Re: virus: Mail Delivery Subsystem <postoffice@juno.com>: Returned mail:
David Leeper (dleeper@gte.net)
Thu, 24 Oct 1996 17:40:31 -0500
> If you trace the genetic lineage of birds back far enough you will
> eventually reach an organism that is definitely not a bird.
> Somewhere between the animal that is definetly a bird and the one
> that is definitely not a bird there will be a critter which isn't
> quite a bird but which is obviously something bird-like.
>
> At one end of the continueum are things which are obviously not inteligent,
> and at the other end are obvious cases of inteligence, but in the middle
> there are systems which are hard to call. Where we draw the line will
> depend on our interests (and prejdices).
The subjective influence of such "line drawing" can be reduced with Fuzzy Logic. We can say
with 0.5 percent certainty that such-and-such a critter is a bird.
--
David Leeper
Homo Deus
http://home1.gte.net/dleeper/index.htm