Interesting debate! I am going to guess that its resolution will lie entirely in the domain of linguistics and definition. Or maybe this is too simple? While it is intellectually interesting, is it a debate with practical consequence?
Cheers, Lawry On Aug 16, 2010, at 12:11 PM, Michael Gurstein wrote: > From another list... (albeit of deep techno-enthusiasts... > > M > > -----Original Message----- > Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 7:53 AM > Subject: Re: People questioning the intelligence of the global communication > network > > Thanks, , > > I'd like to reiterate a point I made earlier on the list and make a small > update to the list in regards to smartphones. > > The point was, roughly, that should a global brain or accelerating artificial > intelligence be clearly visible and provable, or most dramatically able to > communicate with us, the stage is set for religious feelings, the formation > of churches, and other very significant worship behavior of the new life > form(s). > > Notably, the original article by Jaron Lanier is titled the First Church of > Robotics and the discussion you highlighted below revolves around proving > Global Brain ideas. Lanier is a vocal critic of these ideas and I disagree > with the attention he receives as a kind of new-world dreadlocked mystic of > technology. In this article, he writes (in regards to the behavior of > reposting content on Twitter): > > " That is, people perform machine-like activity, copying and relaying > information; the Internet, as a whole, is claimed to perform the creative > thinking, the problem solving, the connection making. This is a devaluation > of human thought." > > Basically, Lanier is a hardcore humanist who is in love with technology. No > matter that millions of humans around the world discover fascinating things > as a result of following other human activity on Twitter, largely from > reposting behavior. According to Lanier, Twitter is not intelligent and the > internet is soulless and possibly evil. I have to say, it kind of creeps me > out to hear someone stating that we should " keep our religious ideas out of > (the work of scientists and engineers)" and at the same time profess a deep > unshakable belief in the human soul, obviously a thing never to be surpassed > or obtained by a machine. > > What this article is about is the two sides that are apparent in Global Brain > and AI research today. One side believes that only humans can have souls and > computers can never be truly aware; the other believes that it's not clear if > souls exist or have a specific humanistic definition and that perhaps > intelligence/awareness is bigger than humans. Or you could say those who > believe that intelligence requires soul and those who don't. > > Nonetheless, should a "new mind" awaken in some measurable form, look out! > Will Lanier and his anthropocentric ilk call for it's summary execution as an > abomination and try to pull the plug? Will Kuzweil and his followers raise > it on high and try to plug in? > > UPDATE ON SMARTPHONES: > > The smartphone explosion is significant. "On the ground" as a consultant, I > have helped many fellow citizens upgrade from small form factor devices and > less touchscreen-oriented machines like Blackberries into the rapidly > expanding world of Androids and iPhones. People who obtain these new > smartphones immediately wonder, "what do I do with it now?" and start > searching for applications and asking me what applications they should be > installing. And, I believe, a new kind of emotional connection is born. > > Very recently, there has been quite a passionate drama played out in the > world of smartphone owners. People are realizing they can "jailbreak" their > iPhones and emerge from the Jobsian cleanroom to enter the free world of the > internet and install whatever they want. People are realizing that some new > Android phones (already a lot more liberated in regards to applications) come > with a special chip that prevents complete "root" control of their device, > but within two weeks of it's entrance into the world, a very real digital > hero emerged on forums and blogs who had conquered the chip and granted Power > to the People to be who they want to be - and the primary force driving root > control was the ability to turn the Android device into an open WiFi hotspot, > which the mobile network providers want to stop. > > These are no longer phones, they are extension of ourselves, our desires, our > "souls" if you will. Lanier fears " we think of people more and more as > computers, just as we think of computers as people." I believe our new small > computer smartphone technologies are more than trusted friends or separate > simulacrums, they are part of us. Do you believe they are draining or > expanding our souls? If you believe in such a thing as a soul... if not, > perhaps replace "soul" with "intelligence." > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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