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Value Function : an Entropy Reduction Mechanism in High-Dimensional Search Spaces
Mentioned in this episode : Research
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The Value Function is defined as the essential missing mechanism for achieving truly robust Artificial General Intelligence, serving as the system’s internalized mechanism of judgment—an internal critic that evaluates thoughts and actions.
The universe of all possibilities is vast Information, which an uninformed agent perceives as an "Ocean of Noise" characterized by maximum randomness. Knowledge is the single, precise solution, found at the Peak of the Bell Curve in a structured possibility space. The Value Function is the mental filter that transforms this noise into structure. It scores every step of reasoning, acting as a "gut feeling" that allows an agent to stop, evaluate, and predict whether a current path leads toward success or a dead end.
This internal scoring system enables efficient search. Instead of relying on blind guessing, intelligence uses continuous internal evaluation to instantly discard bad ideas and focus computational effort only on promising trajectories. This ability to "short-circuit" search is why cognition and computation solve complex problems by breaking them into a stack of simple "Yes/No" (binary) decisions. The Value Function guides which binary choices to make next, exponentially speeding up the path to knowledge.
Work is philosophically defined as the effort spent refining the Value Function. Expertise is reached when this function becomes highly precise, focusing the probability curve onto the sharp, correct action.
The concept is clarified by two extremes:
- Bitcoin Proof-of-Work (PoW): This system is intentionally designed to be the anti-intelligence model. The cryptographic hashing process (SHA256) ensures the search space is perfectly flat, providing zero signal or guidance. The Value Function is effectively non-existent, forcing the search into pure, randomized brute force. This mandated inefficiency is precisely what creates its security, establishing a true immutable value chain.
- Cognitive Expertise: In structured problems, the Value Function senses the path toward the optimal outcome, allowing for guided precision that moves the agent from guessing toward knowing the successful path.
The Value Function is the essential recipe for collapsing the massive noise of possibility into the single, necessary point of knowledge and action.
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Published on 3 weeks, 4 days ago