The Argument Clinic

[Roy (34-year veteran)]

@Meerkat_SK5

@misterme987

The “universal constructor” isn’t a reference to some ‘universal common designer,’ it’s von Neumann’s name for the mechanical ‘universal common ancestor’ which self-replicates.

This is not accurate. Read this:

“The UC forms the foundation of von Neumann’s theory on self-replicating automata. However, an UC is a mindless robot, and must be told very specifically exactly what to do in order build the correct object(s). It must therefore be programmed to construct specific things, and if it is to replicate then it must also be provided with a blueprint of itself.6”

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2012.0869#d3e476

So it is accurate, but you don’t understand it.