30 MAY 2016 by ideonexus
Humans are Intelligent and Hierarchical
“You have a mismatched pair of genetic characteristics. Either alone would have been useful, would have aided the survival of your species. But the two together are lethal. It was only a matter of time before they destroyed you." [...] Jdahya made a rustling noise that could have been a sigh, but that did not seem to comer from his mouth or throat. "You are intelligent," he said. "That's the newer of the two characteristics, and the one you might have put to work to save yourselves. You a...15 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
The Artilect Perspective of a Human Intelligence
It is not exaggerating to say that there is quite a close analogy between an artilect trying to communicate with a human being, and a human being trying to communicate with a rock. To make another analogy, consider your feelings towards a mosquito as it lands on the skin of your forearm. When you swat it, do you stop to consider that the creature you just killed is a miracle of nano-technological engineering, that scientists of the 20th century had absolutely no way of building. The mosquito...24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
Three Types of Artificial Intelligence
Lighthill begins by dividing artificial intelligence into three areas which he calls A, B, and C. A stands for advanced automation, the objective being to replace human beings by machines for specific purposes, for example, industrial assembly, military reconnaissance or scientific analysis. A large body of work in category A is concerned with pattern recognition, with the programming of computers to read documents or to recognize spoken words. C stands for computer-based central-nervous-syst...Folksonomies: artificial intelligence
Folksonomies: artificial intelligence
15 NOV 2013 by ideonexus
The Search for Internet Intelligence
While detecting an ET intelligence would overturn terrestrial religions forever, detecting a global internet intelligence would have wide-ranging ramifications for society. We'd have daily contact with an AI much larger than us, one that presumably would be steadily increasing in power every 18 months (Moore's Law). And this AI is embedded in the central nervous system of our global economy and culture. It's what we are connected to 24/7. It is also increasingly acts as our exo-brain. If it h...Notes on the search for a global intelligence in the Word Wide Web.
29 AUG 2013 by ideonexus
How Our Predisposition Toward Empathy Taints Our Logic
Our sexually selected instincts for displaying sympathy tend to affect our belief systems, not just our charity and courtship behavior. When individuals espouse ideological positions, we typically interpret their beliefs as signs of good or bad moral character. Individuals feel social pressure to adopt the beliefs that are conventionally accepted as indicating a "good heart," even when those beliefs are not rational. We may even find ourselves saying, "His ideas may be right, but his heart is...We find logical ideas repulsive when they conflict with our need to associate with sensitive people. If a person suggests a correct and logical idea, but it is an idea that lacks empathy, we tend to find the individual repulsive (This happened to me on a thread when I suggested letting pandas go extinct).
19 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Bacon, Galileo, Descartes
The transition from the epoch we have been considering to that which follows, has been distinguished by three extraordinary personages, Bacon, Galileo, and Descartes. Bacon has revealed the true method of studying nature, by employing the three instruments with which she has furnished us for the discovery of her secrets, observation, experiment and calculation. He was desirous that the philosopher, placed in the midst of the universe, should, as a first and necessary step in his career, renou...Condorcet considers the last the most important of the era.
06 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Scientific Progress is Unstoppable
The 'stream' we call science always flows forward; sometimes reactionary beavers block its flow, but the stream is never defeated by this; it accumulates, gathers strength; its waters get over the barrage and continue on their course. The advancement of science is the advancement of God, for science is nothing but human intelligence, and human intelligence is the most valuable treasure God has bequeathed us.It is like a stream that gathers into a river.
05 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
There is No Supernatural
There is no supernatural, there is only nature. Nature alone exists and contains all. All is. There is the part of nature that we perceive, and the part of nature that we do not perceive. ... If you abandon these facts, beware; charlatans will light upon them, also the imbecile. There is no mean: science, or ignorance. If science does not want these facts, ignorance will take them up. You have refused to enlarge human intelligence, you augment human stupidity. When Laplace withdraws Cagliostr...Folksonomies: nature
Folksonomies: nature
All is nature.
28 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Five Ingredients for Human Intelligence
• The desire to explore • Self-control • Creativity • Verbal communication • Decoding nonverbal communicationThings to keep in mind when stimulating your child's intellect.
03 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Cooperation VS Capitalism
Finding the right balance between cooperation and competition has been the goal and bane of Western politics for centuries. Adam Smith recognized that the economic needs of the individual are better met by unleashing the ambitions of all individuals than by planning to meet those needs in advance. But even Adam Smith could not claim that free markets produce Utopia. Even the most libertarian politician today believes in the need to regulate, oversee, and tax the efforts of ambitious individua...Human intelligence has yet to design a society where free competition among the members works for the good of the whole.