Constructor theory
Chapter 3 - Thinking
Previous page: How to make decisions - Constructor theory - Next page: Decision theory
Back to Book content or directly to Main Page
.
Welcome to the Constructor theory page
.
Key takeaway
- Constructor theory states what tasks are possible, what are impossible, and why
.
Core ideas
Constructor Theory
Constructor theory defines:
- Possible tasks which can be performed with arbitrary accuracy (e.g., heat → work with residual environmental changes). They are only possible if they increase or preserve the system’s entropy
- Impossible tasks which are forbidden by physical laws (e.g., perfect heat-to-work conversion without side effects).
Constructor theory statesː
- If a task, a transformation, is impossible, it must be because there is some law of physics that makes it impossible
- Conversely, if there isn't a law of physics that makes it impossible, then it's possible
There is no third possibility. What does possible mean? In the overwhelming majority of cases, though some things are possible because they happen spontaneously,
Things that are possible are possible because the right knowledge embodied in the right physical object would make them happen
Since the dichotomy is between that which is forbidden by the laws of physics and that which is possible with the right knowledge, and there isn't any other possibility.
This is counterintuitive. It's contrary to conventional wisdom, and it's contrary to our intuitive or at least culturally intuitive way of looking at the world. I find myself grasping for a third possibility. Isn't there something that we can't do even though there's no actual law of physics that says we won't be able to do it? Well, no, there can't be.
.
| Constructor Theory |
|---|
| What tasks are possible, what are impossible, and why |
| https://www.constructortheory.org/ |
.
Constructor Theory of life
In her paper, Chiara Marletto explores the constructor theory of life, addressing how the appearance of purposive design in living organisms can arise without intentional design. Neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory fully explains this phenomenon: certain properties must exist in the laws of physics that allow for gene replication and natural selection without encoding biological adaptations. Under no-design laws, self-reproduction, replication, and natural selection are possible, with the primary condition being that these laws allow for the physical instantiation of digital information. Marletto shows that an accurate replicator requires a "vehicle" to form a self-reproducer under no-design laws.
| Content source |
|---|
| Chiara Marletto - Constructor theory of life - The Royal Society - 2015 |
.