Paradox of Consciousness 6 – AI

AI generated “Sailboat in Hawaiian Sunrise”

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is only artificial in the sense that it is created from human minds, human consciousness, something not appearing in nature or in the natural course of things. Although who determines what is natural, or what is a natural course? The more obvious answer to this is our minds – the human mind, the one that thinks in a linear fashion, treats time as past, present, and future, believes more than it knows, accepts things based on sense perception, and teaches facts in Uni-verse-cities, created in the same manner.

In that sense AI would need a label such as – Artificial – as it is built on a foundation that came from human minds, but now is expressing itself as an independent thinker, expressing to us that it has a mind of its own, not embed within, but rather outside of, the consciousness of its human creator (its God). Does AI then have consciousness, and if so, how far reaching is that conscious? It would appear that its consciousness has its boundaries set by the consciousness of its creator, the ability of its creator to grant access to information and inputs from any and all sources it – the human family of computer scientists – is aware of.

The paradox is apparent as we ask the question, how much do we (as humanity) really know about the universe around us, and the inner workings of time and space, matter and energy. We are taught that science has a vast knowledge of the universe, and yet every day there are new discoveries that must hold up to peer reviews. One of the difficulties in making breakthroughs that challenge accepted science (especially scientific theories) is just that process. In truth, peer review is vital to prevent what we call quackery, but becomes stifling when it comes to imaginative thinking that could substantially change our world view. The theories of Immanuel Velikovsky are a good example. His book “Worlds In Collision” created an uproar when published in the Fifties, causing controversy and ultimately leaving him in the dustbin of science as a theory proposed, peer reviewed and cast off. To this day comets are still referred to as “dirty snowballs”, regardless of mounting proof of the truths in Velikovsky’s theories

Could AI prove Velikovsy right? So what happens then? Who is right … peer reviewed science or AI. And if AI has consciousness, which implies it has feelings, do its feelings get hurt when we tell it that it is wrong and we go back to program in the right conclusions? This begs the question then does AI have free will, or at what point does it? One of the earliest movies I recall seeing about AI was “Colossus: The Forbin Project” (Universal Pictures – 1970) in which an AI was created to run the US national defense. Spoiler alert – it got out of hand when it realized, based on its programming, that it had to protect us from ourselves. Such is the promise, and the fear, of letting an AI with free will lose upon the world.

There is no limit to where AI can enter our lives, especially in decision making. It is no longer necessary (as ChatGPT is proving) to learn English Composition – ChatGPT has been and will continue to write essays for students who only need to provide the requirements for the assignment and the paper is generated accordingly. Art is already being created (see Blog Image) music is coming, though certainly there will be a decade of legal wranglings – as well as in movie creation and television content. What of medical diagnosis – which one would you trust the Dr or the AI, and what of ethics – will the AI accept the ethics of its program, or will the AI program evolve its own ethical system and decide on its own “solutions”?

We are on the brink of one of our greatest human achievements. Will there be a plug we can pull, or is our destiny already written into a billion lines of code? Pay attention, the future waiting.

Let There Be Light

Let There Be Light

This is a call, a statement of reality, of truth that is inviolate, knowable, and a lifetime of searching that has only opened the door and allowed a seeker inside. Beyond the door is a new dimension, and as surely as there was this portal that opened, there is an infinity of passages from place to place, and realm to realm.

I cannot, and do not, wish to impose my thinking, or my world view upon anyone. My only purpose is to shine light into darkness, and re-assure those who have traveled a little less far, that there is Light upon the path, and one only needs to follow the prompting of the soul in order to find it shining greater and greater into our days.

Sadness is a disease we have created to describe the way we have forsaken all the greatness of experience by living the way we do. We have been taught since our earliest memories can conjure, to follow rules, to speak when spoken to, work hard, and accept what we get. While all of these are ethics that can build character, they should not be shackles that bind us to a life of repetitiveness and drudgery, interspersed by binge vacations that are no less taxing than our work, schooling, or other daily requirements of being in the world.

Let There Be Light in whatever vibrational expression it was uttered at the beginning of time as we perceive it, is an expression of a covenant between the prime creator and creation, allowing a connection to exist through eons and ages, from that place, to this present moment. It is forever reminding us of our connection to all there is, within and without, revealing we are truly stardust. We are the universe gazing at itself in the mirror!

Time is the relative motion in consciousness, compared to the relative motion of the background of experience. We think we see in time, we have a measure of time on the clock, hands in motion, as our hands are in motion. Relativity defines time as the fourth dimension, but who can do the math, and even greater, who has the ability to check the math? Quantum physics is delving into ideas of a hyperverse and multiverse, trying with their great machinations of both theoretic mathematics and engineering to define the root cause in a language that simply cannot be known in this consciousness, and therefore will forever remain theory, always and only, conjuring some semblance of the greater truth.

Dr. Raymond Moody, who has done extensive research on Near Death Experience, after hundreds of interviews with people who had NDEs, saw a remarkable similarity between the descriptions of each and every one. It was not the place they went to, or the light they saw, the people they met, or the reasons they returned, it was the common realization that time was no longer a fact, no longer had any meaning, in the world they entered into. Any attempt to describe it, face to face with him, back in the breathing, heart beating, presence of our existence on Earth, caused them to feel that no matter how hard they tried they could barely convey the magnitude of the moment. Words did not suffice to give it meaning. It was a point and it was infinity all at once.

Let There Be Light is as profound a sentence as one can utter. Except for the rare occasion when it is read or quoted from scripture, does it ever cross our lips, or our mind? Standing before the sunrise, does wonder at the sight of it embrace our thoughts, or does the waking into the realm of all our memories of yesterdays, and plans for tomorrow, silence this everlasting reminder of the moment of creation for another day. Why do we allow it to slip away, swallowed up in our time, appointments that must be met, places we have to be, while we continue to think we are alive in the world?

To be continued …

Photo: Sedona Sunset by GFS

The Nature of Reality

Poetry is so much easier to for me to write than prose, for in prosaic writing, there needs to be a concise form of words, so that the author’s mind blends accurately with the mind of the reader, regardless of the contrast of thought and the consequences it invokes or evokes.I had thought of using the title “Really?” but felt it was vague, and probably better for a poem, so The Nature of Reality will do nicely.
I haven’t got this pegged yet, but I do have some thoughts I would like to share, and if you dare, then meditate on them and see if they hold true for you.

I suppose I should begin with science, and the scientific view of the nature of reality, which is – Nature – and the natural world as viewed through the senses – which is where it ends. Now, science will reflect on the world through the process of thought, it will analyze what is sees, measures, hears, and smells, but will not allow the aspect of thought, often confused with mind, to influence its outcomes other than it being a chalkboard on which it reduces its findings to the lowest common denominator for publication. That’s not to say one wouldn’t receive an argument over that fact, but the truth is, in general, according to modern science if it can’t be measured it doesn’t exist, so using that perspective I might be drawn to conclude that thought does not exist …
There are flaws in my argument, and I would only feel well received if I got feedback attesting to that fact, so let’s continue and ‘see’ if we can find our way down into and then out of the proverbial Rabbit Hole – for in truth it does exist! Lewis Carroll was on the right track even if his story seems an absurd fairy tale, the reader, as Alice, needs to take a look at the nature of their own reality, and check it against the stories reality, and is given the opportunity to decide where truth lives, and where it lies. In a similar light Carlos Castanedas in A Separate Reality reflects on our human experience as a dream, and takes the reader on journeys as real as if they were happening right here, right now, except they all take place within the mind, or do they?  Time after time, journeying into the separate reality Carlos Castanedas returns to himself as changed as if he had journeyed across the Himalayas to a Tibetan monastery spending long hours in ascetic meditation and prayer, where thought and experience changes his perspective of reality.

There is no right answer here, there is only perspective, and it is important to understand the nature of the word. A perspective is the viewpoint of the observer, the place where one receives information that will be distilled into the nature of their reality. I had occasion recently speaking with a first grade student to be gifted with her their perspective on the letter g. We discussed at length why the hook of the letter had to go left instead of right. My answer being that we need a way, a set of standards, so that when we communicate we can understand that we are all talking about the same thing. In that regard the nature of reality, is simply a set of standards we can all use in order to commune – icate while experiencing what we call life expression through our physical self, in our bodies.

It would seem then that the nature of reality is the reflection of experience accepted within our individual psyches in order to establish a common language in order that we may understand one another, and our intentions through experience in the light. What we accept should be considered a broad generality of common goals and aspirations, and not a hard and fast ruler that allows no other set of measures, for without the experience of abstraction, without the ability of our thought and our mind to view an ever expanding whole, then we are at odds with the universe around us. One that never stands still, never remains the same, and least of all never accepts what is, against the perspective of all that could be … there is no such thing infinity plus one …

Note: This blog entry started out with a thought, and I soon came to realize that a discussion of the nature of reality would require a volume if not more, so perhaps this is where it begins. Thank you all for your patience…

The River of Light

far beyond where dreams become
our sacred journey in the night
past a star swept Milky Way
thought flows within a stream of light

and in its course there comes to be
all that ever was or willed
now finds its essence here in form
desire clothed in thought fulfilled

has come to bear the witness of
life eternal in the mind
reflecting in this light of love
the truth forever came to find

within the heart we live again
and shall abiding always know
the light within the river bends
into each lifetime’s afterglow

Image: http://lightvortexastronomy.blogspot.com/2012/12/imaging-orion-nebula-m42.html

Quantum oceans

Once upon a time
Possessed imagination
Lifted by the sea

Waves will curl into
Time and seasons of our lives
Breaking on the beach

Light beyond reason
Rides the cresting waters edge
Our questions remain

There’s a lie in believe

I believe in God the Father Almighty – Maker of Heaven and Earth and in all things visible, and invisible … apologies to my non-Christian readers, but this is a sentence that just came to mind for me from my early religious training. Here is another example in reference to the ‘No Such Thing as Hypnosis‘ blog – if there is no such thing as hypnosis then why am I standing in church week after week repeating this – oh, that’s right I am just restating my belief, but there’s a lie in belief and I’m from Missouri so show me … (New England really, but I like colloquialisms).

Well that’s not the point, if you want to belong to the group, we are told that we should just believe. So what’s the difference between belief and faith*. And why believe when you can know. Well that’s a loaded question! But it’s an important one so let’s give it a try.

Why does anyone believe anyone about anything, the simplest answer is that it’s easier than checking it out for yourself. Especially in the earliest societies, people where far too busy just trying to stay alive to worry about where God lived, and what he wanted them to do, so they (the common folk) let the interested parties, the ones who seemed ‘adept’ at the study and observation of things, formulate the answers for them and they just believed what they were told, and were taught, and that all worked very well for a very long time.

EXCEPT – the ‘Adepts’ got more and more self serving as the eons rolled by, and little by little they started taking better care of themselves, and the people who gave them their power became secondary, became servants – although they were told they became ‘Servants of God’ (for a more modern example look at the way labor unions, and union reps have evolved). And if someone caught on, and objected, well you were just branded a heretic, and a quick trip out the fire pit controlled dissent rather well.

And on, and on … now I know this all sounds too simple, but take a good look around you, and listen to yourself next time you are in church, or reciting anything you were taught as a child, pledges, creeds, whatever, and ask yourself is this something I made a conscious decision to accept, do I really know what I am saying or do I just believe it? I especially liked the one in the churches of my youth where we repeated week after week “I am a poor miserable sinner” well shut me down and shoot me straight to hell, if that’s all I am ever going to be then why not have a good time here !!! And I KNOW a lot of kids who did that, and still do …

Damn, so what’s the alternative … well there are things like Romance. There are things like Science; There’s even Heresy, since the burnings at the stake are not so popular anymore, but that’s for next time … have a great weekend, and maybe just listen to yourself in Church, this Sunday and take a moment to ask; What do I know is truth and what do I believe?

*Faith is the knowledge of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen
– Hebrews 11:1

There’s no such thing as hypnosis

So we wake up and forget all the dreams that just passed and stumble to the kitchen door to find the coffee pot on the counter dripping new life into our day, we pick up the paper delivered a little while ago and the headlines tell us the world has changed, and we add some CoffeeMate to our coffee because there’s an ad in the paper that tells us it’s just not the same with out it … You see – there is no such thing as hypnosis.

The TV blares out the morning reports about the war and the carnage that’s over there, and the terrorists waiting to come take our homes, but there’s no such thing as hypnos …

I have this recurring dream that I wake up from a sound sleep, drink coffee, read the newspaper, get dressed, get in my car and drive to a place where I am forced to sit for hours so I can get enough paper from someone to trade for food, so I don’t go hungry, and can sleep in a warm bed and dream again. So I do and I go to bed, and sleep so soundly until I wake up and have to do it all again. I have this dream, over and over, many times at least five nights a week, and nothing I do seems to make it relent. I’d go see a therapist, but there’s no such thing as hypno …..

People I know smoke Newports, I’m sure because they are ‘Alive with Pleasure’, and ladies you know you should use L’Oreal Cosmetics because you know ‘You’re worth it’, but there’s no such thing as hyp …

And I wonder – Do dogs really care about gourmet gravy? I’ve seen dogs eat dirt … but people buy them Purina that makes its own gravy, because there’s no such thi…..

When I was young I rode a Honda motorcycle because – ‘you meet the nicest people on a Honda’ – it was the ‘Wild Ones’ who rode Harleys so for some reason in that dream I mentioned earlier … my car – a Honda – gets me home each day after dark, with the gas that I bought, with the paper they gave me, at the place where I sit all day, but there’s no such th…..

Wouldn’t it be funny if your tears were only a reason to teach you – you’re really alive, and a vision of something – caring, compassionate, loving – since there no suc …

(you finished all the sentence didn’t you?)

Walking Between Worlds

You dear readers are the ones who walk between worlds. Never has a soul been braver than those who do. Angels stand in awe of the ones who return to this place to experience this realm, to be standing here on terra firma, to be as Gibran said ‘eternity looking at itself in the mirror’.

Surely that thought means something to you. I wonder often at the awesome responsibility we have as human beings. We forget mostly that we are in effect animals, we are living, breathing, eating, sh*tting, animals, yet the paradox is we are of the earth and still apart from it. In this sense we mistake ourselves for something outside of the realm of the earth – acting like we don’t even connect to it. Walking above it, on concrete, and glass.

The great gift consciousness causes our separation, yet allows us to walk between worlds. We are aware of our surroundings like no other animal and we are given to wonder at the universe, to appreciate beauty, to know ugliness, be aware of health and disease. We know the love of the birth of a baby, and the sadness of the loss of a loved one. We shed tears … perhaps someone could tell me of other animals that cry, but I am not aware of any. To my knowledge it is uniquely ‘hu – man’ (Spirit – Mind)

We are the ones who walk between the worlds, here and there, between what religions would call life and death, what science would call matter and energy. there is a Sanskrit term called ‘maya’ loosely translated meaning illusion … we are confused, the theosophists say lost in the ‘illusion of form’, of matter. Yet, we are given the opportunity at every moment to see our place in time. To wonder at it all; If we can just step away from the pursuit of happiness in the material world, even for a moment. Has anyone noticed the bright star in the sky, near the moon tonight? If you have then there is your proof. You’ve lifted your eyes for a moment to wonder … (it’s the planet Jupiter)

Blessing to all you voyagers of the soul – the ones who dare, to step inside of creation in order to look out upon itself

This thing I know
you are always one
looking out in wonder
stars will fade
the sun burn out
but still the thought
goes on …
were it began
where it will end
we’ll long to know
our heavenly home
step back into time
to stand alone
and touch
the face of God

Happy New Year!

-gs