Page 276 - Concise Encyclopedia of Robotics

Reductionism
There is another logical trap into which humans can easily fall when
making a recursive argument. This is to “prove” something by unknow-
ingly making the assumption that it is already true. Computers, properly
programmed, do not make this mistake.
REDUCTIONISM
Reductionism is the hypothesis that all human thought can be duplicated
by machines. Can all human thought and emotion ultimately be reduced
to logical ones and zeros? A reductionist would say yes.
The human brain is far more complicated than any computer yet
devised, but the brain is made of a finite number of individual cells. For
any finite number, no matter how large, there exists a larger number. If a
25
brain has, say, the equivalent of 10 logic gates, then there can be, at least
25
in theory, a computer chip with 10 logic gates. The reductionist argues
that all human mental activity is nothing more than the sum total of many
gates working in many ways. Even though the number might be gigantic,
it is nevertheless finite.
Reductionism is of interest to artificial intelligence (AI) researchers. If
the reductionist hypothesis proves true, then computers might be made
into living entities. Some researchers are enthusiastic about this, and
others are concerned about the possible negative implications. Science
fiction authors have exploited this theme; perhaps the earliest example
was a play called Rossum’s Universal Robots, written in 1920 by Karel
Capek. In this play, which the author intended as a satire, robots become
alive and take over the world.
REGULAR GRID
A regular grid is a method of dividing up a two-dimensional (2-D) work
environment into square or rectangular regions. In three-dimensional
(3-D) environments,the regions are cube-shaped or box-shaped.The basis
for the rectangular grid is the Cartesian coordinate system, also called the
rectangular coordinate system. This is the familiar xy plane or xyz space
of analytic geometry (see the illustration).
See also QUADTREE.
REINITIALIZATION
Sometimes a robot controller will operate improperly because of stray
voltages.When this happens, the microcomputer malfunctions or becomes
inoperative. Reinitialization consists of setting all of the microcomputer
lines to low or zero.
Most microcomputers are automatically reinitialized every time power
is removed and reapplied. Not all microcomputers have this feature, how-

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