Re: GUT and P=NP

[m5@vail.tivoli.com (Mike McNally)]

>    We are not talking about physical computers, we are talking about
> turing machines. If there is some *finite* deterministic process to
> get from the initial data to the final result, no matter how long it
> takes, it is an algorithm.

I don't see the need for determinism; it depends on the underlying 
computational model.

>   I can't think of a single thing which is non-algorithmic
> except true randomness or non-determinism. 

The "essence" of nondeterminism may not be algorithmic, but I don't
see why that's important.  If nondeterminism can be sufficiently
characterized that I can express an algorithmic process involving
it (and of course we can; that's how NP problems are expressed) then
my boat floats.