[Bill Williams 20 May 02 11:00 CST]
Martin,
I think the basic element in the problem posed by Buridan's Ass is a
recognition that some method of escaping the conflicting "pulls" of the two
loops is going to be so very useful in so many situations that it is
interesting and perhaps worthhwhile to investigate the various ways in which
the problem might be solved. Myself, I'm not at all sure about the "universal"
element in Bill Powers' UEC. What intersts me is the problem that when higher
level natural systems are involved in complex environemtns behaviors seem to be
expressed that are not explicable in terms of the behavior of a single loop, or
a composite loop that can be adaquately represented as a single loop. For the
time being the Giffen effect maybe the best example of such a behavior. But
there is another case which may involve something like the UEC.
The idea has been advanced that the closer an agent come to the goal the higher
the gain, or output of the agent will be. It seems to me that their may be a
very good reason for this. Suppose the goal is connected to the maintaince of
the agent-- such as a source of calories. Then it becomes prudent for the agent
to consider the relationship between the cost of attaining the goal and the
worth ( say in calories ) which the goal represents. So, at a distance of a
100 units and a cost of transport of 1 calorie per unit distance, for the goal
to be worth to the agent it must contain more than a 100 calories. If however
the goal is only 10 units distance away then the goal becomes worth attaining
if it exceeds a 100 calories-- even if the cost of transport is 10 calories per
unit of distance. THis maybe a trite commonplace but it is not a trival
consideration. As the economists tiresomely point out there is no such thing as
a free lunch. And, if this is true which I think it is, then the result is
another instance of a relationship which is something like Powers' UEC. NOw,
this might turn out to be one more "just so story." But, until I'm convinced
otherwise, it seems to me to be such an evolutionarily important consideration
that it is worthwhile thinking about, and Powers' UEC appears to me be a
context which this and similar problem can be considered.
Bill williams
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