Tabatabaei Ghomi, Hamed (2021) Setting the demons loose: computational irreducibility does not guarantee unpredictability or emergence. [Preprint]

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Abstract

A phenomenon resulting from a computationally irreducible (or computationally incompressible) process is supposedly unpredictable except via simulation. This notion of unpredictability has been deployed to formulate some recent accounts of computational emergence. Via a technical analysis of computational irreducibility, I show that computationally irreducibility can establish the impossibility of prediction only with respect to maximum standards of precision. By articulating the graded nature of prediction, I show that unpredictability to maximum standards is not equivalent to being unpredictable in general. I conclude that computational irreducibility fails to fulfill its assigned philosophical roles in theories of computational emergence.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Tabatabaei Ghomi, Hamed
Keywords:	emergence, weak emergence, computational irreducibility, prediction, unpredictability, simulation
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Complex Systems Specific Sciences > Computation/Information Specific Sciences > Computer Science
Depositing User:	Hamed Tabatabaei Ghomi
Date Deposited:	25 Nov 2021 21:49
Last Modified:	25 Nov 2021 21:49
Item ID:	19923
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Complex Systems Specific Sciences > Computation/Information Specific Sciences > Computer Science
Date:	2021
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19923

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• Setting the demons loose: computational irreducibility does not guarantee unpredictability or emergence. (deposited 25 Nov 2021 21:49) [Currently Displayed]
  • Setting the demons loose: computational irreducibility does not guarantee unpredictability or emergence. (deposited 20 Nov 2022 16:42)

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