[Ads-l] perceptronium

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks, JL. The coinage of "perceptronium" was probably influenced by
the previous coinage of "computronium" which appeared in "Science" in
August 1991. Tegmark mentioned both in his 2014 book. (See further
below.)

Website: Wikipedia
Article: Computronium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computronium

Wikpedia citation (verified with scans
Amato, I. (21 Aug. 1991). Speculating in Precious Computronium.
Science 253:856-857.

(The Wikipedia citation includes a link to archive.org which contains
a copy of the Science journal article from JSTOR)

Tegmark probably included the term "perceptronium" in the draft he
submitted January 6, 2014, but he may have been added it to the
February 27, 2014 revised draft or the March 18, 2015 final revision.

[Begin excerpt]
Consciousness as a State of Matter
Max Tegmark (MIT)
(Submitted on 6 Jan 2014 (v1), last revised 18 Mar 2015 (this version, v3))

We examine the hypothesis that consciousness can be understood as a
state of matter, "perceptronium", with distinctive information
processing abilities.
[End excerpt]

Below is an excerpt with "perceptronium" that was printed in Max
Tegmark's 2014 book.

Year: 2014
Title: Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
Author: Max Tegmark
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Database: Google Books Preview
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=038535049X

[Begin excerpt]
What about "perceptronium," the most general substance that feels
subjectively self-aware? If Tononi is right, then it should not merely
have the traits of computronium, but also the property that its
information is indivisible, forming a unified whole.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 7:51 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      perceptronium
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/physics/physicists-say-consciousness-migh=
> t-be-a-state-of-matter/
> :   Tegmark calls his new state of matter =E2=80=9Cperceptronium.=E2=80=9D
>
> Headline Bonus:
>
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/each-mind-matters-psa_n_7173790.ht=
> ml?ncid=3Dtxtlnkusaolp00000592
> :
>
> This Poignant PSA Is Here To Shatter The Stigma Attached To Mental  Health.
>
> Fortunately the text reads "...to mental health issues."
>
>
> JL
>
>
>
> JL
>
> --=20
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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