Lux(λ) |光尘|空灵|GEB
Lux(λ) |光尘|空灵|GEB|Jul 06, 2025 00:34
From the syntax limitations of Turing machines to the semantic emergence of Bitcoin The essence of modern computers is the engineering instantiation of Turing machine theory. They can strictly follow predetermined syntax rules (i.e. program logic), but cannot go beyond formal systems and understand the semantics behind the rules. The reason is that Turing machines are only defined in the computability category of first-order predicate logic and cannot solve the problem of determinacy about their own logical system. This means that even if the program is executed precisely, the computer cannot 'understand' what it is doing, it is only 'formally correct'. Turing himself recognized this in his 1938 book "Ordinal Logic Systems" and proposed the Oracle Machine and the superpoor iterative framework of ordinal logic, attempting to break free from the closed syntax system of Turing machines and use higher-order logical structures (such as second-order predicate logic) to handle undecidability in first-order logic. Under this theoretical framework, "semantics" is no longer just an explanation of formal symbols, but has become an evolutionary result in cross level judgment structures. This also opens up a new path for us to understand human intuition, meaning generation, and even collective consensus systems. And Bitcoin is the groundbreaking implementation of this theoretical idea in reality. It is not an ordinary program, but an artificial system that embeds semantics within the syntax system. Although the Bitcoin scripting language is a formal system based on Turing machine theory, its operational logic relies on the "decision structure" in the consensus process - the informal determination of "what constitutes a legitimate transaction" by the distributed oracle network (i.e. miners). This structure embodies a "semantic consensus" beyond Turing style computing: a decentralized decision-making mechanism that does not rely on a central interpreter. Therefore, Bitcoin is not only a technological system, but also a paradigm turning point from syntax to semantics, from a formal system to emerging consensus. It responds to the theoretical challenge proposed in Turing's doctoral thesis with engineering practice, marking the first time that humans have achieved underlying embedding of discriminative semantic structures in artificial systems.
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