Re:

do you believe a bunch of chemicalls has a goal, ?

It depends a bit on how we use the words; do you think that a bunch of chem=cals can do mathematics or be money? I think it makes sense to say "y=s".

A goal is part of a causal model that we use to describe a agent that can c=mmit to pursuing a world state. Outside of this model, the word has no mea=ing. Within the model, it makes the behavior of some bunches of chemicals =omewhat predictable on a particular level.

I think most chemical systems do not have goals, in the sense that we canno= meaningfully ascribe to them that they have agency. For that, they need - some kind of preference system,

• a way to determine and represent world states,

• a way to make decisions for world states based on the preferences,

• a way to act on decisions so that the preferred world state becomes more =ikely.

For instance, a corporation is an agent in this sense, and a cat is too. Pe=haps | would say that cells can have goals, too.

A Roomba cleaning robot is a particularly good example: when it cleans the =oom, it has no goal, because it has no model of the cleanliness of the roo=, and no preference to make it cleaner. We can test for this: if its dirt =ontainer is full, it will happily make a clean room more dirty, because it=just moves randomly around while rotating its brushes. The cleaning is an =mergent result.

On the other hand, when it runs low on battery, it will explicitly search f=r its power station and drive there to recharge, and after that, it will c=ntinue cleaning. It explicitly represents the charging state, and when sta=ved for power, it commits to a goal that makes it direct its actions on en=ering that state.

in his classical book "vehicles", looks at=different kinds of cybernetic feedback systems, and at different kinds of =gency that can be implemented in them. My own thinkin is mostly shaped by=the ideas of social agency, by the Italian computer scientist | and by

in a two player game what if one player BELIVE= there is an observer but there is not. the payoff matrix shou=d change. ?