RE: Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 09/02/18> Can bots actually think for themselves… if so, what about emotions?
You may not be good with computers, but you have understood the whole bot thing better than I do! For some reason, I can't seem to wrap my head around it. I made an appointment with a good friend and Steemit expert to have him walk me through these things, because the ignorance on my part is starting to get to me.
As for the minds... this is a great question. I study plant intelligence, and there we spend a great deal of time talking about consciousness and "mind" without a brain. The subject of AI has come up several times, because if the AI that is being created today is at the limit of our own human intelligence, then the only thing in the future that will be able to upgrade them are other AIs. This means that soon we will have AIs enhancing AIs, and how could they do that if they do not have "minds" to decide on what to enhance? Wrap your mind around that one... I have a few theories on what this means, but I would love to hear your thoughts before I share them. :)
Oh darling you ask some tough questions. I am the one who is supposed to ask the questions, you are supposed to provide me with the answers. I know you are an intelligent woman so you will get the hang of this Daily Dose place soon if you hang around here very long with us.
Here is what I believe when it comes to minds. First, I am not studied in any of this which will probably be easily apparent to see. I believe that there is a "collective mind" that is available to all living things. There has to be in order for everything to exist and share the same space we all live in.
I also believe that the mind is not resident in the bodies of us, and people confuse the grey matter in our skulls called brains with the mind. I see it as the brain is more of a computer that just keeps bodily functions running properly, or at least it is supposed too.
The brain can be programmed and that we know already, even mice can be trained to do things and their brains are substantially smaller in physical size, but programmable none the less.
For lack of a better description I think of the mind as the software for the brain. The mind makes the decisions and then conveys its directives to the brain for execution of the decisions.
With AI, as I understand it, we have basically created an "artificial brain" but we actually haven't done anything except give a different name to just a more powerful computer is the way I see that. You said ,"AI that is being created today is at the limit of our own human intelligence, then the only thing in the future that will be able to upgrade them are other AIs." I can see how your discussions with your colleagues might have gotten to the point but I see it differently.
I don't believe that we are at the limit of human intelligence, I think we are at the limit of the human intelligence that has been easily available to us. I know that we are not the most intelligent civilization that has ever lived on this earth and for evidence of that all one needs to do is look at some of the things that we can't explain correctly that exist from ancient civilizations.
The pyramids are a prime example of that, the mathematics involved in the construction of those, and the cutting of the stones with exact precision that we can't match today are just two examples that come to mind. Any construction engineer will tell you that we don't have the capability to construct projects of such magnitude with such exacting detail as is on display in the pyramids.
I can assure you the history books that tell us the pyramids were constructed using hammers, chisels, ropes and logs to roll and lift the stones into place are nowhere near correct.
In that collective mind that I believe exists is the intelligence that was responsible for projects like the pyramids and other unexplained things that exist. Granted it will take more time to tap into the collective mind and no one seems to have the patience it will require.
So I think we can still expand our intelligence and I don't believe AI will only be capable of expanding AI. We have to remember, the "A" in AI is for "artificial" which means fake. Fake intelligence is no intelligence at all.
The mind, the collective mind, I believe is only available for living and breathing creatures and plants. We just need to slow our bodies down and listen to our minds, and when we need an answer to a question just call on our mind to bring us the answer, it takes time and patience.
That is my take on it, I don't know that it made any sense to you, but I hope it did.
You and I see eye-to-eye on everything you wrote!
Panpsychism, from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
I love the way you put that the brain is the hardware and the mind is the software. This gives space to the understanding that while a brain is the hardware of animals, in other species, the hardware may be different. Plants don't have brains, but growing research shows that they have minds. Slime mold has no brains, no neurons, no nervous system, but it has intelligence, which means it probably has a mind. Each one has a unique computer--many of which we have yet to understand--to carry out the intelligence of the mind. I love it!
I find it very interesting that you wrote about the pyramids and lost knowledge. I don't know if you know this, but where I live, we built an underground temple that is often called the Eighth Wonder of the World. It is called the Temples of Humankind, and when they were discovered (they were built in secret for over 20 years), they asked to meet the architect that designed them. There was no architect. There was no engineer or any other technical person who knew how to build, much less underground. Where the experts said it was impossible to build an earthquake safe underground structure without certain competencies, we did it, because we were being guided by other.
This experience has helped me better understand how the pyramids in Egypt and other sacred spaces around the world have been built. And as you said, there is something greater that guides the hand when your path is true. Anyone with a great idea or that accomplished something that seems impossible will attest to it. Hopefully, one day humans will better understand this collective consciousness and embrace it, because when we do, we will realize that we are all one. Not just in the "kumbaya" sort of way, in a deep way that connectes every being, every object, every speck of dust in the universe. And maybe then, the world will become what it was always meant to be...
There will come a day that science will figure out that the mind is actually in water. All living things share one thing in common, water. There are some plants and animals that needs less than others but that is a metabolism thing and mark my words. Water is the the collective mind and is shared by all living things.
We are much closer to getting there than you think. Last year, I did a conference in Finland with Michiko Hayashi, the person that took over the legacy from Dr. Masaru Emoto. I spoke about plant intelligence, she spoke about water. It was quite interesting, because as you said, water is the substance that brings everything we are together. Not sure yet if it is a container for the consciousness or it is the consciousness, but either way, it is the main point of conjunction!
Is there a video somewhere online that is available so I could see both of your talks? If not, maybe a transcript of them so I could read them?
Unfortunately, there is no video of that one. Here is an old interview (about four years old now) I did before speaking at Plant Consciousness. This one done in Bulgaria is only about two years old. I only discovered Dlive recently, so other live-like videos are on my Facebook page. I am starting to do more on Dlive now, but I am still a little slow because I am not always sure what to talk about.
I did catch your Dlive the other day on looking for conferences, I will check out the old interview and Bulgaria. Thanks for the links.
Aww thanks! What did you think of it? I am always looking for ways to improve. :)