What is learning? Really, what is it? I think it might be helpful to ask a broader probing question first: "what can we definitively say about anything which might be categorized as learning?" This should help provide at least a rough outline of what it is which can inform further exploration. So, what can we definitively say about learning? ## Learning involves a change in the internal states of a system. Why can we say this? Well, if we're saying a system has learned, that implies there was a time where it hadn't learned yet. If we're now saying that learning has occurred, something must have changed (otherwise it would still be in its previous unlearned state). But *what* changed? It's definitely not a state external to the system. If it were, we couldn't say the system we're talking about learned since a system only consists of its internal states.…

One of the biggest joys in my life has gotta be thinking through problems from first principles.

Some of the most interesting ideas to me are ideas which seem trivial. But, for many of these ideas, the triviality is just a facade. The idea is like some sort of divine figure dressed as a pauper. Uninteresting, ignored, and even seen as contemptible by some but, spend enough time with him and take authentic interest in him, and he will reveal his glory. His disguise is a test for those who truly care. Those who are willing to sincerely sit down with the ordinary and the 'obvious.' One of these ideas which may seem trivial on the surface is the question of "what is a 'thing'"? Many might find this question uninteresting or exceedingly dry. "Well, a thing is just anything that I see as a thing." "Things are just things which differ from other things." "A thing is all that makes up that thing and nothing else…

Is this thing on?