To realize that we are "just" machines in a physical world, and that this validates and enhances--rather than diminishes--the romance, the meaning, and the mystery of human existence, is a very empowering conceptualization.
To travel into the void, leaving behind myths and tradition, and then to emerge from the void, to see that all is as it was, but standing on physical law, both known and not yet known, is to gain the freedom to grow. - Jef http://www.jefallbright.net Increasing awareness for increasing morality On 2/6/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > We can't JUST DO things (like AI). Whenever we DO things, we are > THINKING ABOUT them. I'd venture to say that HOW WE THINK ABOUT THINGS > (e.g. philosophy, epistemology, etc.) is even MORE important that DOING > THINGS (engineering, sales, etc.). That is one way of looking at the > advantage that we humans have over machines. We have the capability to > not just do things, but to know why we are doing them. This runs > counter to the whole PHILOSOPHY (mind you) of modern science, that we > are simply machines, and that there is no WHY. This modern philosophy, > if taken to its extreme, is the death of the humanness.