Now I’m curious which of the examples were incorrect according to you.
For me:
Programming languages (though I took it as a joke about python being slow)
Utility function: When someone comes across a rock, one knows that it is not optimizing for an utility function not from its actions but rather from preexisting knowledge about its (lack of) inner mechanics. Swap out the common rock for a rock magically looking exactly like a human standing still. Now, it’s much less obvious from a short observation that it isn’t optimising for an utility function, even though it does the same actions.
Programming languages: If they were written idiomatically and quickly, you can absolutely tell the difference between a list of primes generated by a Python vs C program. Hint: Python and C have different default numeric types.
Now I’m curious which of the examples were incorrect according to you. For me:
Programming languages (though I took it as a joke about python being slow)
Utility function: When someone comes across a rock, one knows that it is not optimizing for an utility function not from its actions but rather from preexisting knowledge about its (lack of) inner mechanics. Swap out the common rock for a rock magically looking exactly like a human standing still. Now, it’s much less obvious from a short observation that it isn’t optimising for an utility function, even though it does the same actions.
The other examples seemed correct to me.
My mind immediately went to the difficulty of excluding crystal growth from definitions of life...
Programming languages: If they were written idiomatically and quickly, you can absolutely tell the difference between a list of primes generated by a Python vs C program. Hint: Python and C have different default numeric types.