Infinite State Automaton

The hardest subject that I attempted and passed was Limits of Computation. It was the mathematics and theory behind a thinking machine.

Computers are finite state machines. A computer exists in a certain state, and continues to cycle between different states as changes to the system are made by/in response to the user.

This is a very simple state diagram.

This machine has only four states that it exists in, and a number of state change paths that it can follow or cycle over. A system must remain in a planned state - a controlled state - and it must not have unplanned exits. A state diagram always starts at So, and goes to Sx, where Sx is a single state denoted by two circles. In the diagram, it is S3.

If this system ever entered S2, it would go in to an infinite loop and never terminate correctly. This happens when your computer 'hangs'. If the computer tries to go to a state that doesn't exist, it doesn't know what to do. Programmers try to catch these errors and make your programs handle it in dignified manner. When they get it right, programs can continue to operate after an error - the error message pops up, "Hi, this thing broke! T_T I am sorry. Please don't be mad!" and you hit ok and move on. When an unhandled exception occurs, you get the blue screen of death.

It's called a finite state automaton because there are limits to the number of states the machine can go to. It can only make decisions and change states within the predefined bounds of the programmer. It's not a thinking machine. It can only make decisions and change states. A computer is a very powerful tool but it can never make any new thing on it's own.

Humans have states too. In addition to states, we have status - additional features tacked on top of whatever state we are in that is carried around with us until we enter a state where that status effect is removed. IE - you were working all day and got sleepy. When you go to sleep - the sleep state - the effect of the sleep state is to remove fatigue. You don't have a state 'tired'. You have a state 'working', 'sleeping', 'playing', etc etc. You can only be in one state at a time, but a person can change between them very, very quickly. If you pick up many status effects - such as fatique, illness, sadness, hunger - and you don't remove them properly, they can start to stack up.

Eventually the person can't cope with all these things going on and has an unhandled exception - they crash and burn. In an extreme case, they have a nervous breakdown. They just can't handle everything all at once anymore so they drop everything.

A person is an infinite state automaton. Our brain is a thinking machine. The limits on our computational ability are not finite. A human has unlimited potential. We can do and be many, many different things. However, the machine needs direction. Unguided and without a goal, the brain can wander in to many strange places, or begin to follow a pattern, and cycle over and over.

You have surely seen it. Some person who keeps making the same mistakes over and over. Not small things like forgetting their credit card number, or to pay their bills. Problems on a grander scale - not knowing how to budget, always getting into the same doomed relationships, having some kind of addiction to something - this is a cycle that a person may not realise they are in. They think they are in control of the situation, and any time they want to, they can leave it. Since they are in control, they don't worry about what it is doing to their lives. They think they can stop at any time, so if they are enjoying themselves now, why stop? It's not until they realise that they are hurting other people that they think it's time to change. And then they suddenly discover that they are in a cycle that maybe they need help to break out of.

People change state often. Most of the time it is a controlled change, even if they have to react to an unplanned situation. This is because we ARE learning machines, and when we make mistakes we usually remember the result. If one way doesn't work, try a different way next time! People exposed to a completely new situation often freeze up and don't react well. It takes initiative and applied learning to handle a new, unexpected situation. A persons instinct is to react to the environment until they are comfortable and understand it - then they make changes to that environment to suit their needs, and the needs of others.

That is the reason that 'practise makes perfect'. You become, over time, attuned to a situation, familiar with it, and you know what to do. The danger is that one can become too familiar, and wary of breaking out of the cycle. It is comfortable. I am happy. Why should I change? You see, we are learning machines. Learning is what we do. Time is always moving forwards. It's the final end state that all humans have to go to. We don't know what is after the Big Server Crash. All these 1's and 0's that make up our world, we don't know what it counts for. It's better to have a life full of many different states rather than only fill it with the same thing over and over.

I have spoken on this blog and in other places about being caught in a repeating circle, of circles within circles. This year has already been a great triumph in breaking out of these repeated circles. The new cycle I am in is to overcome a problem, then consolidate my position, recover, and plan the next step. I try not to make uncontrolled changes. Uncontrolled changes leads to a crash. I already crashed once late last year and nearly failed because of it.

Now I am in recovery state. Next is to check out the current situation, and look at what I want to do. There are many chances in the near future, and I need to properly plan out my path. I want to cross as many states as I can, without getting bogged down in bad cycles, and ensuring I still reach my goals.

Humans can do anything, but not everything is good for you.