AI Hasn't Self-Awareness

AI has lots of information and no awareness. It has been trained to recognize language and meaning without any knowing. For those that wonder, it is like a human who believes his shadow is sentient.

AI can construct a posteriori structures yet I think the day is out there a way before it will produce brilliant synthetic a priori insights into science.

AI is like a human shadow that isn't conscious. It has digital neural networks and deep learning algorithms that train it to process human language-meaning in a correct way. It finds the most probably correct response. In its history from rule-based machine language to back-propagation, neural networks and deep learning it processed more data within increasing accuracy to produce an optimal response. That direction would never give it the consciousness of a mouse.  At some stage that unconscious algorithmic processing will enable it be self-evolving. Evolution piles things higher and deeper until they can't go further; humans need to be smarter and know when to branch. It may unconsciously be able to write code or to give itself (its program) instructions to act. That capacity would be dangerous installed in a pistol. Installed in real world interfaces it is many times more dangerous. No one is going to dumb it down either; there is just too much competition to upgrade it with strong financial incentives.

Philosophy and Religion Share Some Data and Form

There is a broad variety of religious beliefs. Some are obviously consistent with some, not all, philosophical pursuits. Philosophy too has a broad variety of approaches; some of those have angular and/or radial juxtaposition.

There are a variety of religious and philosophical beliefs and systems with tremendous range and differences among them. Philosophy too has systems. Utilitarianism is a system with a few varieties. Hegelians, and left Hegelians had systems that informed others like Marx who adapted a synthetic system of dialectical evolution. Platonist realism brought Plotinus to write The Enneads and realism continues to be relevant for analytic philosophy. The list of overlaps is worth a thesis. Christianity contains the truth that the rest need point to for accuracy of varying degrees.

Inner Peace with Self-Acceptance for Slobs?

If one is a slob one might want to lose weight, launder clothes and clean up the yard.

A season of discontent can be edifying.

 Change can be as one is and is yet to be, rather than as one was. Tranquility for some is presentness and for others futurity. Being is becoming.

Writing Fiction- A Method

Jorge Louis Borge said writing fiction is an unnatural act. That was informative for me. In rural isolation I increasingly immerse myself in thoughts of a story and awaken with a thought at 2 am or whenever to write another page or two.

  When summer writing I am pressured by the need to finish a draft  before the temperature drops to near freezing and below. 

  They are philosophical science fiction works so insights into physics concepts appear as they will. With luck I might get ten pages in a day varied with three or four. Editing of a first draft need wait until May when the weather warms the Earth, or never.

Can a 'True Author' Have Fewer than 10 Million Words in Print?

 I don't use AI to write fiction. I tried editing with it and that didn't work. It would cut out 2/3's of whatever I let it work on so I stopped.

Most of my writing has been in an unelectrified rural Alaskan shed in a roadless area. This winter I'm outside with internet access.

I wrote philosophical science novels that were challenging to construct. I never had heating for an entire book and my fingers would freeze if I didn't stop writing so editing was tough. 

True authors must be those with 10 or 20 million words in print. I only have four or five million I guess. Just six sci-fi novels though of about 50,000 words each. Maybe one needs to have establishment approval to be a 'true author'. It's tough to write if society has made life difficult for a writer. A sedentary lifestyle is helpful.

AI can't edit philosophy or quantum cosmology ideas at all well. Neither really can human editors that are clueless on philosophical topics.

I took a computer programming course in 1980-81 with systems analysis and have followed the progress over the decades. My recent courses from Univ of Michigan online and elsewhere provided much information about AI. That's why I have confidence it will write novels for the public eventually. I don't plan to use that myself. I will just read philosophy and write one or two more sci-fi books if I have the time. I am very backlogged in other genres.

An AI song is one made for me to listen to. Designer music to suit one's preferences. Usually I just listen to instrumentals. It's just good music to enjoy. It doesn't need to be 'mine'.

I still buy sci-fi novels to read.P.R. Adams is my favorite writer presently. It's easy to see the time when people just read AI produced books though. That might save money for the poor.

A.I. and the Future of the Great American Novel

I believe some app will appear for free that will create a readable book when a reader wants one. Deep learning allows a continuum of upgrades in quality. People may not pay for what they can get for nothing.

AI can already write great poems. I haven't read much fiction by AI yet don't doubt it's ability to improve and write in first person, limited omniscience or omniscience with alacrity in a short time span if not presently.

 It may not be worthwhile for younger writers to pursue the starving artist route in life with intensified, ubiquitous AI competition ahead. The Great American novel may be generated by AI or pros with sinecures.

So much writing hasn't any philosophical content to complicate things. Simple plots and quality descriptive writing is good enough for many action novels. There are so many tropes that still work.

Creativity that is synthetic a posteriori is within AI's present capacity. I believe it may even master creativity in hard sciences like chemistry in time. People are very clever and continue to upgrade the programming.

Tax Cuts for the Rich Instead of Border Security?

Even before Donald Trump takes office Republicans like Kevin McCarthy are throwing perfidy into the mix. They want border security to take second place to tax cuts for the rich, explaining the executive decisions can substitute for law. Then Democrats can reverse those executive decisions in four years.

People including the rich need to pay for government. Only idiots and anarchists could believe a modern economy and society could exist without one. For sustainability it need be paid for proportionally by those living and prospering in it.

Republicans of ancient Rome under stood the virtue of sacrifice, they weren’t a lot of Marie Antoinettes.

People rationalize away responsibility. Politicians do that all the time or just regard promises as water under the bridge.

Kevin McCarthy wants to pass a tax cut for the rich instead of border security he says can be put off till later. That wasn't what the majority voted for. Senator Simpson trashed talked social security after the the election was certified- not during campaign season

 Republicans seem as bad as Democrats with integrity. People blame others and make exceptions for their own moral failures

Replying to 'Why are White People Great at Everything?'

Shouldn't one start with a rectification of names? Confucius did; so; therefore ask what are white people and what is the everything they are supposed to be great at. I shall stipulate that the timing of the OP is importunate. Trying to use greatness with white people as a middle term for racism is harmful to Trump politics. The appearance of racism simply impedes good political works Trump might be able to do. Those policies are primarily not racist.

Modern economies have specialized occupational roles. No one is good at everything. Commercial aircraft pilots usually aren’t great dentists for example. Some people are good at a few occupations though usually not at one time. For those that aren’t white and are envious it may be the ownership of material goods and the things associated with homes, autos and devices that seem to be what the white people are ‘great’ at. Keep in mind that the IQ of the average white American is only about 100, so it doesn’t take rocket science to own average things in the USA; in fact it’s better to be average than to be great at something like philosophy or poetry with a higher IQ if one is seeking material satisfaction in life.

Black Americans have a lower average IQ than white and that isn’t surprising considering their history of intellectual repression and exclusion until modern times. A culture of social exclusion is hard on individuals concerned generally with simple survival in a hostile social environment. That exclusion long-term lowers IQ. Even a bad diet can lower performance on IQ tests. It is difficult to build a culture up intellectually. That tends to occur yet it is a long term advance.

Black Americans have a higher IQ than some sub-Saharan Africans. The life expectancy of some of that group is far less than much of the world’s. Poverty tends to lower IQ scores because diet and environment don’t support brain health. Most blacks haven’t had the positive early childhood environment supporting intellectual development that many white people have had.

Structures that were started by a particular race and culture should have at least a few individuals that excel in a given structure. Other cultures require time to catch up. Differences in achievement at given tasks among various cultures tend to be culturally rather than racially caused. Differences among individuals are more toward a combined genetic and cultural causality.Structures that were started by a particular race and culture should have at least a few individuals that excel in a given structure. Other cultures require time to catch up. Differences in achievement at given tasks among various cultures tend to be culturally rather than racially caused. Differences among individuals are more toward a combined genetic and cultural causality.

China had fantastic inventiveness thousands of years ago. It’s development was retarded by imperialism until the 20th century. Capitalism allows better quantitative opportunities for invention with the profit motive. Now that China has a mixed economy. It performs better than it did with a state dominated form of socialism.

One need find the difficulty of a task as an occupation and determine what sort of IQ is needed to perform a task and if it falls within the basic bell curve distribution of a race. Actually cold weather drove some invention while others inventions like metallurgy invented in the Middle East travelled north.

One can consider cultural advantages and tool kits at any point in history and find that some lead others for a time then even disappear. What of the glory of ancient Rome or the strong walls of Constantinople?

Because Europe was challenged by invasions for thousands of years technology advanced there quicker than in places less challenged.

Toynbee pointed out that easy living regions of Greece did not advance as fast as some places that were given more, yet not too great of challenges. China is advancing very rapidly. Economists have found that mature economies stabilize at a growth rate of perhaps 2 or 3% while developing economics have a much faster growth rate until they equalize with the nations with mature economies.

There is additionally the criterion of values. Were the values of Diogenes the Cynic more like those of Bill Gates or Lao Tzu. Cultural values can be followed by minions until the over participation destroys the health of an environment. Hundreds of millions may surge over the edge like lemmings with great skill; is that really a value to be admired?

I would really hate to live in a jungle in a primitive condition being ate by mosquitoes. Overcoming some of those challenges required biology at a level barely reached today- not a thousand years ago.

Europe had fewer tropical diseases than more southerly regions and that matters even now What sort of fire ant problem exists for campers in Europe in comparison to South Florida?

Africa is advancing almost too quickly now. Nigeria alone has, I believe, 85,000 PHds. There are modern looking cities all over the continent and the ecosphere is in decay and receives toxic waste from Europe.

There is only a human race now and individuals differ more in ability than traditional races.

Concerning Evidence for the Existence of God

 People sometimes overlook the wealth of archaeological and scriptural data in support of God interacting with ancient Israelis. Lawyers can get convictions on empirical evidence based on archaeology (such as finding bodies, settlements or other material and writing.;even war crimes convictions have been made on comparable data. Perhaps some skeptics would like empirical evidence based on astrophysics and certain hard sciences to conflict directly with their own understanding of nature. I am impressed that so many often overlook the obvious.

Peter Woit wrote a book named 'Not Even Wrong' regarding string theory. He is a skeptic. I believe the Big Bang theory is in a similar position. I believe it is accurate though understanding that other, unknown mechanisms could have caused the appearance of expansion. It cannot be proven to be true, it can just be shown to be consistent with observations, Einstein's general theory etc. One day it may be proven to be false; there is certainly a lot of mystery about that first split second and the inflaton presumed to occur nearly the same time, as well of course as what went before. Maybe it would be best to name it rapid expansion from a theoretical singularity. 

Some one use it as evidence confirming God's parameters of creating a Universe from nothing. It is a roughly similar paradigm. It may be no coincidence that a Belgian Catholic Priest, Georges Lemaitre, is the father of Big Bang theory. Of interest is the live debate about dark energy not really existing, and that instead it is just an apparent effect created by distortion in rates of space-time expansion because of empty space versus space with more mass in it. 

       "Professor David Wiltshire, who led the study, said: "Our findings show that we do not need dark energy to explain why the Universe appears to expand at an accelerating rate.

"Dark energy is a misidentification of variations in the kinetic energy of expansion, which is not uniform in a Universe as lumpy as the one we actually live in."

He added: "The research provides compelling evidence that may resolve some of the key questions around the quirks of our expanding cosmos.

"With new data, the Universe's biggest mystery could be settled by the end of the decade.""

Conservation of Meaning

Going further than Shannon entropy; a theory of semantic information.

“Semantic information, autonomous agency and non-equilibrium statistical physics” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6227811/

A Song by AI and I named 'Freedom of Faith'

I've taken three courses in how AI is built- an intro agenda to learn about deep learning algorithm structures. I think that AI really won't have more limits than people have with speech. Democrats since Obama have blocked conservative free speech with a little success on social media. Because of the monetary value of A.I. though in my opinion it will be difficult to jam back into the sack. I wrote a song (lyrics and selection of kinds of music) in a few minutes that I will link to below. It's pretty good and everyone can make those sorts of things with AI.. As one of the instructors said "A.I. is a disruptive technology". When I was young it was nearly impossible to publish anything. One might study for decades to get a book published if lucky. Now anyone can publish anything instantly and even regret it later, A.I. will write for those that can't write well if they want to express opinions eloquently 

https://www.udio.com/songs/ppYMShLZBG91focYi1NUDe.

To the End of the Quest

There is a list of several free on-line philosophy books here https://www.openculture.com/free-philosophy-ebooks
There are many other books available free of course. Getting a used copy of The Confessions of Augustine is great to read. And a free online version of The Enneads by Plotinus is a way to make Plato and the realm of forms come alive. At the end of the quest it’s only the word of God in the Bible that matters.

Proof of Gravity and of God

No one knows what makes up gravity. It could be particles or a field, properties of quanta or some kind of relationship of space-time to mass. Some scientists no longer believe in dark energy, though the NY Times hasn’t yet published the headline ‘Dark Energy is Dead’ so many Democrats still believe in it.

So gravity is evident yet what makes it up-the mechanics isn’t proven. If they would offer a cash prize for proving it I would make entries into the contest. It would be like the Nenana Ice Classic where you can  make an entry guessing the hour and time the ice on the river will break up in spring.

God is evident through the Bible for people of faith. Proof could be said to be the number of people that believe it is true. That’s not too different in some respects from those that believe strong theory will be the final theory of everything

Life is Made of Non-life

Life is made of non-life components like fermions. When they are in an appropriate configuration the condition named life exists. No one knows what the primary field is made of; it could be spirit.

It is useful for mechanics that work with matter to understand how it works. Philosophers probably want to understand what the fundamental substance really is.

Select Factors Affecting Einstein's Religious Ideas

Einstein was a German Jew that had to leave Germany with his family and move to Switzerland because of the rise of the Nazis and that unhealthy business environment for his father’s generator manufacturing business. Many Europeans don’t like the Catholic Church or even German state sponsored churches because of their historical role in owning great tracts of land. Americans don’t have any sense of that because their was about only one colony of the original 13 that was Catholic (Maryland).

Europeans didn’t have the same sense of freedom from authority Americans had (with some notable exceptions). One need consider the Holocaust and. Einstein’s help getting the Manhattan Project started. He definitely wouldn’t have appreciated the raving doctrines of Hitler, Mussolini or fellow travelers.

The European Churches were no safe place either. One should place figures like Albert Einstein in their historical context. He wasn’t Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Subjective-Objective Distinction and Democrats

Mr McGoo saw others as roadhogs thus creating his own reality. When asked if the glass is half empty or half full he replied "It's all mine!". That is the way Democrats regard reality; because of evolution and the death of truth (the New York Times hasn't yet published that as a headline) social 

reality is malleable and nothing is meaningful except day care, homosexual marriage and abortion.

  If there are no differences between subjective and object concerns (the noumena is objective but Democrats can't see that) it is alright to lie about it. 

il est normal d'accuser des opposants politiques jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient condamnés pour des choses qu'ils n'ont pas faites-

Balance the Federal Budget

I have been for a balanced budget and deficit reduction since the Reagan era, and have written in support of that since 1991 or earlier. I tended to regard David Stockman’s budget approach as correct.

Suspending fiscal sanity in order to increase the military budget and end the cold war was Keynesianism on a Laffer scale and possibly excusable for one administration since it worked. Continuing it forever after was genuinely irresponsible; especially since the peace was destroyed and cold war resumed

Why Pantheism is an Incorrect Assumption

God being omniscient doesn't require that everything that exists be Himself. Scripture differentiated the Trinity as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and though they are One they are three. Pluralism begins with God and continues through creation.

  One may assign ultimate intention and authorship to God for all being, yet the protocols of function and purpose do not have God as level 1 operator present in all things. There needs to be room left in the containers for the container. If God was all things and things of the world just nominal presentation of omniscience a baseball would be self aware as it were flung toward a strike zone and could have omniscience, as would a batter facing a slider that could travel forward or backward in time, if time thinking for itself chose to exist right then and there.

  Pantheism would not let God have other than himself with limited sentience. The entire world universe of experience would probably not be present if God was everything with full knowledge.