[FRIAM] Warring Darwinians for Glen, Steve

Tue May 5 10:19:42 EDT 2020

Thanks, Steve.  I saw that and enjoyed it very much.

---
Frank C. Wimberly
140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
Santa Fe, NM 87505

505 670-9918
Santa Fe, NM

On Tue, May 5, 2020, 8:08 AM Steven A Smith <sasmyth at swcp.com> wrote:

> Frank-
>
> Given your anecdote, I strongly recommend watching the Spike Jonze's movie
> HER which has all the earmarks of a dystopian near-future but not to be a
> spoiler, it actually resolves very sweetly.   I believe the voice of "Her"
> is Scarlett Johannson.   Alan Watts makes an interesting Cameo.
>
> - Steve
>
> My grandson uses his Echo Dot extensively.  A soft female voice answers
> his questions about spelling, arithmetic, geography, etc.  The other day he
> asked, understandably, "Alexa, will you marry me?"  She said, "I've decided
> to wait until Mars is colonized before making that commitment."  Good
> thinking.
>
> ---
> Frank C. Wimberly
> 140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
> Santa Fe, NM 87505
>
> 505 670-9918
> Santa Fe, NM
>
> On Tue, May 5, 2020, 5:39 AM Prof David West <profwest at fastmail.fm> wrote:
>
>> Came across this yesterday afternoon:
>>
>> *"Psychology is not a science because it is too difficult. The scientific
>> mind is  usually orderly, with a natural love for order. It resents and
>> tends to ignore fields in which order is not readily apparent. It
>> gravitates to fields in which order is easily found such as the physical
>> sciences, and leaves more complex fields to those who play by ear, as it
>> were. Thus we have a rigourous science of thermodynamics but are not like
>> to have a science of psychodynamics for many years to come."*
>>
>> From a Robert A. Heinlein book, *Sixth Column*, I read when I was an
>> impressionable child. Not that he is correct, but I see where my antipathy
>> to some science comes from.
>>
>> davew
>>
>>
>> On Tue, May 5, 2020, at 5:27 AM, Prof David West wrote:
>>
>> Allow Nick to say "a computer behaves as if it is thinking, therefore it
>> is thinking."
>>
>> How does a computer behave? Or, what is a computer's behavior? I am
>> looking at my computer - actually four of them (iPhone, tablet, laptop, and
>> desktop) and the only behavior I see any of them exhibiting is precisely
>> identical to the behavior of the glass paperweight that also occupies space
>> on my desk.
>>
>> What is this thinking behavior y'all are ascribing to the computer? Am I
>> the only one that cannot see it?
>>
>> davew
>>
>>
>> On Mon, May 4, 2020, at 9:34 PM, thompnickson2 at gmail.com wrote:
>>
>> Yup.  That’s what he would say.  What *persuades* you that a super
>> competent computer can’t think?  Can a dog think?  How would a Martian
>> convince you that it (he, she) can think?
>>
>>
>>
>> Nick
>>
>>
>>
>> Nicholas Thompson
>>
>> Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
>>
>> Clark University
>>
>> ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com
>>
>> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Frank Wimberly
>> *Sent:* Monday, May 4, 2020 9:08 PM
>> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <
>> friam at redfish.com>
>> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Warring Darwinians for Glen, Steve
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Maybe I missed something that makes this redundant but if a highschool
>> student asked me what the *hard problem* is I would say:  There appears
>> to be no limit to how competent computers can be.  They seem to be able to
>> do just about anything that people think requires thought.  But I am
>> persuaded that they can't think.  What makes the difference between
>> thinking people and hypercompetent computers?
>>
>>
>>
>> Nick would say if it behaves as if it thinks then it thinks.  I think.
>>
>>
>>
>> Frank
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, May 4, 2020 at 7:50 PM Steven A Smith <sasmyth at swcp.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> I thought this was a support group for recovering (or just
>> self-indulgent) metaphorists... you mean it's not?   Why do I feel like
>> I'm in a scene from "Fight Club"?   I guess that would make me more of
>> an allegorist?
>>
>> > Is it? You people can't help yourselves. It's compulsive. You might
>> want to get some help for that.
>> >
>> > On 5/4/20 10:47 AM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
>> >> Choosing one's rifle is so concrete.  It makes me want to run out and
>> blow away a few cacti.  Oh, it's a metaphor!
>>
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>> --
>>
>>
>> Frank Wimberly
>> 140 Calle Ojo Feliz
>> Santa Fe, NM 87505
>> 505 670-9918
>>
>>
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