Moz, You might like this - Wolfram; Computing a theory of everything.

Infinite complexity resultant from simple rules isn't a new idea. I'm sure you've previously heard of Conway's Game of Life

However, what's come out of research into the field has been completely unexpected. 

Here's a Wolfram Tedtalk from a decade ago and I've chosen it specifically because when contrasted against the discoveries they've made in the last ten years, one realises how quickly and unexpectedly this field is evolving.

He did a podcast a short while bach where he brings one up to speed with what has transpired to date.

Interesting stuff which would require a lot more study....although I’m still not convinced most complexity comes from iterating simple rules. But it’s truly clear in some cases....Jay Forrester did similar work in the 1970s building up explosive production/distribution systems from simple perturbations in basic inputs.

But here’s a real example. My wife’s SUV has one of the more advanced driver assistance programmes. We were driving recently and a car crossed our path from a side street. I unconsciously computed it’s speed and path, my speed and the distance.......and kept my foot on the gas knowing he would clear us.

But the ‘advanced’ programme, a  precursor to self driving vehicles, was unconvinced and manually braked the car in emergency fashion. Was my model more simple or more complex than the computers?

I think we will ultimately find the human brain juggles lots of complexity.

Needless to say I turned off the driver assist.

Human subconscious awareness is even more impressive...for those who notice...chance? No such thing.

Moz,

No doubt the mind is complex. And I guess the most complexity within the mind exists outside of what's perceived. 

Kinda like a car. The driver is totally unaware of all the systems under the hood as he steps on the gas to drive up a road.

In your example, without a shadow of a doubt, your total sum of calculations, conscious and unconscious, was way higher than whatever the vehicle software was doing. I'm sure that there's always a large disparity in sums/seconds between general and specialised intelligence. 

Looking at how yours and the vehicle's responses differ per situation, one likely has to account for the vehicle software having to make the safest possible bet when it can't rely on experience or other information that general intelligence is able to make use of. Then there is also the possibility that the system may have been ahead of you and aware of a potential danger that you weren't considering. I know that EDIT: self-driving  tech is predominantly based on vector space machine learning. 

I saw an Elon interview were he was saying that at some point in the future we'll look back and wonder how we ever allowed people to be in control of 2 ton death machines travelling at 90mph on busy roads.

Still, if we believe all of that complexity, including self-driving cars, originated from single-celled organisms, it seems plausible that things could be even less complex than amino acids and result in more complexity than the brain. And then, why stop there?

I think that’s right Plum.....the computer wasn’t accepting the driver would maintain direction and speed. I could see his purpose and behavior which looked as if he was committed. I also knew I could brake if necessary and there was an escape route behind the car into the open oncoming lane. I wasn’t safety first.....only safety suffice.

Elon may be right....but until I see his system work with the scooters at rush hour in Florence, I’m a skeptic. Same holds true for the nav system which totally failed last time I was there.

I think the answer there is quite easy.

At some point, it'll probably be law for all vehicles, bikes included, to have a type of tracker and receiver/transmitter fitted. Without it, one won't be able to turn the engine on.

The software will auto-update and onboard navigation systems will talk to each other as soon as they're within range, forming a local network and then positioning vehicles. That way it's locally controlled as opposed to being run from the cloud...where there'll be latency issues. Of coruse, on a macro scale, the internet would be used as it is now for information on traffic, road and driving condition.

Edit: If the above does occur, then I think, pure vector-based navigation will likely be relegated to instances where there are no other vehicles around and where there are connectivity issues between individual vehicles. 

Was thinking about how this would work. Say there is a busy road and one of the vehicles is not transmitting correctly. The rest of the cars on the network will know this and deal with the risk as a group. Probably sharing information and acting as a unit in sheparding the off-line vehicle.

Plum the issue in Florence was the nav system couldn’t provide instructions quickly enough....by the time you turned into a road and got instructions for the next turn you were past the turnoff. A computer driven car would solve that assuming all the other nuances were solved.

We rented a tiny Ford Figo in Sardinia once.

The girl I was dating at the time was a class A bitch and none of my mates liked her. She'd grown up in Rome.

Every day she'd give me stick about remembering my driver's licence and passport and also complain about my driving. Italian roads, as you are probably well aware, are made for cornering. I wouldn't speed but I had fun with the passengers in the car as we travelled between various beaches other spots.

One day, quite late into the holiday, my ex made a bit of a scene and insisted that she drive because my driving was making her car sick. Over her shoulder I could see our pals rolling their eyes but I agreed and gave her the keys. We headed for the beach and I sat in the passenger seat.

A little way from the beach two cops were manning a road block. They stopped us. Speaking in Italian they asked her for her driver's licence...

She'd forgotten to bring it hahaha.

And then, the kicker...the cop points to me in the passenger seat and the only word I could make out was "Senori...". Her face dropped.

One of the passengers in the back was also an Italian native and I turned to him to ask what the cop had said.

"He says she should let you drive, and I agree!" 

We all burst into laughter and my girlfriend didn't speak to me for the rest of the day haha

Hopefully you have moved on Plum. The Italians are great...another driving story.....I was a bit distracted when I pulled up to a hotel in Portofino and put the car on the low rise pavement. In Germany they would have arrested me.....in Portofino the doorman  treated the whole thing as a huge joke.

Lol of course. Bitchy girls have their benefits but much like a true Italian suspension, aren't built for all roads.

Something amusing about Sardinia. Every second house has supposed building work being carried out on it. Some tax loophole that most of the residents take advantage of.

Our friend had a few bricks and some paint cans on his terrace. Italians