praxis

Singling out an object of love is basically defining a set of conditions. Our feeling may not depend on the object of our affection giving anything in...

Of course, indeed simply how hungry we are effects our decision making.

I noticed that report but as it concerns spending on cancer medications rather than cancer research I kept looking. Not that pharmaceutical companies ...

Well, to try putting 12 billion into perspective, Washington funded $4.8 billion in cancer research in the 2013 fiscal year. I couldn't find global nu...

https://assets.rbl.ms/9818674/980x.png

You don't appear to know much about the current theories in AI research, but why would you if it doesn't interest you. Hopefully you don't make a habi...

I'm not playing. Given that, due to humans, we're in the midst of the sixth global extinction event, perhaps life on earth would do much better living...

If that's the criteria then we don't appear to qualify.

Experience. A microbe, mosquito, or a tree has never tried to give me a hug. Maybe I'm too standoffish? Anyway, I'm not opposed to granting the illust...

Considering that most life forms on earth would prefer to consume you in some way rather than give a hug, I don't think that makes a very good distinc...

Then why don't we change it? Do we even know how to change it? Now that I think about it, AI is the epitome of rationalization, with ultimate efficien...

If you're taking about rationalization, this is something embedded culturally and not in any way limited to the educational system.

Of course it's not constant, a feeling of love is fleeting and dependent on particular conditions. The difference between a feeling of love and 'uncon...

I disagree. Realizing that all things, including love, are conditional, we might better respect those conditions.

Let's see... What are the desired results? A general AI that can achieve any goal that a human can or a super human AGI? Should either of these includ...

Right, so where is this sort of thing happening in this topic? I'm not seeing it.

Google DeepMind, using a combination of deep artificial neural networks and reinforcement learning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1eYniJ0Rnk

Where are you seeing that in this topic?

Automation is literally dehumanization, so I guess you're right. I just finished a book called Life 3.0, written by the founder of the Future of Life ...

Actually Themadfool's POV is quite different from the Nazi POV. He's basically saying that he doesn't care if his side loses.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly is this deadly point of view? Themadfool could merely be pointing out the very real possibility that super-human A...

Curious that Peterson is willing to consider a change of position if there's a community consensus for new pronoun usage, but won't accept the decisio...

Long flight from downunda. I'd offer a ride from the airport if I didn't live 2,000 miles away. Sorry!

Of course no one has consciousness figured out yet and I'm certainly no expert but I think that I may know enough to caution against making too many a...

I'm aware that Harris is seen as a hack by many. I'm not a fan and haven't really read any of his work. That was just the first example that came to m...

We, like all living things, have inherent values or primal drives encoded in our genes. We might label these drives 'evolutionary hacks', as Hoffman d...

Isn't it safe to say that we inherently (by virtue of our genes) value life?

I didn't mean to give that impression. Please share.

I have a very high regard for it actually, and I don't believe that understanding the motivation for it in biological terms should make anyone think l...

I don't recall his exact words but when touching on the subject of religion he seemed to claim that the benefit was only in relationships. I guess it ...

The behavior of the jewel beetle that Hoffman mentions in the TED Talk doesn't make sense in biological terms either. The "evolutionary hack," as Hoff...

I think it's important to acknowledge the fundamental difference in physical structure between human intelligence and AI when considering emotions suc...

This doesn't appear to be true. Dolphins have this ability. See: http://www.actforlibraries.org/animal-intelligence-how-dolphins-read-symbols/ Also do...

Why would we be compelled to apprehend this unity?

I can’t help drawing a parallel between the non-biological sterility of the renunciate and the Australian jewel beetle that Hoffman mentioins in his T...

I doubt any sociobiologists have studied renunciation specifically. Your point challenged the sociobiological interpretation so naturally it should be...

I guess book sales will tell that tale. Personally I found the strategy makes him appear less credible, though it is clever to try redefining the conc...

Referring to the selfish gene puts it squarely in a social context, so sociobiology, a field of scientific study based on the hypothesis that social b...

My post is no longer the accepted answer. NOW I'm a bitter American.

Don't we need to understand the motivations behind renunciation before concluding that it's inconsistent with biology?

We could promote the expectation that they should, and practice it ourselves.

It's a simple observation. Can you point out something that is fixed and permanent? I am in a sense a product of my culture, as we all are. That doesn...

Trump somehow manages to be an ugly American in America.

I didn't say anything about our true human nature. All things are apparently transitory in nature and therefore lack an inherent identity or existence...

Skimming through your post, I believe some of the apparent contradictions you point out can be resolved with a more than surface level investigation o...

Ignorance about our true nature does, according to Buddhist thought. I'm not fine because I haven't realized my true nature or emptiness, though I may...

I stopped reading after about the second paragraph. In Buddhism it's believed that suffering is caused by ingnorance, John, not desire. Once you under...

Harris's video is about human values and in it he claims that the separation between science and values is illusory. He never claims that morals are o...

I've gone far enough down the rabbit hole.

Problem being, as you know, that people don't all agree on what's moral and immoral. So your statement makes more sense to me with a slight revision.....