https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/complexity-stupidity
∞ Extremely useful conversation. Am particularly edified by the clarifications provided by Krakauer’s careful analysis of the specific structure of a mode of miscommunication he calls ‘m-cubed mayhem’: where people confuse three aspects of a statement in either their presentation, interpretation, or both:
1. Mathematics (m1)
2. Mathematical models (m2)
3. Metaphors (m3)
This is indicative not only of discussions in physics and ‘artificial intelligence’ — it is ripe in myriad similar forms in nearly all domains of human communications behavior (with mathematics replaced by other things such as identity or value). This, by itself, is a staggering insight — but there are many other edifying gems in here related to how science carefully defines (mathematically defines) such ideas as computation, information, randomness, uncertainty… and time.
Reading this interview enlightened me … and erased a number of errors in my own thinking on these matters that were vast. It clarified the entire domain of inquiry for me, and was sobering, refreshing, extremely informative… and simple enough for nearly anyone who is interested in these topics to understand.
Well worth the read, here… if you’ve any interest in the meaning of the terms information, computation, entropy, artificial intelligence, randomness… or simply human communication.
I would add that the fact that Krakauer actually studies stupidity is… what can I even say? Fantastic.
“Krakauer: Intelligence is, as I say to people, one of the topics about which we have been most stupid. All our definitions of intelligence are based on measurements that can only be applied to humans—by and large, humans that speak English or what have you. An IQ test is not interesting if you’re trying to calculate the intelligence of an octopus—which I would like to know, because I believe in evolution. I think we need to understand where these things come from, and having a definition that applies just to one particular species doesn’t help us.”
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