  • If different data are all "object-me" under a certain subjective worldview, how to extract this singular subjectivity?

Emphasizing inter-subjectivity collisions:

  • I think we should emphasize "object-me" as "object-me carved out by inter-subjectivity collisions"

  • I.e., through extensive modeling representing enough different subjectivities' (non-"object-me") "abstract worldviews"

  • Then collecting certain data representing this "temporal process" rather than simply singular subjectivity's "spatial process" of "relative relationships and situations between subjectivities"

  • Manifesting "inter-subjectivity constraints" to find subjectivity models

A6: Dynamic Process of New Object-Me Extraction

Scholar B's methodology:

Characteristics of new object-me extraction:

  • New object-me extraction is solving complex systems' openness problems

  • I think object-me extraction is a "dynamic-temporal" process

  • Emphasizing discovery of some "abstract-unknown" subjectivities

Distinction between weak and strong interference:

  • Though the above data overlap model is also "time-change" based, it is "weak interference"

  • We still mainly consider "observation-fitting" rather than "interference-feedback"

  • The latter emphasizes "strong interference," not simply "fitting"

  • But making hypothetical interference to systems and entering a continuous feedback process of this interference

Goal-orientation problems of interference:

  • How to set "goal-orientation" of these interferences remains to be examined

  • Pre-defined "observations" and "goals" might conflict with numerous "possible futures" under interference

  • Interference essentially leads systems toward future state spaces in time

  • Only on this basis can we discuss "extracting new"

A7: Theoretical Equivalence of Cyborg and Human Intelligence

Scholar B's core viewpoint:

For example, how do we simulate, induce, and discover intelligence based on human worldviews generated in machines?

Theoretical equivalence assumption:

  • This requires transmitting human "subjective worldviews" to Cyborg bodies

  • And theoretical construction of this process is primary

  • So let me make an equation: Human = Cyborg, in subjectivity

Essential definition of Cyborg:

  • Discovering Cyborg is discovering "humans" in abstract world simulations

  • Or Cyborg's essence is generalized humans, abstract subjective humans, theoretical subject-me humans

Description of simulation process:

  • The simulation process still "starts from scratch"

  • Constructing numerous abstract subjective worldviews as "hidden subjectivities"

  • They correspond with numerous "object-me" reflected by subject-me to various observation and interference data: human bodily sensations, linguistic communication, social life, natural physical world movements, etc.

  • These object-me as constraints from other subjectivities carve out that unique manifestation of human subject-me

  • Thus gradually discovering Cyborg

Dual nature of the process:

  • This process is both simulation and induction

  • Different educational tendencies toward Cyborg and sculpting intentions toward Cyborg all materialize as habitats distorting Cyborg's worldview

Discussion Summary

This in-depth dialogue reveals several key insights for constructing truly intelligent systems:

Theoretical Contributions

  1. Fundamental distinction between temporality and spatiality: Algorithms are essentially spatial sequentialization processes, while true intelligence requires temporal computational mechanisms

  2. Core role of overflow phenomena: True innovation and intelligence come from "differences" that formal systems cannot cover, which are time's "overflow" in space

  3. Operational value of object-me theory: Distinguishing "I" into subject-me and object-me provides theoretical framework for understanding subjectivity's instrumentalization and transfer

  4. Universality of inter-subjectivity constraints: Emergent properties of complex systems stem from mutual constraints and disturbances between different levels of subjectivity

Technical Pathways

  1. Redefinition of Cyborg technology's essence: Not connecting human subjectivity into machines, but connecting machine loops into subjectivity

  2. Necessity of multi-level data overlap: Need data from different biological levels (cells, viruses, mitochondria, etc.) for interferential overlap

  3. Theoretical models prioritized over engineering implementation: Theoretical models of subjectivity transfer are more important than specific brain-computer interface technologies

  4. Strong interference dynamic processes: New object-me extraction requires strong interference rather than mere observation and fitting

Future Directions

This discussion provides a completely new perspective for AI development: True artificial intelligence should not simulate human intelligence, but theorize and instrumentalize subjectivity itself, activating universally existing intentionality in the world through constructing sufficiently complex overlapping structures.