Steve, here's what I would query you wrt this thread on communication. I hit the polite poly first:
Summarize two science fiction works that explore the theme of faceted ontologies that create boundary spanning objects that allow communication between wildly different life forms 1. "Embassytown" by China Miéville: This science fiction novel delves into the nature of language, communication, and the relationship between different life forms. The story takes place in Embassytown, a city on the edge of the known universe inhabited by both humans and the enigmatic, insect-like Ariekei. The Ariekei language is unique in that it requires two voices to be spoken simultaneously, and they are only able to comprehend language that has an authentic, conscious intent behind it. To facilitate communication between humans and the Ariekei, genetically engineered humans called Ambassadors are created, who can speak the Ariekei language. The novel explores the complex ontological and linguistic challenges of communication between these vastly different life forms and how their interactions shape their understanding of each other's worlds. 2. "Solaris" by Stanisław Lem: In this classic science fiction novel, a team of human scientists studies an alien planet called Solaris, which is covered by a vast, sentient ocean. This ocean is capable of creating physical manifestations, called "visitors," based on the thoughts and memories of the human researchers. The researchers grapple with the challenge of understanding and communicating with this fundamentally different life form, which operates on a completely different ontological level. The novel delves into the limitations of human understanding and the nature of communication between species with vastly different cognitive frameworks. Both of these science fiction works explore the concept of faceted ontologies in the sense that they address the challenges of communication between life forms that operate on entirely different cognitive and ontological levels. The novels offer unique perspectives on the notion of creating bridging mechanisms or spanning objects that facilitate communication and understanding between these disparate life forms. And a follow up exploring the duality of the two systems of cognition: 1. "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang: This science fiction novella, which was the basis for the movie "Arrival," explores the theme of communication between humans and an alien species known as the Heptapods. The story follows linguist Dr. Louise Banks, who is tasked with understanding and communicating with the Heptapods. The boundary spanning object in this case is the Heptapod language, specifically their written language called Heptapod B, which is expressed in intricate, circular symbols. Heptapod B represents a fundamentally different system of cognition, as it embodies a non-linear and simultaneous understanding of time. As Dr. Banks learns Heptapod B, she begins to perceive time in the same way the Heptapods do, changing her understanding of her own life and human cognition. The novella demonstrates the duality between the systems of cognition by showing how the Heptapod language provides a bridge between human linear perception of time and the Heptapods' non-linear perception. 2. "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell: This novel follows a Jesuit priest named Emilio Sandoz and a group of explorers who travel to the planet Rakhat to make contact with two different alien species, the Runa and the Jana'ata. The boundary spanning object in this story is music, which serves as a means of communication and connection between the humans and the alien species. As the characters learn the different musical systems and vocalizations of the Runa and the Jana'ata, they begin to understand the social, cultural, and cognitive structures of the alien societies. Music, in this case, represents the duality between the systems of cognition by highlighting the similarities and differences between human culture and the complex, intertwined societies of the Runa and the Jana'ata. Through the exploration of music as a universal language, the novel delves into the challenges of communication and understanding between species with disparate cognitive systems. In both of these science fiction works, the boundary spanning objects (Heptapod B language in "Story of Your Life" and music in "The Sparrow") serve as tools for facilitating communication between different conscious life forms, highlighting the duality between their systems of cognition and illustrating how understanding can be reached despite their differences. On Thu, Apr 6, 2023, 8:27 AM Steve Smith <sasm...@swcp.com> wrote: > I have been reading Jeff Hawkins' _1000 Brains_ which is roughly *his* > take on AI from the perspective of the Neuroscience *he* has been doing > for a few decades, including building models of the neocortex. > > What struck me strongly was how much *I* expect anything I'd want to > call artificial *consciousness* to engage in "co-munnication" in the > strongest sense. Glen regularly admonishes us that "communication" may > be an illusion and something we don't actually *do* or maybe more to the > the point "it doesn't mean what we think it means"? > > So for all the parlor tricks I've enjoyed playing with chatGPT and > DALL-E and maybe even more spectacularly the myriad examples *others* > have teased out of those systems, I am always looking for what sort of > "internal state" these systems are exposing to me in their > "utterances". And by extension, I am looking to see if it is in any > way apprehending *me* through my questions and prompts. > > Dialog with chatGPT feels pretty familiar to me, as if I'm conversing > with an unusually polite and cooperative polymath. It is freeing to > feel I can ask "it" any question which I can formulate and can expect > back a pretty *straight* answer if not always one I was hoping for. > "It" seems pretty insightful and usually picks up on the nuances of my > questions. As often as not, I need to follow up with refined questions > which channel the answers away from the "mundane or obvious" but when I > do, it rarely misses a trick or is evasive or harps on something from > it's own (apparent) agenda. It only does that when I ask it questions > about it's own nature, formulation, domain and then it just seems > blunted as if it has a lawyer or politician intercepting some of those > questions and answering them for it. > > I have learned to "frame" my questions by first asking it to defer it's > response until I've given it some ... "framing" for the actual > question. Otherwise I go through the other series of steps where I > have to re-ask the same question with more and more context or ask a > very long and convoluted question. At first it was a pleasure to be > able to unlimber my convoluted-question-generator and have it (not mis) > understand me and even not seem to "miss a trick". As I learned to > generate several framing statements before asking my question, I have > found that I *can* give it too many constraints (apparently) such that > it respects some/most of my framing but then avoids or ignores other > parts. At that point I have to ask follow-up, elaborating, > contextualizing questions. > > I do not yet feel like I am actually seeing into chatGPT's soul or in > any way being seen by it. That will be for a future generation I > suspect. Otherwise it is one hella "research assistant" and "spitball > partner" on most any topic I've considered that isn't too contemporary > (training set ended 2021?). > > - Steve > > On 4/4/23 5:54 PM, Prof David West wrote: > > Based on the flood of stories about ChatAI, it appears: > > - they can 'do' math and 'reason' scientificdally > > - they can generate essays, term papers, etc. > > - they can engage in convincing dialog/conversations > > - as "therapists" > > - as "girlfriends" (I haven't seen any stories about women falling > in love with their AI) > > - as kinksters > > - they can write code > > > > The writing code ability immediately made me wonder if, given a database > of music instead of text, they could write music? > > > > The dialog /conversation ability makes me wonder about more real-time > collaborative interaction, improv acting / comedy? Or, pair programming? > The real-time aspect is critical to my question, as I believe there is > something qualitatively different between two people doing improv or pair > programming than simply engaging in dialog. I think I could make a much > stronger argument in the case of improv music, especially jazz, but AIs > aren't doing that yet. > > > > davew > > > > -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . > > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > > -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >
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