Re: virus: Rational

David McFadzean (david@lucifer.com)
Wed, 28 May 1997 15:26:30 -0600


At 11:29 AM 28/05/97 -0700, Richard Brodie wrote:

>Careful! MAKING A CONSCIOUS DECISION to eat when starving could be
>called rational. (There's that non-E-prime "is" again!) Eating when
>starving is not in itself rational. My pet goldfish Eric eats when he is
>starving. Is he rational?

Yes he is from a game theoretic perspective, taking Dennett's intentional stance.
Saying he *is* rational is merely shorthand for the e-prime statement: "he
behaves rationally", which could be shorthand for "he behaves as if he is
basing his choice of actions on his current knowledge and goals". Does that
clear things up at all?

--
David McFadzean                 david@lucifer.com
Memetic Engineer                http://www.lucifer.com/~david/
Church of Virus                 http://www.lucifer.com/virus/