[Fis] Limits of Formal Systems

[Carlos Gershenson]

Dear Lou,

Thank you for your examples. 

The Kleene argument precisely shows the relevance of the difference between theory and practice. In theory, there will always be undecidability in “powerful enough” formal systems. In practice, we can arbitrarily try out all algorithms that we want for a finite time, and come up with a table of whether they halted or not. 

Now, the question would be whether with such a pragmatic approach we can overcome the limits of formal systems that prevent us from representing properly e.g. evolutionary innovations, and changes in function in general. 

But maybe we just need two levels: one where rules don’t change, and another where we can allow rules and meaning to change. The thing is that the way in which rules and meaning change cannot change… but then if we add another layer… To avoid turtles all the way down, could we have layer A changing layer B and vice versa? A coevolution of formal systems?

Best wishes,
Carlos

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