Chess will never be solved, here's why

Sort:
Avatar of Mike_Kalish
tygxc wrote:

@5616
"Isn't it possible to be sure and wrong at the same time?"
++ That is why the assistants need to be good.
That is why they need to be (ICCF) (grand)masters.
If they are not 100% sure that they are not wrong, then they should let the engine analyse on.

These responses are less than compelling to my mind.  Relying on humans to be "good" just doesn't seem to fit with what you're trying to prove. 

Avatar of MARattigan
MARattigan wrote:
tygxc wrote:

@5628
"six wrongs don't make a right"
++ But six rights leave no doubt.

OK. I've added it to my dictionary.

 

Avatar of Mike_Kalish
tygxc wrote:

@5628
"six wrongs don't make a right"
++ But six rights leave no doubt.

"Little doubt".....sure.   "No doubt"......troublesome. 

Avatar of Optimissed
mikekalish wrote:
tygxc wrote:

@5616
"Isn't it possible to be sure and wrong at the same time?"
++ That is why the assistants need to be good.
That is why they need to be (ICCF) (grand)masters.
If they are not 100% sure that they are not wrong, then they should let the engine analyse on.

These responses are less than compelling to my mind.  Relying on humans to be "good" just doesn't seem to fit with what you're trying to prove. 


Less compelling than a Messerschmitt 109's tracers arcing towards your cockpit.
More compelling than cold rice pudding on a colder day.
Somewhere in that interval.

Avatar of Optimissed

We're witnessing a clash between the old way of "doing science" and the new. Although my heart is with the older way, I believe tygxc needs to adjust his wording to reflect that difference, particularly regarding the proper meaning of deduction. Then all should be well.

Avatar of tygxc

@5632
"Relying on humans to be "good" just doesn't seem to fit with what you're trying to prove."
++ Here is an example. https://www.iccf.com/game?id=1164259 
The 2 ICCF grandmasters agree to a draw as neither side can win.
An engine might continue a long time before reaching a 3-fold repetition in all variations.

Avatar of MARattigan
Optimissed  wrote:

... I believe tygxc needs to adjust his wording to reflect that difference, particularly regarding the proper meaning of deduction. ...

Good point. I'll add it to my dictionary.

Avatar of Elroch
Optimissed wrote:

We're witnessing a clash between the old way of "doing science" and the new. Although my heart is with the older way, I believe tygxc needs to adjust his wording to reflect that difference, particularly regarding the proper meaning of deduction. Then all should be well.

No, we are not.

Solving a game is not science. It is basically a maths problem associated with the theory of combinatorial games. It is of course of very minor interest to the theoretical subject which concerns itself with general results, but is of interest because of the historical status of the game itself (and as a motivation to develop efficient procedures to do such things). 

By contrast, the four colour theorem is natural and fundamental, involving no arbitrary set of parameters (such as the rules of chess), and the same is true of many general theorems of combinatorial game theory.

The task that can be achieved by a "scientific" approach (i.e. inductive reasoning from empirical information) is a different one. Specifically, you can arrive at results that are uncertain (eg according to model M, there is a high probability that the optimal result is R) and approximate (eg strategy S probably loses very rarely), by contrast with a type of mathematical proposition that is certain and precise, achieved by rigorous deduction.

Avatar of MARattigan
tygxc wrote:

@5632
"Relying on humans to be "good" just doesn't seem to fit with what you're trying to prove."
++ Here is an example. https://www.iccf.com/game?id=1164259 
The 2 ICCF grandmasters agree to a draw as neither side can win.

i.e. Neither grandmaster with strictly limited lookahead capability can win.
An engine might continue a long time before reaching a 3-fold repetition in all variations.

When you still wouldn't know what the theoretical result was.

Er, talking about engines, have you overlooked my final comments in this post, by the way?

 

Avatar of Elroch
tygxc wrote:

@5628
"six wrongs don't make a right"
++ But six rights leave no doubt.

No, 6 individually inadequate pieces of evidence leave no doubt in the mind of someone unequipped to deal with uncertainty correctly. Such as you.

They entirely fail to do this for anyone who knows what solving a game is.

Avatar of MARattigan

Good point. Another one for the dictionary.  

Avatar of tygxc

@5633
"Solving a game is not science."
Uhh?
Solving a game < game theory < mathematics < science

Avatar of Elroch

No. Mathematics is not part of science.

Mathematics consists entirely of deductive reasoning about abstract objects with defined properties.

Science consists entirely of inductive reasoning from empirical information with nothing given.

The key relationship of mathematics to science is that it provides models that encapsulate general behaviour (often known to be approximate, never known to be precise). This provides a sort of black box service, where information relating to the real world is passed to a mathematical model which produces other information which says something about the real world (usually - to be pedantic, always - statistical).

Avatar of MARattigan

Solving a game in your sense is less than pretty well anything, but your assumption that mathematics is less than science is questionable.

Incidentally, no show yet for your calculation of the theoretical result and error rates in my games here. Are you still working on it?

Once you've done that we can stop discussing your proposal.

It doesn't work.

You don't have to wait for my KRPPvKRP runs. Your calculation should work for any material.

Avatar of Elroch

Mathematics is not "less than" science. It is incomparable to science (not a value judgement).

Their domains are entirely separate (even though mathematics provides a valuable service to science, and there is some practical benefit in the opposite direction).

I can say this with some authority, based on two mathematical degrees and 14 years working on applied physical science, mainly on mathematical and computational modelling.

Avatar of MARattigan

That's why I said it was questionable.

I would say the statement that their domains are entirely separate is also open to question, but that's a different topic.

Avatar of Mike_Kalish

I always thought of science as "What humans know about the physical universe" and mathematics as the "Language we have devised to describe that knowledge".  And to me, they are two very different things, even though they are closely related.

That's probably a very crude way of looking at it, and likely I'll be corrected....but go easy. I'm old. 

Avatar of Elroch
MARattigan wrote:

That's why I said it was questionable.

I would say the statement that their domains are entirely separate is also open to question, but that's a different topic.

It's open to question, but a lifetime of relevant specialism means that I have been aware of the answer for the long time, while not everyone has been.

Avatar of MARattigan
Elroch wrote:
MARattigan wrote:

That's why I said it was questionable.

I would say the statement that their domains are entirely separate is also open to question, but that's a different topic.

It's open to question, but a lifetime of relevant specialism means that I have been aware of the answer for the long time, while not everyone has been.

You say, " The key relationship of mathematics to science is that it provides models ... information relating to the real world is passed to a mathematical model which produces other information which says something about the real world."

I think in some cases the two overlap.

So, if Newton says two bodies attract each other, that's a scientific statement. He refers to a mathematical model when he uses the word "attract", but refers to the concept directly when he says "two".

Mathematics analyses the concept "two" but the analysis is only a clarification of what is already understood by the term. And what the analysis says about the real world is not - to be pedantic - statistical.

Avatar of Mike_Kalish
MARattigan wrote:

. Mathematics analyses the concept "two" but the analysis is only a clarification of what is already understood by the term.

Analyzes or just gives it a name?

This forum topic has been locked