Just to be clear, I have zero antipathy towards Wolpert or his efforts at
steelmanning. I think Wolpert does an excellent job of phrasing as questions
what I perceive "Scientists" and "Computationalists" to merely assert as Truth.
I have long tilted at that particular windmill and I applaud Wolpert, and glen
for bringing him to our attention, for exposing the assertions such that
counter arguments might be made.
And when it comes to "computationalism" and AI; I know it is not the 1970s and
things have "advanced" significantly. And although I do not comprehend the
details as well as most of you, I do understand sufficiently, I believe, to
advance the claim that they are suffering from the exact same blind spot (with
variable details) as Simon and Newell, et. al. who championed GOFAI. Plus you
all have heard of Simon and Newell but most of you are unfamiliar with
McGilchrist and similar contemporary critics.
My antipathy toward "Scientists" and "Computationalists" arises from what I
perceive as an absolute refusal to credit any science, math, or ways/means of
acquiring/expressing knowledge and understanding other than theirs. Dismissing
neolithic and pre-modern science is one example. Failing to acknowledge the
intelligence (and probably SAM) of other species—especially octopi—simply
because they do not build atomic bombs or computers, is another.
A really good book that would inform a discussion of Wolpert's questions, #4 in
particular, is: *Other Minds: The Octopus, the sea, and the deep origins of
consciousness*, by Peter Godfrey-Smith. A blurb follows.
*Although mammals and birds are widely regarded as the smartest creatures on
earth, it has lately become clear that a very distant branch of the tree of
life has also sprouted higher intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting of the
squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus. In captivity, octopuses have
been known to identify individual human keepers, raid neighboring tanks for
food, turn off light bulbs by spouting jets of water, plug drains, and make
daring escapes. How is it that a creature with such gifts evolved through an
evolutionary lineage so radically distant from our own? What does it mean that
evolution built minds not once but at least twice? The octopus is the closest
we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. What can we learn from the
encounter? *
davew
On Thu, Sep 15, 2022, at 12:22 PM, Steve Smith wrote:
>>There is some kind of diectic error in our response.
>
> Korrekshun - "deictic"
>
>
>
>
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