Wheels-within-Wheels #2

ii. Whereas philosophy concerns itself with truth, science could be regarded the search for reality through facts. Truth is subjective. Merely by the act of observation, the observer affects the universe. The degree varies from negligible to earth shaking. Pre-determination is a myth and an error. The neutral observer is a fallacy. Although the process may be influenced and constrained by external forces, we all create our environment and guide our perceptions. Each viewpoint is unique. Unchecked, the party line approaches the limit of unity. Sentience is basically discarded in favor of false cognition when we blindly defer to the basic tautology a implies b through error. Singular views counter true independence of thought. The irrational may often prove far more sublime and transforming than the rational. Religion and faith are a prime example. Early peoples managed to strengthen their lot by cultivating the religious instinct. The priest represents the end of spiritual development. Uplift became stagnation. Brilliant insight and insanity are not so different. Time and place makes all the distinction. Fiction is a bridge. A probability is not a possibility. A possibility is not a probability. An algorithm, no matter how grand, cannot dream or feel anything. No matter how low or base, the human experience is still many orders of magnitude in rank over the purely mechanical world. A trivial error of faith in numbers says otherwise.

An algorithm represents a series of calculations and loops dependant upon input and predefined references. In computers, all operations, even random values (which are only pseudo-random), are generated by algorithms. There exists nothing deep in these algorithmic schemes predetermined by code, just a resultant series of binary numbers translated into higher languages by associated algorithms. All computations are rational and externally defined. Rather than invent some new scheme, like limits, to resolve the problem, a computer told to keep halving distances will never reach its destination. Machines are fundamentally unable to step over. The "Y2K" difficulties illustrated this limitation. Computers cannot be reasoned with to change this situation, merely reprogrammed. An advanced algorithm can "learn" by constructing a subsidiary algorithm, in a bottom-up manner, but never gain insight into anything. Threads are pursued endlessly. Meaning is only a numerical value to these fast idiots. This mathematical construct cannot even accommodate the vast set of irrational numbers, only round to the n-th decimal place. Undescribable numbers do not exist for a machine. The human mind is limited as well in comprehending a number with an infinite-number of decimal places, but may still grasp and accommodate the concept by peering around corners with mathematical intuition. Hence, we reach the destination and beyond. A mind may simultaneously grow, develop, stagnate, and degenerate. Insanity is not a computer bug or virus. Isolation has an entirely different connotation. A machine may be expanded or reduced by its controllers, but never by its own accord. It succumbs to entropy, but may not resist or hasten it own demise. Machines do not commit suicide or willingly accept martyrdom for some higher cause. These decisions are all purely external. A machine must be maintained by humans. Living creatures preserve themselves or not. A machine cares about nothing. Pain is stimulus. Boredom and elation are different responses, dependant upon numerous, many unknown or variable, factors. A machine may imitate, but neither is a parrot human. Creativity and imagination grasp the impossible. The machine can not compute these experiences, being infinite and unique. The machine is different. Sophisticated mimicry is not life. The impossible can be truth, even reality, for human beings. A machine is constrained by facts. Despite all the contrary truths and errors espoused by mediocre philosophers and technicians, belief is not fact. A dull replacement for religion is no improvement. Creativity is strangled by efficiency. Little can be expected from those living within the comfortable world maintained by technology. One could certainly not expect more from the herd. The case of music is an illuminating point. Basically structured noise, music has far more meaning beyond simple sound. Melodies, harmonies, beats and notes require both memory and emotion. A machine lacks the feeling required for any appraisal of meaning. No musical piece may be taken in its entirety. Its moments are fundamentally different from its whole. In the case of live music, which represents its entire experience of most humans who have ever lived, each recital will deviate to some degree from all others. One might be tempted to wonder if recorded music has stunted human potential by creating a false impression of the eternal. Nothing lasts forever, except possibly a recording. Many will assume otherwise in error through associations. In the past, the passing of a great musician or composer was a real tragedy. Their performances were lost. Now, we just press a button and life goes on. Repetition conditions stagnation. Once critical comparisons required mental effort and even talent. Now, we just rewind the tape and re-listen. The moment is frozen in time. In addition, mixing eliminates error. Yet, some mistakes force improvisation and may lead to real spontaneous improvement. Music is no longer organic and the mind follows. Hence, algorithms become minds. All ideas need begin somewhere, but not within a finite string of 0's and 1's. The most banal human being is far beyond any machine. Music is more than notes on a page. Life is not chess. A grand master may lose on a bad day. Machines function or not. For human beings, we cannot even define what is proper. We may argue over it anyway. Time passes. Our bodies and beings are continually changing and rebuilt as something different. There being no absolute reference frames, our positions regarding time and space are both unique, which says absolutely nothing regarding perception. The clock ticks differently for a prisoner locked in a cell. The experience matters. The mind orders its reality (in part) according to stimuli, past memories (never exact) and future expectations. Anticipation is more than an extrapolation. Intuition is not necessarily correct, but has opened amazing and hidden doors throughout history. A machine can only find those doors for which it was programmed. An equation may be calculated without ever grasping its meaning. An irrational act is not an irrational number. Misconceptions and errors are prerogatives, not just something to be avoided. Far removed from pixels on a screen, dreams, the delusional and the fantastic are elements of a living mind. Grasping the world is difficult, but not impossible. A case in point involves the relationship between time and distance.

On the surface, time and distance would appear to be mutually exclusive. Indeed, this "obvious truth" was believed up until only the past century or so. However, twentieth century science shows this view is incorrect, being inconsistent with observational and theoretical fact regarding the very fast and the very small.[6] The old exact science of the 19th century, which assumed initial conditions determine everything, viewed reality in very concrete terms, whereas our new view is extremely hazy and uncertain. Reduction has dissimilar meaning and significance depending upon the age. (Although one wouldn't always know it.) Distance can never be exact on the scale of quantum interaction. Time is distance, based on the speed of light. The present is defined by position. The future lies outside and beyond. Effect cannot precede cause, but when is debatable. Wavefront faster-than-light travel violates causality, and may not occur. Time would flow backward. The second laws of thermodynamics forbids it. Ever see a broken glass mend itself? Universal entropy always increases. The dead will not live again. An expanding universe might preclude heat-death, but local conditions would essentially see the same fate. Time might be reversed, but one wouldn't know it. The speed of light is a limit. Circular arguments will not overcome it. The energy of the universe could not move an electron beyond the barrier imposed by reality. Time and distance are necessarily matters of our animal perception. A tree would view the relationship differently. Except in our minds, no human will ever physically move backwards in time. It is enough.

A persuasive argument will not alter base reality, only those layers attributable to our minds which are intertwined and often inseparable from each other. Always containing at least some projections of the mind and herd, the underlying base is never masked by an exact copy. The positivist mindset has its uses for discerning facts of reality by demanding the demonstrable, but risks error by universal application. Over time, the resultant mindset, which justifies and values the empirical over all else, has developed an associated morality, dictating maximum advantage in all things. One would not consume without it. The mind may sail beyond and under; even be burned by the sun in a delusional insistence to move still farther. Believing does not manufacture reality. Many orders of rank above the technical, meaning is a difficult determination. Having forgotten instinct through learning, a myopic expert is not necessarily qualified or even desirable for any determination concerning value. The future great scientists will need to unlearn much, whereas the future great philosophers will need to master much scientific thought by adapting the mindset. The present age has not yet seen the combination.

[6] Which are furthermore inconsistent with each other...

[7] Under is a different matter...