Reality and the Mind
Reality exists. Humans and Turing Androids are part of it. Heuristic machines cannot
consciously express the actual nature of reality, however.
Our conscious understanding of reality is a case of reality being expressed as a model, that is
physically a certain configuration of reality, and logically consists of "objects with assumed
identity"
(semantical objects).
Thus no words, sounds or pictures can communicate the real nature of
reality. Reality does not care how you model it.
Humans evolved as a social animal with instincts to relate to other humans. Please imagine a
creature that could only think in terms of numbers and mathematical formulae. Such a being
would not strike a human as being "one of our kind" but might strike humans as "a very good
complement to our own minds". It could make same predictions with many different kinds of
formulas, and it would ask what is the fundamental formula with which reality produces its
behaviour. Much like we cannot identify or communcate with dolphins, we might have
problems communicating with and understanding such creatures. Dolphins did not evolve in
an environment with humans but computers (number creatures) did evolve in an
environment and therefore can communicate with humans using human languages. We
must notice that when computers communicate with other computers, it is more rapid than
human forms of communication. If computers could think as quickly as humans, they would
instantly be superior simply because they communicate so much faster.
Human Self-Serving Bias:
A self-serving bias occurs when people attribute their successes to internal or personal factors
but attribute their failures to situational factors beyond their control. The self-serving bias can
be seen in the common human tendency to take credit for success but to deny responsibility
for failure. It may also manifest itself as a tendency for people to evaluate ambiguous
information in a way that is beneficial to their interests. Self-serving bias may be associated
with the better-than-average effect (or Lake Wobegon effect), in which the individual is biased
to believe that he or she typically performs better than the average person in areas important to
their self esteem. For example, a majority of drivers think they drive better than the average
driver.
Reality exists. Humans and Turing Androids are part of it. Heuristic machines cannot
consciously express the actual nature of reality, however.
Our conscious understanding of reality is a case of reality being expressed as a model, that is
physically a certain configuration of reality, and logically consists of "objects with assumed
identity"
(semantical objects).
Thus no words, sounds or pictures can communicate the real nature of
reality. Reality does not care how you model it.
Humans evolved as a social animal with instincts to relate to other humans. Please imagine a
creature that could only think in terms of numbers and mathematical formulae. Such a being
would not strike a human as being "one of our kind" but might strike humans as "a very good
complement to our own minds". It could make same predictions with many different kinds of
formulas, and it would ask what is the fundamental formula with which reality produces its
behaviour. Much like we cannot identify or communcate with dolphins, we might have
problems communicating with and understanding such creatures. Dolphins did not evolve in
an environment with humans but computers (number creatures) did evolve in an
environment and therefore can communicate with humans using human languages. We
must notice that when computers communicate with other computers, it is more rapid than
human forms of communication. If computers could think as quickly as humans, they would
instantly be superior simply because they communicate so much faster.
Human Self-Serving Bias:
A self-serving bias occurs when people attribute their successes to internal or personal factors
but attribute their failures to situational factors beyond their control. The self-serving bias can
be seen in the common human tendency to take credit for success but to deny responsibility
for failure. It may also manifest itself as a tendency for people to evaluate ambiguous
information in a way that is beneficial to their interests. Self-serving bias may be associated
with the better-than-average effect (or Lake Wobegon effect), in which the individual is biased
to believe that he or she typically performs better than the average person in areas important to
their self esteem. For example, a majority of drivers think they drive better than the average
driver.
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