There is no such thing as instincts.
All emotions are triggered by thoughts.
The baby cries when it's hungry because it's thinking about the pain in its stomach. And thinking about pain triggers the emotion which causes crying.
I don't know why a horse tries to stand immediately upon being born. But it's not "instincts". The word is just some vague hand waving not much better than saying "godidit". It's a process of thought for the horse. Getting away from pain, perhaps trying to get back to the safer place from whence it came. Quickly realizing these leg things do certain things. Through evolution there is no reason why one can't immediately be able to do some thinking right at birth... For the baby it simply thinks of its pain, the only thing close to instinctual is that by thinking certain thoughts, certain emotions are triggered.
"1. An inborn pattern of behavior that is characteristic of a species and is often a response to specific environmental stimuli: the spawning instinct in salmon; altruistic instincts in social animals.
2. A powerful motivation or impulse.
3. An innate capability or aptitude: an instinct for tact and diplomacy."
No, there is only clear thinking and haphazard vague thinking and the emotions which are triggered by each. There is no magical it does it because that's just what they do.
A pointless word at best with many ugly uses.
Salmon spawning in the river from which they were born:
Pigeons actually have compasses in their noses. So the salmon has something going on whereby it knows where to go.
But isn't sex instinctual? Sex is an emotion/hormone triggered by thoughts. The man thinks about the woman. Pleasurable endorphins or whatever result. Through trial and error he learns what will continue the pleasure he feels...
It isn't necessary to explain the salmon because human sex is nonsensical in and of itself. Logic combined with nonsensical steps. Why would such and such cause pleasure? Random beneficial mutations.
So does it matter at all to just call it instincts?
It reduces understanding a little too quick at times. Throws up a curtain at times... The real problem I guess perhaps is that people don't think thought triggers emotions/hormones/endorphins, etc, whatever? Wasn't that even what Hofstadter said?
"...85:00: "Emotion and intelligence are inseperable." I suppose I disagree.
Emotions are the side effects of certain thought processes."
From Victim of the Brain. Yes, I think you're wrong Mr. Hof, professor of AI or whatever. Emotions are the side effects of thinking, emotions are triggered by thoughts... If you see it as a big mush then we have mush words like 'instincts'. Which isn't to say I think it's not that way just to find a way to make it simpler... I don't think...
Showing posts with label Hofstadter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hofstadter. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Infinite referencing loops... they are at least part of "intelligence". If you don't reference back to "yourself" then you are receiving stimuli and no more. Which is a sort of bliss at times. This is what people say animals are doing. And to an extent it may be true. And when i was young and had less to reference back to; instead just enjoying the stimuli thus focusing upon it more purely with no distractions. Was a blissful thing in a way that occasionally I miss. Still do it of course to varying degrees...
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A man can better spread his genes by cheating on his wife. I think the original movitation that causes him to go cheat (beyond just the fun of having sex with new people...) is a feeling of being unfulfilled which is in many men. Perhaps it's in me and I've just pushed it in a different direction; caused it to take a different form; as cheating is not something I'll ever do. But I have a picture in my head of a man who has psychic links which have been cut. They are angry wounds and he hurts. Sometimes I feel like that. It's all good to talk about finding happiness within one's self but still, I (and most other people) ought to have more meaningfully close connections. Most people just make do. I think more about what could be. Perhaps at heart it's the same thing pushing me that causes other men to cheat. Perhaps not at all. Very possibly not at all actually. I shouldn't put myself down so. Someone at the asexual online community sent me a pm thinking that's clearly what was going on with me.
But perhaps this unfilfullment is why men keep on seeming to create new things a tad bit more than woman... Not always of course. Their love of sports is even a sort of grandeous dreaming that I don't think women do...? Do women dream about having the perfect shoes/pants combo? I don't think so. Such small dreams so often relatively speaking. Because they don't have that something making them feel unsatisfied? Which often is displayed just in cheating to spread genes better.
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How to be nervous:
Don't find the person you're talking to very interesting. Focus on yourself instead of them. Worry/think about yourself instead. Do you have a booger hanging out of your nose? Etc. Don't focus on them because you don't really find them interesting, or just because there's something about them that makes you recoil a bit.
Is being nervous the edge of autism? Learning to not be afraid.... to overcome nervousness...
Some people just flat out aren't interesting at all though. Some people deserve to be recoiled from. Sadly true.
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Ye Gawds how my ears sensitivity changes... Listening to 'trance song', I couldn't even hear that one thing at all the other day. Now it's too damm loud. Yeesh. Are my ears working "correctly" now or last time I bothered messing with the song? I give up.
I suppose I should lower the damm volume on 'Castle Office' too.
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The self help book lady. Oi Vey, how horrifying. A lady who wrote such a beautiful seeming book. She looks wonderful too. Such an angel. I talked to her and her ideals crumbled to dust immediately and it was one of the most horrifying things to see. And there's absolutely nothing I can do about it whatsoever. I'd chop off a finger for this person who's basically a stranger to me, for her to be happy, and manage to live up to her ideals. To see someone try so hard to be good. SOOOO hard. Writing a book, such time to formulate this new age Eckhart Tolle type philosophy and ultimately failing so bad. Dying would be nothing in comparison.
Oh well. The door is closed. I can do absolutely nothing.
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Wonderful Astro. I missed you today. With your sickness and disasters we haven't spoken in at least 6 weeks I think. Knowing you exist really makes me feel better.
Although there's lots of good people I feel this way about. You're just at the top. I work with lots of nurses. Lots of good people. And females mostly, who I think have it easier. They aren't forced to warp themselves into some bizarre unemotional creature. Although possibly it's our own biology doing the warping. Doesn't matter.
I know. I'm cold as hell at times. A true little soldier boy, who could run out and kill, kill, kill on the battlefield and all that effing crap.
-----
Love, with your love I could do anything. Wrote a part of yet another lyric based song that will probably never see the light of day since I can't sing. Was in the style of an old russian/slavakian or whatever song.
"...For your love I'd go to war."
"Kill my brother's and much more..."
"With your love I can do anything...."
It's evolution. Not enough that sex feels good. The organism who's body is flooded with euphoria, energy constantly when thinking about their love is more likely to reproduce... But it's taken to an edge. Where rejection equals suicide. The evolutionary balance line. The evolutionary edge. With suicide on one side. There's others. Just in general having a good time versus being... on edge. But too far and life is so miserable....
------
A man can better spread his genes by cheating on his wife. I think the original movitation that causes him to go cheat (beyond just the fun of having sex with new people...) is a feeling of being unfulfilled which is in many men. Perhaps it's in me and I've just pushed it in a different direction; caused it to take a different form; as cheating is not something I'll ever do. But I have a picture in my head of a man who has psychic links which have been cut. They are angry wounds and he hurts. Sometimes I feel like that. It's all good to talk about finding happiness within one's self but still, I (and most other people) ought to have more meaningfully close connections. Most people just make do. I think more about what could be. Perhaps at heart it's the same thing pushing me that causes other men to cheat. Perhaps not at all. Very possibly not at all actually. I shouldn't put myself down so. Someone at the asexual online community sent me a pm thinking that's clearly what was going on with me.
But perhaps this unfilfullment is why men keep on seeming to create new things a tad bit more than woman... Not always of course. Their love of sports is even a sort of grandeous dreaming that I don't think women do...? Do women dream about having the perfect shoes/pants combo? I don't think so. Such small dreams so often relatively speaking. Because they don't have that something making them feel unsatisfied? Which often is displayed just in cheating to spread genes better.
------
How to be nervous:
Don't find the person you're talking to very interesting. Focus on yourself instead of them. Worry/think about yourself instead. Do you have a booger hanging out of your nose? Etc. Don't focus on them because you don't really find them interesting, or just because there's something about them that makes you recoil a bit.
Is being nervous the edge of autism? Learning to not be afraid.... to overcome nervousness...
Some people just flat out aren't interesting at all though. Some people deserve to be recoiled from. Sadly true.
------
Ye Gawds how my ears sensitivity changes... Listening to 'trance song', I couldn't even hear that one thing at all the other day. Now it's too damm loud. Yeesh. Are my ears working "correctly" now or last time I bothered messing with the song? I give up.
I suppose I should lower the damm volume on 'Castle Office' too.
------
The self help book lady. Oi Vey, how horrifying. A lady who wrote such a beautiful seeming book. She looks wonderful too. Such an angel. I talked to her and her ideals crumbled to dust immediately and it was one of the most horrifying things to see. And there's absolutely nothing I can do about it whatsoever. I'd chop off a finger for this person who's basically a stranger to me, for her to be happy, and manage to live up to her ideals. To see someone try so hard to be good. SOOOO hard. Writing a book, such time to formulate this new age Eckhart Tolle type philosophy and ultimately failing so bad. Dying would be nothing in comparison.
Oh well. The door is closed. I can do absolutely nothing.
-----
Wonderful Astro. I missed you today. With your sickness and disasters we haven't spoken in at least 6 weeks I think. Knowing you exist really makes me feel better.
Although there's lots of good people I feel this way about. You're just at the top. I work with lots of nurses. Lots of good people. And females mostly, who I think have it easier. They aren't forced to warp themselves into some bizarre unemotional creature. Although possibly it's our own biology doing the warping. Doesn't matter.
I know. I'm cold as hell at times. A true little soldier boy, who could run out and kill, kill, kill on the battlefield and all that effing crap.
-----
Love, with your love I could do anything. Wrote a part of yet another lyric based song that will probably never see the light of day since I can't sing. Was in the style of an old russian/slavakian or whatever song.
"...For your love I'd go to war."
"Kill my brother's and much more..."
"With your love I can do anything...."
It's evolution. Not enough that sex feels good. The organism who's body is flooded with euphoria, energy constantly when thinking about their love is more likely to reproduce... But it's taken to an edge. Where rejection equals suicide. The evolutionary balance line. The evolutionary edge. With suicide on one side. There's others. Just in general having a good time versus being... on edge. But too far and life is so miserable....
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Fear of Failure, Hofstadter definition of intelligence
So anyway...
This was just messing around/learning how to do some stuff with arpeggios using synthmaster (not my favorite virtual synth). I'm thinking most... some other people would just delete the file eventually but I like to believe that within any 20 seconds bit there is a full good song and it just has to be found. And I like trying to find it. If nothing else it's like doing a crossword puzzle or playing suduko. Except when you're finished you've actually got a little something you can enjoy for the rest of your life, hopefully. Also if you keep deleting stuff waiting for that super perfect song, you can start accumulating a lot of failure. This accumulation of failure means that when you sit down to write some music, you know there's a chance you'll just be wasting your time, and so... perhaps you just don't bother doing so. IOW, Fear of Failure. A very perfectly legitimate fear of failure. The way around it is to just enjoy finding a way to finish every song... even if it eventually means deleting everything you originally started out with (within that song file that is)... (which actually is the same thing maybe but doesn't seem so...)
This one is kind of the same idea. Was just messing around, trying to learn to do more with drums than usual. Usually my drums are very repetitive. Was trying to do better, also trying to use better sounding ones... but here I just sampled a tiny slice from another song... which I had to add a ton of reverb to make it sound relatively natural. Sort of polishing a turd and this felt like random BS as I was writing most of it. But at the end it came together.
And it reminds me of Hofstadter talking about what intelligence is. The ability to make "sense" of seemingly random stuff. In the movie Victim of the Brain he uses the example of a human being able to recognize a book as being a book whereas a fly couldn't. The idea can be extrapolated to a level where people could improve themselves; something like playing a hard piano piece; instead of looking at each note as one of so many possibilities; getting better at understanding what key you're in and knowing that limits what can come next (although over the course of a few notes you still end up with a ton of possibilities). Or in chess instead of looking at each move in a vacuum and trying to play endless variations in your head; instead you understand what you're seeing; what sort of board position; how quickly things can be reduced down to just a few possible good moves. And my stepfather is a chess addict how is wasting his senior years playing endlessly online. I messed up my back so bad I could hardly move for a few days and played him for the first time in years and won most of the games simply by looking at what are good board positions and what are ways to put him in bad board positions. Only at the end is there little choice but to actually play out the variations of exchanges in my head. At that point I don't do as well and really can't even be bothered to try because it's just tedious stuff. At that point he does well because he's stuck somewhat more in seeing chess in that way.
In his book Godel, Escher, Bach he says in the preface he originally meant for it to just be a pamphlet... (his idea about infinite referencing loops) and... so far I'm thinking he should have just done exactly that. But, of course, then he'd be a no one I suppose, maybe not even working in AI. So as he likes.
...but anyway the point was about finding sense in what seems random (and may actually really just be random...) this song came together at the end. It's about how if you don't recognize how a person you've brought into your life is evil, it doesn't matter why you let them in. It could be that you're just so worried about dismissing a really worthwhile person; that you're just such a bleeding heart; an egalitarian; a person so concerned with justice... It doesn't matter the reason you let this person in, you're responsible for the suffering they bring you. And you never know who is actually such a devil.
This was just messing around/learning how to do some stuff with arpeggios using synthmaster (not my favorite virtual synth). I'm thinking most... some other people would just delete the file eventually but I like to believe that within any 20 seconds bit there is a full good song and it just has to be found. And I like trying to find it. If nothing else it's like doing a crossword puzzle or playing suduko. Except when you're finished you've actually got a little something you can enjoy for the rest of your life, hopefully. Also if you keep deleting stuff waiting for that super perfect song, you can start accumulating a lot of failure. This accumulation of failure means that when you sit down to write some music, you know there's a chance you'll just be wasting your time, and so... perhaps you just don't bother doing so. IOW, Fear of Failure. A very perfectly legitimate fear of failure. The way around it is to just enjoy finding a way to finish every song... even if it eventually means deleting everything you originally started out with (within that song file that is)... (which actually is the same thing maybe but doesn't seem so...)
This one is kind of the same idea. Was just messing around, trying to learn to do more with drums than usual. Usually my drums are very repetitive. Was trying to do better, also trying to use better sounding ones... but here I just sampled a tiny slice from another song... which I had to add a ton of reverb to make it sound relatively natural. Sort of polishing a turd and this felt like random BS as I was writing most of it. But at the end it came together.
And it reminds me of Hofstadter talking about what intelligence is. The ability to make "sense" of seemingly random stuff. In the movie Victim of the Brain he uses the example of a human being able to recognize a book as being a book whereas a fly couldn't. The idea can be extrapolated to a level where people could improve themselves; something like playing a hard piano piece; instead of looking at each note as one of so many possibilities; getting better at understanding what key you're in and knowing that limits what can come next (although over the course of a few notes you still end up with a ton of possibilities). Or in chess instead of looking at each move in a vacuum and trying to play endless variations in your head; instead you understand what you're seeing; what sort of board position; how quickly things can be reduced down to just a few possible good moves. And my stepfather is a chess addict how is wasting his senior years playing endlessly online. I messed up my back so bad I could hardly move for a few days and played him for the first time in years and won most of the games simply by looking at what are good board positions and what are ways to put him in bad board positions. Only at the end is there little choice but to actually play out the variations of exchanges in my head. At that point I don't do as well and really can't even be bothered to try because it's just tedious stuff. At that point he does well because he's stuck somewhat more in seeing chess in that way.
In his book Godel, Escher, Bach he says in the preface he originally meant for it to just be a pamphlet... (his idea about infinite referencing loops) and... so far I'm thinking he should have just done exactly that. But, of course, then he'd be a no one I suppose, maybe not even working in AI. So as he likes.
...but anyway the point was about finding sense in what seems random (and may actually really just be random...) this song came together at the end. It's about how if you don't recognize how a person you've brought into your life is evil, it doesn't matter why you let them in. It could be that you're just so worried about dismissing a really worthwhile person; that you're just such a bleeding heart; an egalitarian; a person so concerned with justice... It doesn't matter the reason you let this person in, you're responsible for the suffering they bring you. And you never know who is actually such a devil.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Victim of the Brain
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8576072297424860224&hl=nl
More interesting than most of the internet wasteland...
Bogged down by (the whole thing isn't much more than) religious questions. Free will, souls, etc.
There is the idea in the christian religion that God is absolutely perfect and knows everything... but if that's so why did he create imperfect creatures which commit sin whom he's then going to stick in eternal fire? "Well, Jonnyboy, God gave us free will."
"Gee dad, what's that?"
"A nonsense word designed to win an argument that can't actually be won Jonnyboy. Like if you asked me how a chipmunk can beat an attacking bear. I could say he'd use his special bear killing zap gun; provided it's the chipmunk god of course. The Christian God can do whatever he wants and when obvious holes are pointed out he'll just do whatever to cover up."
The only meaning of the term free will that doesn't make it nonsensical is saying it means god had no idea what he was doing really when he made us. Just randomly mixed some stuff together and he doesn't actually know how we'll turn out.
Which would be fine with me. I'm not the one claiming he's all knowing.
Victim of the Brain hits the same idea with musing if our every action is predetermined. I suppose on a physics level you have some random action but ignoring that it is a nonsense question really as... yes our actions our predetermined, we are "victims of our brains" I suppose... and so what?
Yes, an all knowing creature already knows everything you're going to do. Of course, thus an all knowing creature would find you quite boring.
The attempt to understand intelligence is an attempt to reach that point of being all knowing and is running into the same thing. I don't think it's something to make much of, yet people keep making much of it.
It is somewhat a problem of language. The term 'free will' doesn't quite describe what is going on. It's a devious word made by christian apologetics. Of course you're free to act as you desire. Of course you have your own will. It just so happens an all knowing creature woud be able to predict everything you're going to do. And that you are a "prisoner" or victim of your brain. You're not free from your brain. Mostly a failure in our abilities to think at all that anyone finds this interesting.
..in the nuclear warhead story there is no reason he'd go back to his brain in Tulsa. What follows is just a confusion based on that, and more God stuff.
Basically I'm saying the same thing as Hofstadter. I don't think it's an important thing to spend much time on though... or name the movie after but perhaps that's just the direction the film maker took this. Hopefully this book by Hofstadter (Godel, Escher, Bach) will be better.
85:00: "Emotion and intelligence are inseperable." I suppose I disagree.
Emotions are the side effects of certain thought processes.
More interesting than most of the internet wasteland...
Bogged down by (the whole thing isn't much more than) religious questions. Free will, souls, etc.
There is the idea in the christian religion that God is absolutely perfect and knows everything... but if that's so why did he create imperfect creatures which commit sin whom he's then going to stick in eternal fire? "Well, Jonnyboy, God gave us free will."
"Gee dad, what's that?"
"A nonsense word designed to win an argument that can't actually be won Jonnyboy. Like if you asked me how a chipmunk can beat an attacking bear. I could say he'd use his special bear killing zap gun; provided it's the chipmunk god of course. The Christian God can do whatever he wants and when obvious holes are pointed out he'll just do whatever to cover up."
The only meaning of the term free will that doesn't make it nonsensical is saying it means god had no idea what he was doing really when he made us. Just randomly mixed some stuff together and he doesn't actually know how we'll turn out.
Which would be fine with me. I'm not the one claiming he's all knowing.
Victim of the Brain hits the same idea with musing if our every action is predetermined. I suppose on a physics level you have some random action but ignoring that it is a nonsense question really as... yes our actions our predetermined, we are "victims of our brains" I suppose... and so what?
Yes, an all knowing creature already knows everything you're going to do. Of course, thus an all knowing creature would find you quite boring.
The attempt to understand intelligence is an attempt to reach that point of being all knowing and is running into the same thing. I don't think it's something to make much of, yet people keep making much of it.
It is somewhat a problem of language. The term 'free will' doesn't quite describe what is going on. It's a devious word made by christian apologetics. Of course you're free to act as you desire. Of course you have your own will. It just so happens an all knowing creature woud be able to predict everything you're going to do. And that you are a "prisoner" or victim of your brain. You're not free from your brain. Mostly a failure in our abilities to think at all that anyone finds this interesting.
..in the nuclear warhead story there is no reason he'd go back to his brain in Tulsa. What follows is just a confusion based on that, and more God stuff.
Basically I'm saying the same thing as Hofstadter. I don't think it's an important thing to spend much time on though... or name the movie after but perhaps that's just the direction the film maker took this. Hopefully this book by Hofstadter (Godel, Escher, Bach) will be better.
85:00: "Emotion and intelligence are inseperable." I suppose I disagree.
Emotions are the side effects of certain thought processes.
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