Redbud Blossoms

My favorite tree in our area is the redbud. This is a photo of its spring blossoms. Click to enlarge.

AI Art

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic these days. I have posted several blogs on the subject, because I find it fascinating. We are moving toward a future in which AI will be playing an increasing role in human society. That role is something being eagerly awaited by some people and feared by others. 

Those who are enthusiastic, look forward to smart machines that will do boring jobs faster and better than any human can, machines that will speedily accomplish complex computational calculations, will discover new and remarkable things, will drive cars and pilot airplanes far more safely than humans, and will take on dangerous activities that threaten the safety of people. A bright future is the promise of Ai enthusiasts.

Those who are apprehensive—even downright fearful—of AI worry about good jobs (even those requiring university education) being appropriated by machines. Others are concerned that deep-learning AI computers that write their own science fiction-like algorithms are beginning to do things their human creators don't fully understand. The designers are being left behind, as the machines race off into states of advanced capabilities that are, at the very least, rather intimidating. Some people worry that these super-intelligent AI machines at some point might become hostile to humans and begin to turn against us… and even eliminate us, if they have become that superior.

Either extreme described above is quite unlikely to happen. Time will reveal the outcome. AI holds great promise, as it simultaneously poses a potential threat. How it will turn out will be largely determined by how cautious innovators are. History tends to show, however, that many technological innovations have turned out to become dangerous, because precaution was ignored while they were being developed.

Let’s turn to another, more benign, area in which AI is making inroads: the arts. Some fascinating—if not always creative—music compositions, visual compositions, and even literature have been produced by computers. Some people would take issue over calling AI art creative; and of course, creativity—as well as art—is in the eye of the beholder. That issue will likely be dealt with, as AI art develops.

Several interesting questions are raised by AI art. Is the process and its product something done solely by a machine, or is it a kind of collaboration between computer and human? Is art more properly considered to be a form of communication done only between humans—maybe moderated or enhanced by a machine—but in the end, confined to some form of human-to-human connection? In other words, does meaningful art have to come from one organic mind and then be conveyed to another organic mind? 

Could we tell if a story or song was composed by a computer, or might the “art” seem overly mechanical? On the other hand, if it was good, would weS care? Can AI be truly creative, or is it destined to be forever imitative—just shuffling around human ideas and coming up with new combinations? 

Again, the future will provide us answers. Will AI become increasingly human-like or will we humans become increasingly machine-like? Will people and machines merge someday into some kind of conscious, self-aware robot?

Acting Authentically—Part 2

Thus, for the ancients, astrology spoke about purpose, potential, and self-actualization. It was not—as some people today believe (people who read astrology columns in the media)—about predicting the future, but to be able to describe oneself. In the past it was often a literal form of religion. It was a way to seek certainty—and in today's very uncertain world, it once again offers assurance to some people.

  

Yet many other people today—despite those doubts and dilemmas of our world—regard astrology as not being able to give us the certainty and authenticity we seek. The positions of the planets really have nothing to do with who we are. They are a leftover vestige of our belief that the Earth is at the center of the universe and that the stars and planets which we once believed revolved around us were compelled to send us personal messages that revealed our true selves. In the end, however, astrology can be neither proven nor disproven, because it is a belief—not something that can be tested.

So, if not by astrology, how might we find our authentic self? There are two contrasting ways of seeking authenticity; taking (1) the essentialist path or (2) the existentialist path. Essentialism tells us that we have a destiny to follow; an innate nature that we need to discover—whether that is done through astrology, psychoanalysis, or some other technique. Essentialism tells me that I have a unique and specific character; I have an identity that is essentially me. My job is to discover that true identity and then behave accordingly. I must answer the call of who I am. Otherwise I'm a phony; I'm inauthentic. I'm missing my true calling. So I put effort into discovering that authentic essential self. It's similar to Freud's concept of the unconscious id: I peel the external layers of my masks off, to get at the heart of my true personality, and then answer its call.

The path of existentialism follows a very different route. It suggests that we may instead seek to make our actions congruent with our beliefs and desires—rather than adhere to a core personality. In this manner, existentialism resembles Chinese philosophy, which denies that there is a single authentic self. Rather than seeking to behave as our essential self, our behavior can be attuned to our experiences. We can shape ourselves as we see fit. We can literally create our path as we walk it—and not be limited by a belief in the concept of an immutable, innate self.

Existentialism tells us that we can become all that we can become—without limit. We are not born with an innate nature that we must discover and then adhere to. We have no inner essence to find and then to follow. Rather, we determine our own character and destiny. In fact, any core self we have is not necessarily unique to our essential, singular self, but is universal. All humans share it. Rather than adhere to some notion of our intrinsic self, we have the freedom to choose and become what we want or need to be.

The scary part of existentialism is that we must abandon the path of certainty. We must turn from the essential and certain path of our innate self, wherein we try to follow a prescribed set of behaviors. We instead embark on uncertainty. This route can be filled with anxiety. It can be scary. On this path we are choosing to create ourself as we go along—maybe even shred or shed our old, rigid sense of self. It can be a fearful and very uncomfortable path—but the reward can be discovering an authentic self that has no limit.

Tussock Moth

Click to enlarge

Acting Authentically—Part 1

A common goal that most everyone wants to achieve is to act as their authentic self. We all want to be real. We want to behave in the manner of our true self—rather than be confused or inordinately influenced by outside forces; both of which may cause us to commit acts that are foreign to our identity.

Unfortunately, delusion can cause us to have a distorted view of ourselves and thus behave contrary to our nature—which can cause much pain and unhappiness. A deluded person cannot even know what authenticity means.

Thus we all tend to have a strong drive to discover our true self. As the oracle in ancient Greece advised, “Know thyself.” But maybe there's another message here for today's society: “Not only know thyself, but be thyself.” This is sometimes also called authenticity. It can be described as the degree to which one's actions are in harmony with their beliefs and desires—when their true identity comes out. So how do we legitimately exist in a world that applies forces to us that may be alien to our real sense of self or delude us? How do we find that identity?

These questions fit quite well with what many of us have also come to view as the search for certainty. In a culture that batters us about with conflicting messages of how we might come to know ourself, we wonder, what is authenticity? How do we come to arrive at those answers that make us comfortable that we’ve found ourself? We naturally seek answers to these questions—to be able to arrive at some comforting place where we can relax. It’s preferable for many of us… rather than stay on the path of continually searching and facing doubt.

Thus we seek some kind of authenticity, in order to be true to ourself. We ask: How can I know myself? Who am I? Is my identity the same as my self? And what is identity? The dictionary tells me that identity is “a sense of sameness that persists across time and space.” It literally brings the “I” into existence. It can be also seen as the formation of some kind of story about myself, that describes who I am. But is that story fiction or truth?

One way that many people today are responding to this conundrum is to turn to astrology, which is currently enjoying a broad cultural popularity, not seen for a generation or more. A recent article in New Yorker magazine (“Starstruck”) claims that nearly one-third of Americans today believe in astrology. This trend seems to be fueled by a decline in religion, accompanied with a rise in economic precariousness. We in the US live in a time of political uncertainty—if not panic—that causes many people to search for something to believe in… either in themselves or in society.

The core concept of astrology is that a person's authentic nature corresponds to the planetary pattern at their moment of birth, as well as the subsequent changes and alignments of the planets and stars. Astrology has ancient roots, when the actual causes of the movements of heavenly bodies were not understood. It has its origins in ancient Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, Rome, and Islam. Its earliest intent had important messages about when to plant crops, for example, or whether to go to war. It was intermixed with primitive astronomy—for which the ancients became very adept at monitoring and predicting the cycles of the heavens.

More authenticity next time…

Change Blindness—Part 2

There are several reasons why we humans are not taking action to do something to deal with the climate crisis. One reason is the denial on the part of those who live lavishly and refuse to reduce their consumption. A second is the interests of energy corporations to keep their profits coming in. A third is the lack of will of political leaders to take radical action, especially since many of them are beholden to those wealthy business interests. A fourth is the reluctance of most of humanity to admit that its economic belief system—capitalism—is causing the environment to degrade, and must be fundamentally transformed.

But there's yet another reason why we cling to our old ideas—a reason rather similar to why Darwin faced hostility, over 150 years ago: The human species has known nothing but a tranquil environment for some 12,000 years now. It began long before recorded history, and hence there is no documentation of the ice ages and droughts that occurred for hundreds of thousands, even millions, of years prior to that—a span of time way beyond that of human memory. 

The closest traumatic climate event in human prehistory is the Biblical story of Noah's flood. But when that was over, didn't God promise a new and pleasant day? (The fact that several other ancient cultures had similar flood stories suggests that such a cataclysmic event many indeed have happened.)

Americans especially are prone to cultural amnesia. We tend to forget the hard lessons of even a few decades ago, so we repeat the mistakes of history and seem inclined to view recent climate stability as enduring. It's much easier to bury one's head in the stable sand of today, rather than face the uncertainty of impending and erratic change.

What I find tragic is that many of those who cling to the idea of an unchanging world respond to the news of climate change by targeting the scientists who bring the bad news. Even more disturbing is that the groups who have led the opposition to the message of global warming are most often those who are the major cause of climate change. Energy corporations—who have become rich and powerful because of their sanctioned exploitation of fossil fuels—have lied and obfuscated the issue.

Thus many people lurch into the future—blissfully ignorant of the hard times ahead; which will bring climate difficulties way beyond what our species has ever encountered. We are half asleep—lulled by the present mild climate. It's as if we are waddling forward, into the times ahead, overweight, undernourished, and indifferently unaware. We appear to be blind to the changes about to happen.