Machines were good at organizing the world into neat hierarchies of computed probability. The real world, however—essentially because of the way that the people in it behaved—didn’t work that way.
“Charlie’s still an idealist,” Hatcher said. “He just won’t accept that the world isn’t logical.”
“Well, it doesn’t work by formal, Aristotelian logic,” Shipley agreed. “You see, that’s purely deductive: you start with what’s true, and from that the way the world has to be follows. That’s what machines are good at. But in real life you start with experience of the way the world is, and then infer the reasons why and hope they come close to being true. Inductive: that’s what people do—and even they aren’t sure how. That’s why textbook science and real science aren’t the same thing.”
“Is philosophy a hobby of yours, Eric?” Evelyn asked. She had been running her eyes over the shelves of books around the study.
“Oh, I dabble in a bit of everything,” Shipley replied affably.
“So the universe is inductive,” Corrigan concluded.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Shipley said.
“I thought that philosophers have been having a problem with induction for centuries,” Evelyn commented.
Shipley shrugged. “It’s of their own making—as are most of humanity’s problems. They started by assuming that the universe couldn’t work inductively—because they couldn’t reduce it to formal rules—when it obviously does.”
“So we have to teach the simulator how to be inductive,” Corrigan said. “How does real-world logic work, then, Eric?”
“Being ninety-percent right, ninety percent of the time,” Shipley replied. “It’s what science, business, war, and evolution are all about.”
“What about sex?” Hatcher asked, looking away from the Colt and taking a swig from his can.
“Oh.” Shipley smiled. “That’s made up of all of the above.”
A thoughtful expression came over Hatcher’s face. “Maybe the way isn’t to try and teach the system how to be inductive at all,” he said. “I mean, if we’re not really sure how we do it ourselves, we’re hardly in a position to spell out the rules, are we?”
“What other way is there?” Corrigan asked.
“Maybe the thing to do is turn it the other way around.”
There was silence for a couple of seconds while the others puzzled over this. “How do you mean?” Shipley asked finally.
“Let it learn in the same way as we do: by observing the behavior of real people in the environments that it creates. With EVIE, we’ve got all the technology you need.” Hatcher paused, then went on, more excited visibly as he warmed to the idea, “Instead of the inhabitants of a world evolving in response to the environment, the environment learns to get better by watching the reactions of the inhabitants. See what I mean—it would be turning nature upside down.”
“Hmm.” Shipley drew back, frowning. “I’ll have to give that some thought. . . . It’s interesting, that, Tom. Very interesting.”
Corrigan had taken down one of the books that Evelyn had noticed and was turning the pages idly. “Epictetus? I’ve heard of him.”
“Greek slave, taken to Rome,” Shipley said, moving over.
“Got freed and became a philosopher,” Corrigan completed.
“He’s the reason why I’ve never been interested in politics or prestige,” Shipley told them.
“Really?” Evelyn said.
Shipley grinned. “Oh, I was kidding. But he does say some interesting things.”
“Such as?” Corrigan asked curiously.
“That you shouldn’t seek happiness through things that other people have control over,” Shipley answered. “Otherwise you end up being enslaved to them.”
That didn’t seem to leave very much, as far as Corrigan could see. “What else is it that you should want, then?” he asked.
“Live for your own values and beliefs: things that nobody can take away,” Shipley answered. “Then nobody can own you.”
The veiled reference to their private conversation earlier would have been enough on its own to goad Corrigan into dissenting, even without his innate Irish argumentativeness. “It sounds like a pretty empty cop-out, if you ask me, Eric,” he opined. “The kind of thinking of somebody who would never try going for anything for the fear of losing it. Where’s the challenge and satisfaction in living a life like that?”
“It’s being free, Joe. Fearing nobody. Look at the antics of some of the people we see every day and ask how many of them can say they have that.”