On Jan 26, 2008, at 2:36 PM, Mike Tintner wrote:
Gudrun: I am an artist who is interested in science, in utopia and
seemingly
impossible
projects. I also came across a lot of artists with OC traits. ...
The OCAP, actually the obsessive compulsive 'arctificial' project ..
These new OCA entities ... are afraid, and bound to rituals and unwant
ed thoughts (and actions).
Some odd thoughts:
I'd wondered whether you might be interested in the reality rather
than the science-fiction - of the connection between OCD and real
scientists and technologists. Ben's article arguably raises
interesting questions about their psychology generally and not just
that of Extropians, (and has the elements, if not the story, for a
good movie).
(BTW after his highlighting of one Extropian sucide, up comes an
article on two suicides closer to AI home - those of Singh &
McKinstry (both Minsky-related!):
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-02/ff_aimystery?currentPage=all
with a note that: "MIT has attracted headlines for its high suicide
rate in the past," )
The connection between the scientific, systemising personality and
autism - the ultimate in an obsessive need to control and also in a
rejection of humanity - has obviously been expounded by Sacha Baron-
Cohen :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4661402.stm
And you don't say, but aren't artists - whatever their philosophical
position - fundamentally opposed to science's current worldview?
Science still sees human beings as automata in an automatic process
Not really.
- fundamentally totally controlled,
Nope.
- (and v. few AI-ers disagree) - while the arts see us, in the
shape of a million or so dramatic works, as heroes in a heroic drama
- fundamentally unpredictable and suspenseful.
Both are true and not true. So what? What will you we with our
lives? What meaning will we create from the meaningless accident of
our existence? That is art, and science, and more.
- s
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