David Deutsch misquotes himself

02/12/2024 · By Dennis Hackethal · Fork · Check another quote

Original text

Conversely, I have settled on a simple test for judging claims, including Dennett’s, to have explained the nature of consciousness (or any other computational task): if you can’t program it, you haven’t understood it.
David Deutsch, The Beginning of Infinity, https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-beginning-of-infinity/id451546463

Quote text

I have settled on a simple test for judging claims […] to have explained the nature of consciousness (or any other computational task): If you haven’t programmed it, you haven’t understood it.
https://www.daviddeutsch.org.uk/2018/02/my-opinion-about-theories-of-consciousness-creativity-or-artificial-general-intelligence/
Ellipsis used (if any): ‘[…]’
Found 7 issue(s) using regular expression [^\w\):]+|[\w’]+ and Myers algorithm, underlined in wavy red. 
Conversely,‧I‧have‧settled‧on‧a‧simple‧test‧for‧judging‧claims,‧including‧Dennett’s,‧‧[…]‧to‧have‧explained‧the‧nature‧of‧consciousness‧(or‧any‧other‧computational‧task):‧*if↵
↵
*If‧you‧can’thaven’t‧programprogrammed‧it,‧you‧haven’t‧understood‧it.*

Explanation

# Part Valid? Explanation
1 
Conversely,‧
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[…]’ or [replacement].
2 
I‧have‧settled‧on‧a‧simple‧test‧for‧judging‧claims
3 
,‧including‧Dennett’s,‧
 ✓ yes Deletion is followed by a valid insertion.
4 
‧[…]‧
 ✓ yes Insertion is an ellipsis.
5 
to‧have‧explained‧the‧nature‧of‧consciousness‧(or‧any‧other‧computational‧task):
6 
‧*if
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[…]’ or [replacement].
7 
↵
↵
*If
 × no Insertions cannot contain linebreaks.
8 
‧you‧
9 
can’t
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[…]’ or [replacement].
10 
haven’t
 × no Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
11 
‧
12 
program
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[…]’ or [replacement].
13 
programmed
 × no Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
14 
‧it,‧you‧haven’t‧understood‧it.*

Notes

The added line breaks are unnecessary. The change from “can’t” to “haven’t” changes the meaning. The original meaning is better since Deutsch argues in the same chapter on a related point that whether one actually ever writes let alone runs such a program is irrelevant to determining whether it is an A(G)I if one understands how it works: “In fact, if we had only such an explanation but had not yet seen any output from the program – and even if it had not been written yet – we should still conclude that it was a genuine AI program.” In the same vein, as long as you know how to program an AGI, you’ve necessarily understood how it works. Whether you actually have programmed it is a different matter. One might argue that the quote text wasn’t intended as a quote since on that page there are no quotation marks nor any other visual cues normally used to introduce a quote, such as block-level indentation or a left-hand border. But it does use an ellipsis, so it must have been intended as a quote. Deutsch seems to think that omissions need to be indicated while replacements and other changes do not. Or maybe he thinks he need not be as conscientious when he’s quoting himself (though, to be clear, he’s misquoted others, too). Or maybe both.

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