从通用计算到偶然计算:理解算法的历史性与生成性

From Universal Computation to Contingent Computation:Understanding the Historicity and Generativity of Algorithms

算法概念在历史过程中不断发展变化,关于算法生成性的讨论也一直在持续。16至18世纪的算法概念主要指符号方法,它被视为获得确定性知识的触发器。基于符号方法的通用符号计划,试图用符号的推理演绎解决各领域的争端。在19世纪形式与意义分离的背景下逐渐形成的经典算法概念,重在预先决定的形式规则。晚近的交互范式和偶然计算论则认为预先规则化并不意味着预先决定,计算过程具有不可预测的偶然性、生成性乃至创造性。不可预测并不是对思想的阻断,而是一种特殊的思想模式。在数字技术愈发构成全球性控制论系统的今天,算法应当帮助使用者向系统外敞开,而非使人失去质询并跳出系统的能力。

The concept of algorithms has been constantly evolving and changing throughout history,and discussions on algorithmic generativity have continued.The concept of algorithms in the 16th to 18th centuries mainly refers to the symbolic method,which acts as a trigger for obtaining deterministic knowledge.The universal symbolic project based on the symbolic method attempts to solve the disputes in various fields by the reasoning deduction of symbols.Under the background of the separation of form and meaning in the 19th century,the concept of classical algorithms gradually developed and focused on pre-determined formal rules.The recent interaction paradigm and the theory of contingent computation hold that pre-regularization does not mean predetermination,and the computation process can have unpredictable contingency,generativity and even creativity.Unpredictability is not a blocking of thought,but a particular mode of thought.In a world where digital technology increasingly constitutes a global cybernetic system,algorithms should help users open up to the outside of the system,rather than deprive them of the ability to question and jump out of the system.