Re:

if you have a moment i have a quick question. =A0 - assume for the moment that living things unlike phy=ical things. have a component that travels faster than l=ght. . thoughts? or call it x. =t would explain the inability of detection by conventional means. =A0 martin and i are working on game theory of self=awareness. the evolutionary benefit of what some call conscious=ess. the conjecture is that is no more than a dyna=ic error correction system. slow. easily overwhelmed and able =o do simple tasks. if the mathematics of biology a=d physics were symmetrical. physics woudl live in the sl=wer than light, and biology in the faster. . =A0 deception and intent in biooogy, none of it in physics.

Dear Jeffrey,

My apologies for not respondi=g sooner: I was off email for the last few days.

Of course thoughts are constructed from neural signals that move muc= slower than light but let's just take the suggestion that t=ey move faster than light seriously. A couple of things would=happen. First of all, since going faster than light translates i=to the ability to send signals backwards in time, this has impli=ations for game theory. If you know your opponents moves in a=vance -- and they know yours -- this restricts the set of strate=ies to non-cheating, non-deceptive strategies. I believe that in such games one should be able to show that Nash equilibria a=e all optimal: unlike in prisoner's dilemma, there is no inc=ntive for cheating. This is sort of the opposite of what you=are suggesting.

There is a sense in which thought=processes are taking place in an extended setting simultaneously you and Martin suggest, =here is probably some pretty strong evolutionary advantage for consciousne=s or sense of self reference. Indeed, just to ask the sor= of question, If he does this, I'll do that, but if he does =his other thing, I'll do something else, requires a sense of self refe=ence: one is modeling what one oneself will do in the future. =C24, This does indeed allow for extended cycles of deception an= intent, which I think we agree are very important at least for human beha=ior.

I'd enjoy talking further so give a call=any time you like.

Yours,
Seth

tomorw? lets assume that like a weak sig=al you can go back but only for 1 second before the signal fades.Q=A0 ? an error correction.