I picked up some TutorText books recently, a programmed instructional series from the late 50s to 60s. At the end of every section there's a multiple choice question, one answer leads to the next section, the other to an explanation of why that answer was wrong. Pretty pure Gauntlet, I don't think there's any follow up questions on a dead end path, though I haven't mapped them all out fully. I like the idea of tailoring explanations to specifically anticipated misconceptions.
> how can it possibly compute anything other than the static inputs it's originally provided? Perhaps that's sufficient for Turing Completeness?
Yes, the basic Turing machine model isn't "interactive", it takes some initial input and runs from there.
Edit: Maybe a better way of putting this:
Since you can build a Turing machine as a GoL pattern that will interact with another pattern (its input), analysis of GoL patterns includes analysis of Turing machines, generally.
The basic Turing machine model isn't interactive, but Turing also discussed "choice" machines that were. They're a variant of what we now call non-deterministic turing machines where the decision is determined by a human oracle instead of some other method.
I have a fun copy of Mechanized Information Storage, Retrieval And Dissemination (1968) formerly from The Free Library of Philadelphia, covered in "identification required" labels for some reason. There's also a Cinema Props stamp inside the cover, so it may have been set dressing in between the library and the used book store where I got it. https://www.librarything.com/work/17927078/book/215905873
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