Games with Spirits, Demons, and Oracles [Was [OT] how do you deal with christ ?]

On 12-06-11 12:35 PM, Calvin Ramsey wrote:

I'm a Reformed Protestant, and we believe anyone with the indwelling
Holy Spirit can have scripture interpreted for them by the Holy Spirit.

Suppose that something, P, provides an interpretation of scripture to
Victor, V. V must determine whether P is indeed the Holy Spirit, H; an
evil Demon, D; or a symptom of Schizophrenia, S;

We can assume that all knowledge that V has is also possessed by P,
whether P is H, D, or S. We will also assume that both H and D posses
correct interpretation of scripture, but H wants to enlighten V, while D
wants to deceive V. S does not have substantially more knowledge of
scripture than V. H, D, and S are all motivated to have V believe that
they are H. (Indeed, S may even believe that it is H, but it doesn't
posses correct information.)

At this point, as I see it, unless V has an Oracle, an independent way
to verify a number of interpretations of scripture, than V has no way to
distinguish between H, D, and S. So let's add a few more assumptions.

H and D are both capable of solving NP-complete problems, but S cannot.

Victor can present P with a series of NP-complete problems (that are
from some external source so that the choice of problems couldn't be
influenced by S), then V will be able to distinguish S on the one hand
from H and D on the other. That is, V will be able to verify putative
solutions to the NP-complete problems.

This still leaves us short of a way to distinguish H from D. We can't
rely on "You shall know them by their fruits", because we must first
know that we have the correct interpretation of that passage.

Without an Oracle, I don't see any way forward here.

However, even without an Oracle, it still may be useful to test for S.
After all, if P is S, then there there is no further need of a protocol
to distinguish H and D.

So, Calvin, if you would like to verify that it is a supernatural entity
that is guiding your interpretation of scripture, I'm sure that we can
present you with any number of NP-complete problems for you to present
to your guide. It can then prove beyond any doubt whether it is, indeed,
something with knowledge far beyond that of humans.

Cheers,

-j


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