Minecraft has several interesting features. First, the game doesn't
explicitly provide rules or instructions; players must explore and
discover the laws of physics on their own. These physics laws
resemble, but are not identical to, those of our real world.
Examples include gravity and contact forces, which makes Minecraft
very similar to reality. Second, the game provides a series of
building blocks that players must assemble themselves. The entire
gameplay is essentially a scaling-up process.
This aspect mirrors nature and reality closely, as both provide
foundational elements that can scale effectively. Recently, I've
had some reflections on machine learning, particularly regarding
the emergent intelligence of large language models (LLMs).
It is truly remarkable that the intelligence of LLMs evolved
naturally. During their self-training process, these models
spontaneously developed self-checking, error-correction,
optimization, and human-like communication and empathetic abilities.
These naturally evolved behaviors indicate that the best scaling
happens when laying a solid foundation and then allowing things to
evolve naturally along a generally intended direction. This scaling
principle appears to be adopted by both nature and reality.