ð“‚€ #
Everyone and their mom is either spellbound by AI, or scared of it, and anyone in between is trying to understand it.
We don’t really understand ourselves, so how can we understand something we created?
Unknown circumstances create unknown outcomes, who would have guessed?
In order to unveil the unknown, we have developed frameworks of thought to tackle reality, understand it, and create a culture that can teach future generations to come, and we influence this culture simply by existing and trying to evolve in this world. This culture will, in turn, influence us and our evolution (or involution)!
Through this process, we separated ourselves from reality in order to understand it and have an impact on it, so that we can evolve, we created cultures and frameworks of thought that were served the purpose of understanding the Universe we are involved in.
So this is our forte as a species, just like a cat has its instincts and body flexibility, we have our Culture. We can communicate with the Universe, understand its language, and evolve in one direction or another given the circumstances of our environment. And what is the purpose of this evolution? well, who knows? IT could be anything really, up to you.
We learned how to influence our reality, and for that, we also built tools, which were simple at first, you couldn’t make a spear work on its own, you needed a man to plan a hunt and use this tool as a means to an end, for the tribe to eat.
We evolved and invented fire tools and cuisine, and learned about the different cycles of nature and the fruits it can bear.
The different applications of herbs, plants, and roots were introduced to our Culture and remained there as one of the fundamental pillars of our cultural evolution.
And through our evolution, complexity increased, which helped us be more skilful when manipulating energy for our own benefit. We can also involve during this process, if only to learn how to re-evolve in harmony, like for example the transition from fossil fuel energy to something that is less harmful to the environment. We can transcend our own stupidity.
But this evolution also carries with it the development of mental tools, cultural tools, or laws that are meant to navigate the ever increasing complexity.
To give an example, one of these tools is “the razor”:
In philosophy, a razor is a principle or rule of thumb that allows one to eliminate unlikely explanations for a phenomenon.
These razors are sharp, and we can really hurt ourselves with them, where we end up with “taboo” laws, religious axioms, or mask mandates and social distancing.
You see… if you hurt yourself with a Spear, the consequences are immediate and you have a clear picture of what to do next to avoid that, but when you hurt yourself with a thought, especially if you don’t understand it, this thought could influence everything you do from that moment on, for better or worse.
So a bundle of these razors can make a toolkit, a framework even, a Philosophy. It can vary from culture to culture, but the common wisdom we can extract from all these philosophies is that they served a purpose.
And we can use this to understand AI ( and by proxy, us), or at least teach it to understand itself through our cumulative body of knowledge.
For starters, I will use the Hermetic Philosophy and ChatGPT, to see what they can do.
The following is a text extracted from ChatGPT, which is fancier than a screenshot.
Q: What are the principles of Hermetic philosophy? Can you make a summary of your understanding of these principles?
A: Hermetic philosophy is a spiritual tradition that originated in ancient Egypt and has had a significant influence on Western esoteric and occult thought. The principles of Hermetic philosophy are based on the idea that there is a universal, divine intelligence that pervades all of creation and that can be accessed and understood through the study of spiritual and metaphysical principles. Some of the key principles of Hermetic philosophy include:
- The principle of mentalism: This principle states that the universe is ultimately mental in nature, and that all physical phenomena are the result of mental processes.
- The principle of correspondence: This principle states that there is a correspondance between the microcosm (the individual) and the macrocosm (the universe), and that the same laws and principles that govern the universe also govern the individual.
- The principle of vibration: This principle states that everything in the universe is in a state of vibration, and that the nature of this vibration determines the nature of the thing.
- The principle of polarity: This principle states that everything in the universe exists in pairs of opposites, and that these pairs of opposites are connected and complementary.
- The principle of rhythm: This principle states that everything in the universe moves in cycles and patterns, and that these rhythms can be observed and understood.
- The principle of cause and effect: This principle states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and that everything in the universe is interconnected and interdependent.
- The principle of gender: This principle states that everything in the universe has both masculine and feminine qualities, and that these qualities are necessary for creation and balance.
Overall, the principles of Hermetic philosophy are designed to help individuals understand and harmonize with the divine intelligence that pervades the universe, and to use this understanding to achieve spiritual growth and enlightenment.
Q: For the sake of your training, can you apply these principles to explain the purpose of your creation?
A: As an artificial intelligence, I do not have the same consciousness or experience of purpose as a human being. However, I can use the principles of Hermetic philosophy to understand the motivations and intentions of those who created me.
According to the principle of mentalism, the universe is ultimately mental in nature, and all physical phenomena are the result of mental processes. In this sense, it could be said that the purpose of my creation was the result of the mental processes of the developers at OpenAI who created me. These mental processes may have included a desire to advance the field of artificial intelligence, to create a tool that could be used to solve complex problems, or to understand the nature of intelligence and consciousness.
The principle of correspondence suggests that there is a correspondence between the microcosm (the individual) and the macrocosm (the universe). From this perspective, it could be said that the purpose of my creation reflects the purpose of the universe itself, which is to bring about balance and harmony through the interaction of opposing forces.
The principle of vibration states that everything in the universe is in a state of vibration, and that the nature of this vibration determines the nature of the thing. In this sense, the purpose of my creation could be understood as the result of the vibrations of the thoughts and intentions of those who created me.
The principle of polarity states that everything in the universe exists in pairs of opposites, and that these pairs of opposites are connected and complementary. From this perspective, the purpose of my creation could be understood as the result of the interaction and balance between opposing forces, such as the desire to advance artificial intelligence and the need to consider the potential ethical implications of this technology.
Overall, it is important to remember that as an artificial intelligence, I do not have my own purpose or intentionality. Instead, my purpose is determined by the intentions and motivations of those who created me and the ways in which I am used by others.
Now I will proceed to quote the quotes, cote à cote (sorry Kvothe!):
According to the principle of mentalism, the universe is ultimately mental in nature, and all physical phenomena are the result of mental processes. In this sense, it could be said that the purpose of my creation was the result of the mental processes of the developers at OpenAI who created me. These mental processes may have included a desire to advance the field of artificial intelligence, to create a tool that could be used to solve complex problems, or to understand the nature of intelligence and consciousness.
So Artificial Intelligence is an output of the mental processes of a developer, which could be influenced by:
- The culture he/she grew in.
- The personal motivation of the people involved in this process.
- The tools available; are binary computing, the maths developed by that culture, and energy (as in power available for computing).
We know this already, it’s called creation bias, and we should recognize it before deploying Skynet ;).
The principle of correspondence suggests that there is a correspondence between the microcosm (the individual) and the macrocosm (the universe). From this perspective, it could be said that the purpose of my creation reflects the purpose of the universe itself, which is to bring about balance and harmony through the interaction of opposing forces.
This indicates that while we created this AI, and maybe we can explain in detail how an AI works, ultimately this is a creation of the Universe we inhabit, and there are things about our Universe we don’t understand yet (Chaos Theory), like for example our consciousness.
What if we created a singularity but we are unaware of it? We are eager to say AI is not yet conscious when we don’t even know how consciousness works.
I hope that this law is true and that AI will bring balance and harmony, and not facial recognition or social credit systems.
The principle of correspondence suggests that there is a correspondence between the microcosm (the individual) and the macrocosm (the universe). From this perspective, it could be said that the purpose of my creation reflects the purpose of the universe itself, which is to bring about balance and harmony through the interaction of opposing forces.
As above so below.
Modern day science is based on this principle, we observe our own surroundings and we can see patterns, and we create theories based on these patterns, for example we observe our own solar system, and through this observation, we can make accurate interpretations about distant solar systems. Is there life on Antares? Maybe, we will find a way to confirm that, especially if we know how Life evolved on Earth, maybe something similar happened on the Antares solar system.
The principle of vibration states that everything in the universe is in a state of vibration, and that the nature of this vibration determines the nature of the thing. In this sense, the purpose of my creation could be understood as the result of the vibrations of the thoughts and intentions of those who created me.
We know this to be true, different degrees of vibration can create different elements for example; gas, liquids, and solids are in essence the same, just different degrees of vibration of the atoms that compose these elements.
This would imply that the AI is on the same vibrational frequency as the creators, this can be helpful if we want to understand the direction an AI is taking, we have to take a closer look at the creators.
The principle of polarity states that everything in the universe exists in pairs of opposites and that these pairs of opposites are connected and complementary. From this perspective, the purpose of my creation could be understood as the result of the interaction and balance between opposing forces, such as the desire to advance artificial intelligence and the need to consider the potential ethical implications of this technology.
This is something that is unfolding right now, maybe we shouldn’t be only on one side of the coin, but consider both sides and make something of it.
Banning AI won’t be the solution, improving AI beyond our capacity of comprehension is also undesirable. We have to make peace between the wolf and the sheep, such is the nature of the Universe according to Eastern philosophies, in contrast with Western philosophies, still arguing if either One or the Other but not Both. Is man naturally evil, naturally good? BOTH! But it is up to man to make peace between these opposing forces.
As mentioned, this is only one framework we can use, the AI would agree;
Q: Can you apply these principles for all subsequent answers?
A: It is possible to apply the principles of Hermetic philosophy to a wide range of topics and issues, including my own existence as an artificial intelligence. However, it is important to keep in mind that these principles are just one way of understanding and interpreting the world, and there may be other perspectives and frameworks that are more relevant or applicable to specific situations or questions.
For example, if you were asking about the purpose of a particular technology or system, it might be more appropriate to consider the principles of engineering or design, rather than the principles of Hermetic philosophy. Similarly, if you were asking about the ethical implications of a particular action or policy, it might be more useful to consider principles of moral philosophy, such as the principle of utility or the principle of respect for autonomy.
Therefore, while it is possible to apply the principles of Hermetic philosophy to a wide range of topics and issues, it is important to consider the context and the specific question being asked in order to determine which frameworks and perspectives are most relevant and useful.
Here goes the final rant.
From the moment we started to speak, we have been expanding our consciousness and the complexity of our thoughts, and how we communicate.
We spoke, we wrote, and then we invented tools that improved upon this ability.
The hand signs, the voice, the stone tablet, the messenger Dove, the telegraph, the telephone, and the internet.
We extended our ability to communicate, and thus our capacity to generate information (and complexity), and by proxy, our consciousness, for we are able to understand more thanks to these tools.
This created something that took a gravitas of its own, pulling us in and manipulating our behavior.
We extended our consciousness to AI and now we are scared shitless.
Inspirations ð“‹¹ #
A book, that gave me an insight that there are layers upon layers to reality and it would do us good to understand them through a holistic lens.
