Introduction One of my great pet peeves with our time is its weird relationship with computers. These machines have become so ubiquitous in our lives that we seem to humanize them to a worrying extent – worrying, because it degrades and twists our own self-perception. This tendency has become so egregious and commonplace with the rise of so called “artificial intelligences” that it is starting to look like a new strain of pseudoreligiosity, complete with its own bizarre theology and eschatology. People are eagerly awaiting the day when their computer “becomes aware” like others await the Second Coming!
"The differences between the brain and a computer are qualitative and not quantitative. " Came to this conclusion myself not too long ago as I wrote up an essay using Grammarly (guessing you have heard of it). My writing style is unique to me, but according to Grammarly, it needs to be written in a different style. This takes the humanity and uniqueness out of writing, and can only lead to disadvantages in the long run. The computer has many advantages, but one must not depend on it for everything.
"When you learn something, that’s not data, it’s knowledge. What’s the difference? The same as the difference between memorizing a paragraph in Latin and knowing what it means".....Illustrative example:
Observed first year colkege Chinese students taking English competency exams for college level work. Their vocabulary scores (memorization based) were near perfect. But their reading comprehension scores and sentence structure scores were at 2nd or 3rd grade level.
> Computers aren’t rational, since they cannot reason. What is meant is that they are predictable and controllable.
> Not that we will be hunted to extinction by Skynet, but that we will further degrade ourselves into the role of castrated consumer-serfs because of a faulty understanding of what we really are.
This is an important point, a I think it's worth discussing because I don't think people are well acquainted with 'control' as the source of the self-imposed, self-degradation.
Right now, the dominant paradigm for modern humans is control (and its child, management). This is the inverse of the notion of genuine relationship that gives rise to 'ownership'. Control can only ever approximate ownership, and the more it tries to replace ownership, the more it perverts itself.
I mention ownership as something beyond agency, because ownership involves using agency to take another's interest as one's own. A parent takes ownership of a child. A gardener takes ownership of his plants. This is what relationship is – positive ownership.
From my perception, the more humans try to *use* technology (as a slave), the more it returns the favor by making us into things that are to be used an enslaved. We're not willing to *relate* to technology, especially computers, and in turn let it expand this capacity of Relation.
A trained samurai knows that his blade is an extension of his being, and the blade responds by providing the necessary extension to Being. This is one of the many truths offered by 'Om Tat Tvam Asi', as you well know.
You make a very good point. A great deal of technology is dedicated to the control and domestication of the human animal, and AI is just the next iteration of that.
Very good essay. I've read an article last year that overlaps a lot with yours, and has some interesting points on the issue, I highly recommend it. https://aeon.co/essays/your-brain-does-not-process-information-and-it-is-not-a-computer
Yes, I have read that article. It was a major inspiration for my essay.
"The differences between the brain and a computer are qualitative and not quantitative. " Came to this conclusion myself not too long ago as I wrote up an essay using Grammarly (guessing you have heard of it). My writing style is unique to me, but according to Grammarly, it needs to be written in a different style. This takes the humanity and uniqueness out of writing, and can only lead to disadvantages in the long run. The computer has many advantages, but one must not depend on it for everything.
"When you learn something, that’s not data, it’s knowledge. What’s the difference? The same as the difference between memorizing a paragraph in Latin and knowing what it means".....Illustrative example:
Observed first year colkege Chinese students taking English competency exams for college level work. Their vocabulary scores (memorization based) were near perfect. But their reading comprehension scores and sentence structure scores were at 2nd or 3rd grade level.
> Computers aren’t rational, since they cannot reason. What is meant is that they are predictable and controllable.
> Not that we will be hunted to extinction by Skynet, but that we will further degrade ourselves into the role of castrated consumer-serfs because of a faulty understanding of what we really are.
This is an important point, a I think it's worth discussing because I don't think people are well acquainted with 'control' as the source of the self-imposed, self-degradation.
Right now, the dominant paradigm for modern humans is control (and its child, management). This is the inverse of the notion of genuine relationship that gives rise to 'ownership'. Control can only ever approximate ownership, and the more it tries to replace ownership, the more it perverts itself.
I mention ownership as something beyond agency, because ownership involves using agency to take another's interest as one's own. A parent takes ownership of a child. A gardener takes ownership of his plants. This is what relationship is – positive ownership.
From my perception, the more humans try to *use* technology (as a slave), the more it returns the favor by making us into things that are to be used an enslaved. We're not willing to *relate* to technology, especially computers, and in turn let it expand this capacity of Relation.
A trained samurai knows that his blade is an extension of his being, and the blade responds by providing the necessary extension to Being. This is one of the many truths offered by 'Om Tat Tvam Asi', as you well know.
You make a very good point. A great deal of technology is dedicated to the control and domestication of the human animal, and AI is just the next iteration of that.