Author: Roger D Davis
Date: 17:09:49 01/20/05
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On January 20, 2005 at 17:21:26, Steve B wrote: >>Computer play probably has a lot of beauty in it...it's just that we have human >>brains, and those brains constrain our appreciation of beauty. Is beautiful >>chess always winning chess? Is winning chess always beautiful? If winning chess >>is always beautiful, then it would seem that GM-level programs must be producing >>a lot of beautiful chess these days. > >the book tried to define beauty with a set of strict rules >one was the one i mentioned >other's were: >deliver mate with weakest piece possible >use the least number of pieces to effect the mate >etcetc > >by polling the 20 rated experts these rules were observed and then incorporated >into the algorithm > >the author was not making a subjective definition of beauty >only using that term to describe the set of rules that humans follow when >contemplating their next move > >his program closely mimicks how these 20 experts would come uo with a mating >move > >no current day program employs these sorts of rules in evaluating a position > >Best >Steve By polling the 20 experts, the author created a definition of beauty that was (presumably) authoritative and consensual. However, it was still a definition of beauty that was evolved from the human brain. Unfortunately, we don't have access to the minds of other sentient creatures, who might well define beauty in another way. The relationship between beautiful chess and winning chess is a philosophical dispute, thought-provoking, but with no firm answer. My own personal opinion is that beautiful chess isn't necessarily winning chess. Computers seek to play winning chess, regardless of aesthetics. The fact that human beings see a particular move as beautiful means nothing in the brutal logic of the chess tree, but instead reflects the biases of our own neural networks, which often over-emphasize heuristics because they just don't have the horsepower to do anything else. It's the ugly move that wins the game. If you can make the ugly move, you can be a champion. Roger
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