Smart People
My commenters on Substack and the buymeacoffee site have been active. Thank god for smart people!
One person wrote me that I seem to like Belousov very much—because Belousov is devoted to his cat. You got me!
However there is also his PhD thesis on economic interconnectedness, as well as his advocacy of digitization , and drone technologies, among other things .
One of my mathematician supporters has been giving me useful information as to why AI could not be “intelligent” in the conventional sense of human intelligence— if it is based on conventional mathematical models, that is.
Occupy Schagen commented pretty much the same thing without the benefit of a Cambridge degree. Think quantum. True artificial intelligence is a long way off. Right now it is just a marketing thing. But Occupy thinks quantum naturally!
Still another person --Jay-- wrote me to say that I should have quoted Winston Churchill in full —-"It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma : but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interests.” Jay was . quite correct .
I connected Churchill’s comment to the US in the article that I was writing. But I didn’t go into great detail. I had to think about it a bit. I’m lazy and I probably would have forgotten about it. I wouldn’t have done that I think if Jay had not drawn my lapse to my attention
“National interest” is important.
Most people don’t pay too much attention to the “national interest” part of the quote—just to the eloquence of the first part— not , realizing that this way of thinking is typical of colonial racism— where “inferior” peoples—that is people other than you— are incomprehensible—alien— in thought feeling and action, in which case you have choices:
“civilize” them and teach them to serve you
kill them
pretend you are helping them—with them as (junior) partners, while exploiting their resources.
or combination of the first three.
Ragion di stato
Machiavelli popularized the (earlier) concept “ragion di stato” or “reason of state”, which was then used widely justify all kinds of political decisions and priorities—and abuses of power.
Churchill saw Britain’s “national interest” as projecting power and protecting its empire.
The USSR was a consensual federal state whose republics all had the right to secede. The Soviet Union’s main priority was to protect itself, First against the West in 1919, Then against the Germans in 1941, then against the West after 1945.
East is east, west is west. Gunga Din’s first name was Boris.
You will notice that the US is unable to clearly articulate national interest except as “exceptionalism” proclaimed with various slogans and platitudes. As another commenter said, America is more like a religion than a country.
Russians by contrast are achieving consensus at home on their national goals and priorities and defining them internationally.
Oh, did I mention, Putin likes cats?
OK…So it’s a PERSIAN leopard!
Anyway, I am indebted to all the smart people I have met on Substack. I get by with a little help from my friends!
More of my family
No that is not my baby picture.I wasn’t that smart. I wasn’t that cute. That’s a baby gorilla! My cousin only.
If you liked this article, buy me a coffee. The special article is on its way. A minor delay today due to problems (RAM died!) with my second (spare) computer. But…new RAM tomorrow. Thank you coffeebuyers! So, hopefully I can get the article to youi coffee buyers on schedule. I am working on a new mailing list.
It doesn't really matter if AI is truly intelligent or not.
What matters is whether it can do a huge amount of work for us. If that means it requires a few thousand geniuses to prompt it to do so then what is the difference?
Sure AI is not overturning Philosophy, But it is overturning Economics.
We will NOT create AI until we understand and fully explain consciousness. And our only current (scientific) tool for doing so is neuroscience. AND, that task it cannot do.
Why Neuroscience Will Never Explain Consciousness - Raymond Tallis
https://www.einsteinforum.de/veranstaltungen/why-neuroscience-will-never-explain-consciousness/
This is just a very brief exposure of Tallis' views. Read more of his essays at
https://philosophynow.org/
https://www.thenewatlantis.com/
as well as his several excellent books.
The upshot is that you don't need math to see the vacuity in even the term AI, just a little clear thinking. It is, in fact, the job of philosophy to point out where science is incoherent. Another great source for seeing through the illusions of reductionism and radical naturalism is "Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience". Here is an excerpt:
https://www.psychedelic-library.org/KOSMOS/Bennett_Hacker.pdf
But the final question is: do cats like Putin?