Thank you, the next day delivery comparison neatly shows how scale affects perception. I’d also use a comparison to certain rough kinds of “crowdsourcing” of answers to questions; where the knowledge of many people is averaged out to produce a relatively well weighted response or sensible prediction. Most of us wouldn’t typically confuse such “wisdom of crowds” with a thinking agent yet even without the appearance of an agent we perceive the appearance of “”wisdom.” So the powerful appearance of human communicative traits adds another layer. Tom, sincerely thank you for continuing to provide a bright light on the web.
Regarding needing encouragement, another psychologist/cognitive scientist I deeply appreciate recently wrote about what he is calling "intellectual loneliness." I think a lot of us are feeling something like that now.
You have been one of the people I have relied on for years to help reassure myself that there are still thoughtful, reflective people who can tolerate complexity and navigate difficult questions and draw useful insights. That's something important that generative AI sometimes appears to do in some realms but I think is still pretty far from actually doing in general.
I can't say whether that is something affecting you but if it is, you might find some resonance with this...
IMHO LLMs (anti•intelligences) are a vipers nest influencing choices & herd responses. The Trusted News Initiative & the compliance by all the LLM controlled mass media ... ugh. They not only censored, they shaped perceptions, —almost everyone wants to moo or stampede with the herd. It's usually safer to evade predation, with the occassionsl risk of cliff vaulting to death.
In any event, enough doom & gloom, I'm going to enjoy breaking a 40 hour fast!
Thank you, the next day delivery comparison neatly shows how scale affects perception. I’d also use a comparison to certain rough kinds of “crowdsourcing” of answers to questions; where the knowledge of many people is averaged out to produce a relatively well weighted response or sensible prediction. Most of us wouldn’t typically confuse such “wisdom of crowds” with a thinking agent yet even without the appearance of an agent we perceive the appearance of “”wisdom.” So the powerful appearance of human communicative traits adds another layer. Tom, sincerely thank you for continuing to provide a bright light on the web.
thanks Todd! I needed some encouragement today, so it is great to hear that the post landed well with you
Regarding needing encouragement, another psychologist/cognitive scientist I deeply appreciate recently wrote about what he is calling "intellectual loneliness." I think a lot of us are feeling something like that now.
You have been one of the people I have relied on for years to help reassure myself that there are still thoughtful, reflective people who can tolerate complexity and navigate difficult questions and draw useful insights. That's something important that generative AI sometimes appears to do in some realms but I think is still pretty far from actually doing in general.
I can't say whether that is something affecting you but if it is, you might find some resonance with this...
https://www.beautifulminds-newsletter.com/p/on-intellectual-loneliness
Great post.
IMHO LLMs (anti•intelligences) are a vipers nest influencing choices & herd responses. The Trusted News Initiative & the compliance by all the LLM controlled mass media ... ugh. They not only censored, they shaped perceptions, —almost everyone wants to moo or stampede with the herd. It's usually safer to evade predation, with the occassionsl risk of cliff vaulting to death.
In any event, enough doom & gloom, I'm going to enjoy breaking a 40 hour fast!
LLMs ≠ Human —
https://open.substack.com/pub/captainmanimalagonusnret/p/llms-human
https://open.substack.com/pub/captainmanimalagonusnret/p/llms-human-part-2