FULL STORY
Schmidhuber's Compression Theory of Creativity Sparks Debate
Schmidhuber's 2009 formal theory of fun and creativity resurfaced amid skepticism, prompting him to cite the original paper. The debate over whether compression progress can explain beauty, curiosity and humor continues.
2026-10-03 ~ 2026-10-05 · 2 episodes · 5 posts
Episode 1 · Schmidhuber Cites Decade-Old Papers to Defend His Theory of Fun and Creativity (2026-10-03, 3 posts)
Schmidhuber defended his formal theory of fun and creativity against skepticism by citing three earlier papers, including a 2008 one on compression progress. hardmaru also noted the theory had been published in a SICE journal as early as 2009.
- Schmidhuber Replies to the Pope With His 2008 Curiosity Paper on Compression Progress — prajdabre · 2026-10-03
- Schmidhuber cites three decades of papers on formal theories of creativity and curiosity — SchmidhuberAI · 2026-10-03
- Schmidhuber's Formal Theory of Fun and Creativity Dates Back to a 2009 Japanese Journal Paper — hardmaru · 2026-10-04
Episode 2 · Debate: Can Compression Theory Explain Creativity (2026-10-05, 2 posts)
A discussion challenges Schmidhuber's 2009 formal theory of fun and creativity, arguing that compression-based views fail to capture creativity and that LLM self-generation is key. The debate extends to distinguishing true creativity from generation merely serving understanding or reward.
- Compression alone can't capture creativity: self-generation is the missing piece for LLMs — menhguin · 2026-10-05
- Olympic athletes aren't 'creative': why goal-driven generation misses what creativity means — menhguin · 2026-10-05