This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Computing systems are ubiquitous in contemporary life. Even the brain is thought to be a computing system of sorts. But what does it mean to say that an organ or a system computes? What is it about laptops, smartphones, and nervous systems that they are deemed to compute—and why does it seldom occur to us to describe stomachs, hurricanes, rocks, or chairs that way? These questions are key to the conceptual foundations of computational sciences, including computer science and engineering, and the cognitive and neural sciences. Oron Shagrir here provides an extended argument for the semantic view of computation, which states that semantic properties are involved in the nature of computing systems. The first part of the book provides general background. Although different in scope, these chapters have a common theme—that the linkage between the mathematical theory of computability and the notion of physical computation is weak. The second part of the book reviews existing non-semantic accounts of physical computation. Shagrir offers an in-depth analysis of three influential accounts, and argues that none of these accounts is satisfactory, but each of them highlights certain key features of physical computation that he eventually entwines into his own account of computation. The last part of the book presents and defends an original semantic account of physical computation, with a phenomenon known as 'simultaneous implementation' (or 'indeterminacy of computation') at its core.

Computing systems are ubiquitous in contemporary life. Even the brain is thought to be a computing system of sorts. But what does it mean to say that an organ or a system computes? What is it about laptops, smartphones, and nervous systems that they are deemed to compute?and why does it seldom occur to us to describe stomachs, hurricanes, rocks, or chairs that way? These questions are key to the conceptual foundations of computational sciences, including computer science and engineering, and the cognitive and neural sciences. Oron Shagrir here provides an extended argument for the semantic view of computation, which states that semantic properties are involved in the nature of computing systems. The first part of the book provides general background. Although different in scope, these chapters have a common theme?that the linkage between the mathematical theory of computability and the notion of physical computation is weak. The second part of the book reviews existing non-semantic accounts of physical computation. Shagrir offers an in-depth analysis of three influential accounts, and argues that none of these accounts is satisfactory, but each of them highlights certain key features of physical computation that he eventually entwines into his own account of computation. The last part of the book presents and defends an original semantic account of physical computation, with a phenomenon known as ''simultaneous implementation'' (or ''indeterminacy of computation'') at its core.

Computing systems are ubiquitous in contemporary life. Even the brain is thought to be a computing system of sorts. But what does it mean to say that an organ or a system computes? What is it about laptops, smartphones, and nervous systems that they are deemed to compute?and why does it seldom occur to us to describe stomachs, hurricanes, rocks, or chairs that way? These questions are key to the conceptual foundations of computational sciences, including computer science and engineering, and the cognitive and neural sciences. Oron Shagrir here provides an extended argument for the semantic view of computation, which states that semantic properties are involved in the nature of computing systems. The first part of the book provides general background. Although different in scope, these chapters have a common theme?that the linkage between the mathematical theory of computability and the notion of physical computation is weak. The second part of the book reviews existing non-semantic accounts of physical computation. Shagrir offers an in-depth analysis of three influential accounts, and argues that none of these accounts is satisfactory, but each of them highlights certain key features of physical computation that he eventually entwines into his own account of computation. The last part of the book presents and defends an original semantic account of physical computation, with a phenomenon known as ''simultaneous implementation'' (or ''indeterminacy of computation'') at its core.

This element describes an emerging and intriguing topic: computational indeterminacy. Indeterminacy occurs when a fixed physical system potentially computes several different functions, and there is no fact of the matter which of these is actually being computed by the system. The phenomenon of computational indeterminacy has potential significance for a number of fields, including neuroscience and cognitive science, artificial intelligence (AI), the theory of algorithms, and circuit design. Here we address foundational and philosophical issues. We also explain how the indeterminacy phenomenon impacts on current thinking about the nature of physical computation. Computational indeterminacy is the subject of a growing number of articles in specialist journals, and The Indeterminacy of Computation introduces the topic to a wider audience. The style is clear and informal, with many helpful diagrams. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Computing systems are ubiquitous in contemporary life. Even the brain is thought to be a computing system of sorts. But what does it mean to say that an organ or a system computes? What is it about laptops, smartphones, and nervous systems that they are deemed to compute—and why does it seldom occur to us to describe stomachs, hurricanes, rocks, or chairs that way? These questions are key to the conceptual foundations of computational sciences, including computer science and engineering, and the cognitive and neural sciences. Oron Shagrir here provides an extended argument for the semantic view of computation, which states that semantic properties are involved in the nature of computing systems. The first part of the book provides general background. Although different in scope, these chapters have a common theme—that the linkage between the mathematical theory of computability and the notion of physical computation is weak. The second part of the book reviews existing non-semantic accounts of physical computation. Shagrir offers an in-depth analysis of three influential accounts, and argues that none of these accounts is satisfactory, but each of them highlights certain key features of physical computation that he eventually entwines into his own account of computation. The last part of the book presents and defends an original semantic account of physical computation, with a phenomenon known as 'simultaneous implementation' (or 'indeterminacy of computation') at its core.

Computing systems are ubiquitous in contemporary life. Even the brain is thought to be a computing system of sorts. But what does it mean to say that an organ or a system computes? What is it about laptops, smartphones, and nervous systems that they are deemed to compute?and why does it seldom occur to us to describe stomachs, hurricanes, rocks, or chairs that way? These questions are key to the conceptual foundations of computational sciences, including computer science and engineering, and the cognitive and neural sciences. Oron Shagrir here provides an extended argument for the semantic view of computation, which states that semantic properties are involved in the nature of computing systems. The first part of the book provides general background. Although different in scope, these chapters have a common theme?that the linkage between the mathematical theory of computability and the notion of physical computation is weak. The second part of the book reviews existing non-semantic accounts of physical computation. Shagrir offers an in-depth analysis of three influential accounts, and argues that none of these accounts is satisfactory, but each of them highlights certain key features of physical computation that he eventually entwines into his own account of computation. The last part of the book presents and defends an original semantic account of physical computation, with a phenomenon known as ''simultaneous implementation'' (or ''indeterminacy of computation'') at its core.

Computing systems are ubiquitous in contemporary life. Even the brain is thought to be a computing system of sorts. But what does it mean to say that an organ or a system computes? What is it about laptops, smartphones, and nervous systems that they are deemed to compute?and why does it seldom occur to us to describe stomachs, hurricanes, rocks, or chairs that way? These questions are key to the conceptual foundations of computational sciences, including computer science and engineering, and the cognitive and neural sciences. Oron Shagrir here provides an extended argument for the semantic view of computation, which states that semantic properties are involved in the nature of computing systems. The first part of the book provides general background. Although different in scope, these chapters have a common theme?that the linkage between the mathematical theory of computability and the notion of physical computation is weak. The second part of the book reviews existing non-semantic accounts of physical computation. Shagrir offers an in-depth analysis of three influential accounts, and argues that none of these accounts is satisfactory, but each of them highlights certain key features of physical computation that he eventually entwines into his own account of computation. The last part of the book presents and defends an original semantic account of physical computation, with a phenomenon known as ''simultaneous implementation'' (or ''indeterminacy of computation'') at its core.

This element describes an emerging and intriguing topic: computational indeterminacy. Indeterminacy occurs when a fixed physical system potentially computes several different functions, and there is no fact of the matter which of these is actually being computed by the system. The phenomenon of computational indeterminacy has potential significance for a number of fields, including neuroscience and cognitive science, artificial intelligence (AI), the theory of algorithms, and circuit design. Here we address foundational and philosophical issues. We also explain how the indeterminacy phenomenon impacts on current thinking about the nature of physical computation. Computational indeterminacy is the subject of a growing number of articles in specialist journals, and The Indeterminacy of Computation introduces the topic to a wider audience. The style is clear and informal, with many helpful diagrams. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.