Could humans be considered to be a Gödel machine? If not a human, could the entire humanity considered as one entity be considered to be a Gödel machine?
On a different plane could evolution qualify as a Gödel machine as well?
On a different plane could evolution qualify as a Gödel machine as well?
Well... other than that one time...
Interpreting "code" as "DNA" is too literal. It could apply to thinking processes and mental models, cultural and social norms, and so on.
A universal Turing machine (UTM) can mimic any other Turing machine via interpretation, including a Godel machine. So an interpreted Godel machine isn't changing the code of the UTM, the analogue of our DNA, but it's changing the interpreted code, the analogue of higher level processes like those I list above.
I would say so. See also: Gaia Hypothesis [0], and the Big History project [1]. Arguably, biological evolution is but one layer in a self-improving information-energy complexity stack, which has now achieved sufficient stability to provide a foundation for ecosystems of technological and memetic evolution.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_History#Complexity,_energy...
What matters is to learn to act in such a way as to continue to exist, not to learn the truth. Of course we have to reconcile with reality when we stray too much. Humanity has flourished long before we invented the scientific method, and even today we're not applying it universally.
At least parts of our brain, for sure. It is clear that we can improve some of our own learning algorithms. Everything that is innate, no (or not yet). For example, a liver cannot optimize itself in novel ways during its lifetime.
> If not a human, could the entire humanity considered as one entity be considered to be a Gödel machine?
Good question. I'm not sure humanity has a utility function, so even though it clearly can self-modify, the question might be nonsensical.
> On a different plane could evolution qualify as a Gödel machine as well?
A think evolution is recursively a Gödel machine. It learns how to create things that become better at learning how to create things that... Also, certain innovations fundamentally change the game, e.g. the emergence of genders.
That is very brainist of you.
On a human level, we experiment and modify our biology constantly, eg vaccines and working out.
On a humanity level, we're researching gene editing and gene therapy, and historically had appalling theories that led to genocide, which, in its roots, was about changing humanity's fundamental code.
Proving gene editing is currently slow and expensive so it takes a long time gain confidence in result to make such a change.