No one can reasonably argue that AI is anything other than mechanical—we say digital, but the first manmade computers were, in fact, analog. It is only proper to look at AI in its most primitive form, that is, simple computational devices.
Simple mechanisms and gadgets that convert inputs into related and more relevant and useful outputs. Moving the beads on an abacus, for instance, we can input numbers related to basic mathematical functions—including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—and output the solution to said functions. A sextant takes observational inputs of celestial objects’ relationship to the horizon and outputs an angular distance useful in determining latitudes and longitudes for navigation. Even the humble scale takes physical inputs of weights and goods and then outputs the mass of the goods. The important takeaway is all measurement and computational tools are designed for the purely mechanical process of determination: to establish or ascertain some quantifiable fact as exactly as possible. In its most basic expression, a computational device itself cannot know objective Truth, but it can reflect, indicate, or quantify the nature of perceptible reality in some form according to the limitations of its mechanical design.
The process of determination always involves some form of binary comparison: this, not that, true or false, etc. In any mechanical, deterministic process, be it analog or digital, only one of the two options being considered can be deemed true. A mechanical switch, for instance, can be either in the on or off position, but not both. Likewise, a lightbulb attached to said switch cannot be both on and off at the same time. The position of the switch—on or off—determines the state of the corresponding state of the lightbulb—on or off. All mechanical determinism functions this way at the most basic level: binary duality. And this binary duality is reflected in the very foundation of mechanical nature itself.
Light or dark. Alive or dead. Male or female. Positive or negative. Up or down. Hot or cold. Self or other. Predator or prey. Action and reaction…cause and effect. In any given moment, at every conceivable turn, mechanical nature determines effects (output) based on some comparison of causes (inputs) in the dialectic… if x, then y…if this, then that. Regardless of your understanding of the nature of reality, there is no avoiding this absolute objective Truth: mechanical nature is constantly processing deterministically based on a foundation of binary conditional states. This fact is evidenced in materialist science, which is based on mechanical nature behaving in predictable ways under certain conditions according to identifiable laws—i.e., Newton’s Laws of Motion, Archimedes’ Principle of Buoyancy, Bernoulli’s Law of Fluid Dynamics, et al. Scientific laws, determined via observation, experimentation, measurement, and mathematical calculation, help the intellect determine outcomes based on various causes under certain conditions in theory—computation, speculation, derived from the Greek theōros, “spectator,” observer.
Consciousness relates to the observer. Theory is a product of the mind. What we see here before us, dear reader, is an erroneous conflation of the two. The distortion of theōros (observer) into theory (belief about what is observed) is one of the many heinous intellectual crimes committed against humanity. It is just the sort of corruption that takes place in the conditioned rational mind. Theos means “god” or “goddess.” Academics will argue that theōros, spectator, derives from thea, “theatre.” But the binary, deterministic speculation of such academics’ minds fails to consider the wholistic comprehension of the facts. To the Greeks, the theatre was a profoundly sacred space. A place of pure inspiration and imagination—both qualities of consciousness—Theatre was where timeless, universal Truths could be played out in real-time. According to Plato, it was a sacred space in which spectators could achieve catharsis through vicariously experiencing the characters on stage. Characters who, to this day, are merely a role played by actors—players.
All the world’s a stage,And all the men and women are merely players; – Shakespeare, As You Like It (Act 2 Scene 7)
The theatre was the first manmade virtual reality. And like modern VR, theatre is analogous to life itself. It reflects reality playing itself out in our lives—gods and goddesses in development (monads) playing roles (personas) throughout the various stages of their development. Whether they remain conscious or unconscious players is the question.
The Greeks would not have used the word theory as we do today. To them, theory would have meant something closer to inspiration, imagination, and timeless, universal Truth—God-given Truth. For instance, when Pythagoras sat down to contemplate reality and sacred geometry, he did not theorize as modern intellectuals do. He would have begun in observation—in nature or in meditation. An empty cup. A blank parchment. The absence of mind. Thus, in an act of pure observation, the secrets of sacred geometry could unfold in his consciousness, specifically his creative imagination, via the metamind of his Innermost Being. The resulting knowledge would be considered theoretical because it was, in essence, a “gift of the gods.” To this day, the proper name Theo means “God’s gift.” A True theory, then, is divine Truth, sacred information we receive via pure observation not in the mind but in consciousness. The resulting knowledge is reflected in the mind, of course, as it assumes some form which can be processed by the mental operating system. The conscious experience of Truth thus informs the mind—information. The mind is also used to transcribe and relay said information. But the mind’s mechanical, binary, deterministic, speculative, computational nature was not the source of said information. The process we just described is very different from the so-called theories humanity operates on as de facto truths—many of which are fabrications of mind alone. Theories which have never been nor can ever be proven because, frankly speaking, most of them are wrong.
The mind is a machine designed to determine answers (output) based on comparisons of one or more phenomena (inputs) under various conditions (variables). In quantitative analyses, our mind relies on instruments of measurement and/or calculations to determine what appears to us as objective answers. In qualitative analyses, however, our mind relies on subjective biases learned over a lifetime of conditioning, assigned to phenomena throughout a complex process of determination via comparison. Opinions, beliefs, and theories are formulated according to our biases. The point is that the mind, like all deterministic machines, produces answers—some correct, some incorrect. The mind itself, like any operating system, has no vested interest in the outcome. Its concern is limited by its design, and that design is to produce answers (outputs) to queries based on inputs and biases.
In contemporary AI, biases are euphemistically referred to as weights. They are values applied to data points learned by the AI during its training. In large language models like Chat-GPT, weights are statistical values indicating the likelihood that a certain word will follow another in a sequence given certain conditions to produce the ‘correct’ output. As a very crude and oversimplified example, if, in its learning, the AI looks at millions of formal letters from the past three centuries, it may have encountered the phrase, “To whom it may concern,” opening most of those letters. The AI will assign significant weight to each word in that phrase when under the specific condition of opening a formal letter. So, when prompted to write a formal letter, the AI’s virtual synapses will draw on said weights when choosing an opening. Our brain functions in roughly the same way. This should not be surprising since AI is modeled after the synapses and neural networks of the brain. Please note, dear reader, it is not the intention nor purpose of this book to explain the inner workings of contemporary AI. For that, we encourage you to turn to YouTube, where you will find hundreds of videos explaining the mechanics of AI, from a few minutes to a few hours in length, depending on how deep a dive you wish to take. Our purpose here, dear reader, is to reveal what practically none of those videos will. The hidden Truth about AI and what it reveals to us about the nature of our own mind.
From Part II of What in Hell is with Us? - Dawn of VR, AI, and Transhumanism.