A Theory of Justified Reformulations | SpringerLink
Part of the book series: The Kluwer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science ((SECS,volume 87)) 109 Accesses 15 Citations Present day systems, intelligent or otherwise, are limited by the conceptualizations of the world given to them by their designers. In this paper, we propose a novel, first-principles approach to performing incremental reformulations for computational efficiency. First, we define a reformulation to be a shift in conceptualization: a change in the basic objects, functions, and relations assumed in a formulation. We then analyze the requirements for automating reformulation and show the need for justifying shifts in conceptualization. Inefficient formulations make irrelevant distinctions. A new class of meta-theoretical justifications for a reformulation called irrelevance explanations, is presented. A logical irrelevance explanation demonstrates that certain distinctions made in the formulation are not necessary for the computation of a given class of
Abstract Present day systems, intelligent or otherwise, are limited by the conceptualizations of the world given to them by their designers. In this paper, we propose a novel, first-principles approach to performing incremental reformulations for computational efficiency. First, we define a reformulation to be a shift in conceptualization: a change in the basic objects, functions, and relations assumed in a formulation. We then analyze the requirements for automating reformulation and show the need for justifying shifts in conceptualization. Inefficient formulations make irrelevant distinction
related reading
- the-illusion-of-thinking.pdfml-site.cdn-apple.com
- Toward Idealized Decision Theoryarxiv.org
- [2508.11214] How Causal Abstraction Underpins Computational Explanationarxiv.org
- Human Judgment as a Specificationblog.brownplt.org
- [2510.01346] Aristotle: IMO-level Automated Theorem Provingarxiv.org
- Fine Counterfactualsas.nyu.edu
- Intent Formalization: A Grand Challenge for Reliable Coding in the Age of AI Agentsalphaxiv.org
- Computational Irreducibility: A New Kind of Science | Online by Stephen Wolfram [Page 738]wolframscience.com
- Ruler: Inferring Rewrite rules with Equality Saturationztatlock.net
- Reasoning Models Reason Well, Until They Don'tarxiv.org
- Formal Algorithms for Transformersarxiv.org
- [2603.26524] Mathematical methods and human thought in the age of AIarxiv.org