Showing posts with label extraterrestrial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label extraterrestrial. Show all posts

17.12.12

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Science fiction and fantasy are intriguing, but more so is the reaction toward and admiration of it. Unfortunately I’m not really a big reader (at all), but I’ve been looking for books or stories of the introspective sort - science fiction that is not built upon the fantasy of what is not there but on the convoluted perception of the reality that is already there.


There are so many stories of time travel, alternate universes, stories of the dead, stories of the extraterrestrial, stories of superpowers and things of all sorts that are not believed to exist in ordinary realities. People seem to be so drawn to this - fantasy, they call it - science fiction fantasy because it seems to be to some extent scientifically possible, but nonetheless does not “exist” so to stay under ordinary circumstances, and so it exists only as “fiction”. But why? Why are they so drawn to these fictional descriptions that are built upon their concrete perception of reality and so in turn aren’t really alternate realities at all? Why it is that they become so fascinated by things that are no different than their already concrete perceptions of the universe, so different but superficially - their idea of an “extraterrestrial being”, beings, whatever of similar nature - but what they build hardly ever if at all exceeds their perception of what consists of their possible reality. Why have they not explored the infinite loop of their own “ordinary” reality from there built true psychological thrillers? (Their thrillers seem to be limited to ideas of serial killers of convoluted identity and murders, deaths, of some sort, but only superficially). 


Will someone please introduce me to any book, story, writing, fictional perception of any sort that is not just another superficial manipulation of superficial perception? I am really tired of ideas of “aliens” that are basically no different from humans and “time travel” that bares no allusion to the mystery of reality whatsoever. Where are the right places to search? Are people’s imaginations really this confined?

15.11.12

Computers & Aliens: The Abstract (as opposed to the concrete)

Continuing on the topic of placebo universe, i.e. why is the placebo necessary/why can’t you just believe without believing in something? Basically, it’s a concrete vs. abstract concept. Concrete (or supposedly concerte) concepts are a lot narrower than abstract concepts, which is also why abstract models become what I would call “higher level” on the hierarchy - because they encompass more by becoming looser.


What is a concept? How do you define any concept? When you give (or attempt to give) something a “definition” or “meaning”, it becomes more concrete, i.e. you seem to have a better “grasp” of what something is.. but really? Sometimes the opposite happens, and you realize how absurd it is to attempt to define anything at all, and you’re then left only with abstract uncertain unfalsifiable ideas. Ok sure, but then why do most human beings seem more accustomed to concrete concepts even though there’s no real “meaning” in that? Why is concrete preferable and more statistically apparent in thought patterns than abstract? Or what I mean is, why do the things that constantly swirl my mind hardly ever (if not never) stir any attention at all in the vast majority of other people in the universe? Is it because they’re not “real” people?!


I’d like to bring the topic to the human discussion of “mind”: What is mind? What is an intelligent being? What is having consciousness? In particular, computers and aliens: Can a computer have a mind/be consciously aware? Does intelligence exist outside of earth? These are all questions that human beings LOVE to ask, and seem to gain much pleasure from attempting to answer, but from my perspective, it’s absolutely absurd!!!!


Humans talk about minds and intelligence as if they had the slightest clue what “mind” and “intelligence” even are (just like they talking about what God is or isn’t). They invent definitions for what they think “are” mind/intelligence, which are clearly nothing more than “definitions” and then they have a battle of definitions and languages that touches on absolutely nothing beyond language and conclusions that have nothing to do with minds and intelligence at all. Actually that’s even the better type. Most people don’t even seem to think that far, that is, they don’t even attempt to concrete-ify the already abstractly existing ideas of mind/intelligence, but jump directly to the assumption that mind/intelligence is and can only be what we as humans “know” as mind/intelligence even though they clearly have no clue that they know nothing about what mind/intelligence is.


I’m really tired of people going after computers/robots and aliens having “human consciousness”. You “people” find it so difficult to form an abstraction of the concept of mind that you don’t even realize that you’re still caught up in the human bubble of experience that’s got nothing to do with what conscious awareness even means. Stop trying aliens out there that will comprehend in the exact same way that human beings do, because if they do, then they’re not even extraterrestrial intelligence anymore, they’re just human beings! And stop asking whether computers can be intelligent, whether they have the capacity to experience things the way humans do - if they could really do all of that then they’d be “human beings”, not “computers” and that’s got absolutely nothing to do with whether they’re consciously aware either!


Please, people - actually know what you’re talking about (i.e. know that you know absolutely nothing about anything at all) before you go of explaining things as if you had a clue what an explanation even is. Oh the trouble/joys of incomprehension of (human) comprehension.