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In this thread I'd like to discuss if there is a goal or desired condition which is applicable for any organisms who have adequate time to evolve or develop until they are basically independent from condition of their natural environments.
The only viable way to create universal utopia is from within oneself. If you wake up feeling refreshed and happy, then the world around you takes on a utopia character. If on the next day, you wake up tired and grouchy, the world has not changed, but your attitude has changed, thereby taking away the utopia of yesterday.We cannot change the world in a way that satisfies everyone, regardless of everyones mood or their desire du jour. There is not enough resources to satisfy everyone using external stimulus, since people vary so much. The only way to utopia is to help people find their own internal sweet spot; good day every day, so happiness can be found in the practical world of limiting situations.This has been the goal of many religions. Jesus, for example, preached love since love can give one the internal rose colored glassed needed to see utopia. If you fall in love, the world becomes beautiful and life becomes easier and satisfying. The internal attitude decides if we see utopia, in the end. If you start to fight with your beloved, the neural chemistry changes and utopia is gone. Now you are in hell. If love returns and you make up, utopia returns. It is about creating the proper neural chemical brain environment, apart from external stimulus.Be not conformed to the world, was a lesson by Jesus and Buddha, not to be too dependent on the external environment. The external environment can be used to push buttons for neural chemical happiness and utopia. However, this is short term. In the end, internal perception is what decides, whether we see utopia or not. External things wear out, in terms of their button pushing power, so we will need a new, larger or different dosage to active the internal perception.
As I discussed in another thread, I think that feelings, love, happiness, sadness, pain and pleasure are tools to help us getting better chance to survive. Only survivors can think/contemplate retrospectively.
The necessity of data compression becomes more apparent the higher the conscience level of the agent is. It's even become inevitable for Laplace's demon. Without data compression, all matter in universe will be used up as memory modelling the universe itself in current state, leaving nothing for input and output parts. Without input and output, an agent can not execute its plan.
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 09/06/2018 05:42:37Let's take a chess game for an example. The priorities, in my opinion (sorted from highest) :1. Checkmate the opponent's king.2. Prevent checkmate on own king.3. Preserve time and energy.Try to get #1. If it's impossible, try to get #2 (draw). If it's also impossible, try to get #3 by resigning.I think I got the priorities wrong. Above were sorted by rewards. It's impossible to achieve 1 while failing to achieve 2. Hence, if we take the possibilities into account, the correct priorities should be1. Prevent checkmate on own king.2. Checkmate the opponent's king.3. Preserve time and energy.
Let's take a chess game for an example. The priorities, in my opinion (sorted from highest) :1. Checkmate the opponent's king.2. Prevent checkmate on own king.3. Preserve time and energy.Try to get #1. If it's impossible, try to get #2 (draw). If it's also impossible, try to get #3 by resigning.
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 12/11/2019 12:09:38In my other thread i've argued that consciousness is a continuum ranged from 0 to infinity, whith rocks and Laplace's demon representing those lower and upper limits. Everything else lies in between, including viruses, plants and animals which occur naturally, as well as artificial ones like single loop process controllers, computer viruses, deep blue, alpha zero.This unbalanced scale may make us wonder, why half of the scale (negative side) is left unoccupied? Is it possible for an agent to have negative consciousness? What does it means?According to Wikipedia,QuoteIn mathematics, a negative number is a real number that is less than zero. Negative numbers represent opposites. If positive represents a movement to the right, negative represents a movement to the left. If positive represents above sea level, then negative represents below sea level. If positive represents a deposit, negative represents a withdrawal. They are often used to represent the magnitude of a loss or deficiency. A debt that is owed may be thought of as a negative asset, a decrease in some quantity may be thought of as a negative increase. If a quantity may have either of two opposite senses, then one may choose to distinguish between those senses—perhaps arbitrarily—as positive and negative. Negative numbers are used to describe values on a scale that goes below zero, such as the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales for temperature. The laws of arithmetic for negative numbers ensure that the common sense idea of an opposite is reflected in arithmetic. For example, −(−3) = 3 because the opposite of an opposite is the original value.Thus by following the pattern, we can infer that agents with negative level of consciousness are those with non-zero potential/information processing capability, but somehow misled that effectively they become self destructive (or destructive to their peers), hence cancelling out that potential/capability. Some examples come into my mind are mass suicidal group such as that's led by Jim Jones. Other examples include other religious groups who believe that end time is near and nothing they can do to prevent it. Fundamental nihilist may be included in this list.
In my other thread i've argued that consciousness is a continuum ranged from 0 to infinity, whith rocks and Laplace's demon representing those lower and upper limits. Everything else lies in between, including viruses, plants and animals which occur naturally, as well as artificial ones like single loop process controllers, computer viruses, deep blue, alpha zero.
In mathematics, a negative number is a real number that is less than zero. Negative numbers represent opposites. If positive represents a movement to the right, negative represents a movement to the left. If positive represents above sea level, then negative represents below sea level. If positive represents a deposit, negative represents a withdrawal. They are often used to represent the magnitude of a loss or deficiency. A debt that is owed may be thought of as a negative asset, a decrease in some quantity may be thought of as a negative increase. If a quantity may have either of two opposite senses, then one may choose to distinguish between those senses—perhaps arbitrarily—as positive and negative. Negative numbers are used to describe values on a scale that goes below zero, such as the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales for temperature. The laws of arithmetic for negative numbers ensure that the common sense idea of an opposite is reflected in arithmetic. For example, −(−3) = 3 because the opposite of an opposite is the original value.
The remarkable achievements of humanity are not because some individual humans have superlative abilities compared to other organisms. Instead, they are products of social collaboration which accumulated over time and generations.
A universal utopia, if there is one, would be classified as a meme. And just like any other memes, it will compete for its existence in memory space, whether in people's minds or computer's storage devices.
Here in the information age, you are bombarded daily with an avalanche of sensory data. Attempting to absorb this data all at once would be impossible, since humans have finite senses and the surrounding amount of information is, for all practical purposes, infinite. Thus, you must learn to program your mind with specific filters to repel unimportant parts of reality while paying attention to those segments of reality that can maintain or improve your well-being. These filters, or "razors", can let you cut through life's nonsense to reach the bottom line of any situation quickly. I would like to propose a triple-bladed mental razor that you can use to slash your way to a sense of certainty as you plow through life's offerings.The first blade is "Rand's Razor", named after the famous novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand. Rand's Razor simply states, "Name your primaries," which means "name your irreducible axioms." It holds the basic axioms of existence, consciousness, and identity as the standards by which to ponder or to reject any assertion. Any statement that attempts to deny any of these axioms must necessarily be self-refuting because all human knowledge implicitly assumes that "There is (existence)--something (identity)--of which I am aware (consciousness)." These axioms grant existence primacy over consciousness. In other words, consciousness is simply an awareness of external reality via the senses, not a power to control or alter external reality other than through bodily motions caused by an attached brain. Thus, no "spiritual" action such as wishing or praying can cause hurricanes to change course or cause water to change into wine. The axiom of identity, or "non-contradiction principle", holds that a given entity will possess a given nature under a given set of circumstances, and will possess no other nature under those circumstances. For example, a given item cannot be all black and all white at exactly the same time. Together, these three axioms can help you to slash off a whole category of false or useless ideas.The second blade is "Occam's Razor", named after William of Occam (c. 1285-1349), the English monk and philosopher. He contended that, all other things being equal, the simplest explanation should be given the most consideration. In his own words, "It is vain to do with more what can be done with less." Those who receive daily exposure to the popular media need this razor to carve through the convoluted arguments made by politicians, lawyers, journalists, broadcasters, televangelists, "psychic hotlines", "business opportunities", and a host of other influences. If you are intrigued by Occam's Razor, I encourage you to investigate the broader field of informal logical fallacies, a list of which can be found on my web site. Together, Occam's Razor and a solid understanding of informal logical fallacies can forge a great scimitar to slash through the constant myths and outright deceptions foisted onto the public by misguided "leaders", business hucksters, and other folks.The last blade of the triple-bladed razor is what I call "Robbins's Razor", named after world-famous peak-performance consultant Anthony Robbins. Robbins's Razor insists that, when faced with two or more possible beliefs about a situation, a person should purposely select the most empowering belief. In his book Awaken the Giant Within, he explores the impact of beliefs and the distinction between "empowering" and "disempowering" beliefs on human behavior. Put simply, an empowering belief helps a person to reach a desired goal, while a disempowering belief hinders a person's achievement of that goal. His book offers methods for collapsing disempowering beliefs and replacing them with alternative, empowering beliefs. Robbins uses a "table with legs" metaphor to describe beliefs, with the table top representing the "belief" and the supporting legs representing the sensory data that support that belief. By creating states of doubt about a belief, a person can begin knocking out the supports of that belief until the belief itself collapses. Simply collapsing a disempowering belief is not enough, Robbins argues. A new, empowering belief must be constructed in its place in order to re-route the neural associations permanently and thus prevent the return of the disempowering belief.Robbins provides an example of an overweight person who possessed a disempowering belief that attempting to lose weight is a vain act and that vanity is a bad character trait. Thus, this man did not even bother doing more research on the matter of becoming thinner because he believed that doing so would reflect badly on his character. Some counseling revealed that this person did have at least a latent desire to lose weight. Robbins helped him to create doubt about the disempowering belief by asking questions such as, "What is stupid or ridiculous about this belief?" Eventually, the man formed a new, empowering alternative belief: "My body is a temple for my spirit, and I should honor my spirit by caring for its temple." As a result, he began a successful program of weight loss. While this example is very mystical in nature, it does convey the concept of distinguishing two types of beliefs and how to choose the more helpful of the two.Although I find Robbins's Razor very useful, I contend that attempting to apply it without the aforementioned razors of Rand and Occam can lead a person to significant errors in thinking. If a person does use Rand's and Occam's Razors first, though, Robbins's Razor can serve as a valuable tool to hack through the mountains of negativity and self-helplessness that pound our world today. After all, if you can brush aside the many statements that violate laws of nature and rules of logic to get down to several equal possibilities, why would you want to pick the least empowering of the set? I cannot think of a good reason, at least not if I want to produce ongoing happiness and prosperity for myself. I suspect you will draw the same conclusion as you adopt this triple-action scalpel to excise the fetid gangrene that has infected the information age.
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 04/06/2018 12:59:47Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 04/06/2018 08:45:35If this universal goal exist, then all organisms will try to achieve it. Conscious organisms will make plans to achieve it, because the plan can increase the probability to achieve target. Plans work based on assumption that law of causality applies, otherwise, if everything happens at random, then there would be no point in making plans.Another basic assumption which is necessary to get to a universal goal is that there is an objective reality. Otherwise there would be no cooperation among units of a system that tries to achieve that goal.Perhaps some of you think that those two basic assumptions are so obvious as not to seem worth stating, but without them, I don't think we can go forward discussing this topic any further.This reminds me of a Bertrand Russell quote QuoteThe point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it. Bertrand Russell(https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/bertrand_russell_107179) We'll see if those basic assumptions will lead us to a paradox.restating those basic assumptions in fewer words:1. There is universe.2. There are universal laws.As for causality, it is necessary to assume that time exists. This entails that there are changes in things in the universe. Some are fast, some are slow.
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 04/06/2018 08:45:35If this universal goal exist, then all organisms will try to achieve it. Conscious organisms will make plans to achieve it, because the plan can increase the probability to achieve target. Plans work based on assumption that law of causality applies, otherwise, if everything happens at random, then there would be no point in making plans.Another basic assumption which is necessary to get to a universal goal is that there is an objective reality. Otherwise there would be no cooperation among units of a system that tries to achieve that goal.Perhaps some of you think that those two basic assumptions are so obvious as not to seem worth stating, but without them, I don't think we can go forward discussing this topic any further.This reminds me of a Bertrand Russell quote QuoteThe point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it. Bertrand Russell(https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/bertrand_russell_107179) We'll see if those basic assumptions will lead us to a paradox.
If this universal goal exist, then all organisms will try to achieve it. Conscious organisms will make plans to achieve it, because the plan can increase the probability to achieve target. Plans work based on assumption that law of causality applies, otherwise, if everything happens at random, then there would be no point in making plans.
The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it. Bertrand Russell(https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/bertrand_russell_107179)
Hanlon's razor is an aphorism expressed in various ways, including:"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."[1]Probably named after a Robert J. Hanlon, it is a philosophical razor which suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior.
Speaking of philosophical razors, this one is particularly closely related to morality.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razorQuoteHanlon's razor is an aphorism expressed in various ways, including:"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."[1]Probably named after a Robert J. Hanlon, it is a philosophical razor which suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior.Some examples I can recall are:- Human sacrifice of the Aztech to appease Gods and prevent natural disaster and give humanity life.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice_in_Aztec_culture- Jephthah's sacrifice of his daughterhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jephthah#Sacrifice_of_daughter
To make productive discussion possible, we need to have useful definition of life. That definition must be broad enough to include (almost) all systems that commonly regarded as life, but at the same time specific enough to exclude (almost) all systems that commonly regarded as non-life. In other word, it must be balanced to minimize false negative as well as false positive cases.I think the popular definition in Wikipedia above is too narrow, hence has high probability to get false negative case, such as the mule that was dicussed above. I prefer a broader definition than this, like "having the ability to duplicate genetic material with minimum support". I leave the definition of "minimum support" here to discuss.
law1/lɔː/noun1.the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties."shooting the birds is against the law"
Law is a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior.[2]
Politics is a set of activities associated with the governance of a country, state or an area. It involves making decisions that apply to groups of members.
politics/ˈpɒlɪtɪks/noun1.the activities associated with the governance of a country or area, especially the debate between parties having power."the party quickly gained influence in French politics"2.activities aimed at improving someone's status or increasing power within an organization."yet another discussion of office politics and personalities"
economy/ɪˈkɒnəmi/noun1.the state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money."he favours tax cuts to stimulate the economy"2.careful management of available resources."fuel economy"
To answer Occam's razor, we need some alternatives with equal explanatory power. I rely on other members of this forum to provide one.
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.
In his book Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari includes humanism (which branches into liberalism, socialism, and fascism) and dataism as new religions.
I am not sure when I first became aware of the Singularity. I'd have to say it was a progressive awakening. In thealmost half century that I've immersed myself in computer and related technologies, I've sought to understandthe meaning and purpose of the continual upheaval that I have witnessed at many levels. Gradually, I'vebecome aware of a transforming event looming in the first half of the twenty-first century. Just as a black hole in spacedramatically alters the patterns of matter and energy accelerating toward its event horizon, this impending Singularityin our future is increasingly transforming every institution and aspect of human life, from sexuality to spirituality. What, then, is the Singularity? It's a future period during which the pace of technological change will be so rapid,its impact so deep, that human life will be irreversibly transformed. Although neither utopian nor dystopian, this epochwill transform the concepts that we rely on to give meaning to our lives, from our business models to the cycle ofhuman life, including death itself. Understanding the Singularity will alter our perspective on the significance of ourpast and the ramifications for our future. To truly understand it inherently changes one's view of life in general andone's own particular life. I regard someone who understands the Singularity and who has reflected on its implicationsfor his or her own life as a "singularitarian."1 I can understand why many observers do not readily embrace the obvious implications of what I have called thelaw of accelerating returns (the inherent acceleration of the rate of evolution, with technological evolution as acontinuation of biological evolution), After all, it took me forty years to be able to see what was right in front of me,and I still cannot say that I am entirely comfortable with all of its consequences.
Evolution is a process of creating patterns of increasing order. ... I believe that it's the evolution of patterns that constitutes the ultimate story of our world. Evolution works through indirection: each stage or epoch uses the information-processing methods of the previous epoch to create the next. I conceptualize the history of evolution—both biological and technological—as occurring in six epochs. As we will discuss, the Singularity will begin with Epoch Five and will spread from Earth to the rest of the universe in Epoch Six.
When the activities involve managing resource to achieve the goals of a system, we get economy.Quoteeconomy/ɪˈkɒnəmi/noun1.the state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money."he favours tax cuts to stimulate the economy"2.careful management of available resources."fuel economy"Moral, political, and economic efforts are parts of the more general efforts to achieve a system's goals, and they don't make sense in the long run except in the light of universal utopia. An extremely successful stamp collector AGI which I've mentioned in another thread can be taken as a clear example.
An economic indicator is a statistic about an economic activity. Economic indicators allow analysis of economic performance and predictions of future performance. One application of economic indicators is the study of business cycles. Economic indicators include various indices, earnings reports, and economic summaries: for example, the unemployment rate, quits rate (quit rate in U.S. English), housing starts, consumer price index (a measure for inflation), consumer leverage ratio, industrial production, bankruptcies, gross domestic product, broadband internet penetration, retail sales, stock market prices, and money supply changes.
An economy (from Greek οίκος – "household" and νέμoμαι – "manage") is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services by different agents. Understood in its broadest sense, 'The economy is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the production, use, and management of resources'.
“The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind.”The Descent of Man (Charles Darwin, 1871)