Approaching Singularity

Note that neither Vinge nor Zelazny quite described the event itself; however, most of the components are now visible.  The singularity itself is indexing of knowledge (both faith- and experience-based), as well as the various hypotheses surrounding meaning, value and the like.

Science is a kind of faith; it can easily be described as a religion.  There are certain prescribed routes one must follow to be a scientist—otherwise one will be relegated mercilessly to the world of the Amateur Scientist.  Generally these are ranked in with the Wikipedia Believers.  An internet event has some possible connection to external reality (I’m using an absolute word to describe an entirely relative phenomenon, excuse me, it’s for brevity) if and only if it is reported by  several sources which are unrelated to each other (which pretty well rules out newspapers; at least in the 90s almost all newspapers were owned by the Chicago Tribune), preferably with foreign and domestic sources, if it is reported in relatively good English–if there is any video NEVER install a video player to see it, BTW–and if it more or less fits in with the fabric of events.  Unfortunately, yellow journalism actually tends to be first source for the consumers; the question is once again what is ‘real’ and what is not.  Science requires its practitioners to perform various rituals on the way to becoming recognized scientists.  Preferably they provide their teachers with at least one good idea they can use.  Unless they are dutiful and follow and established way of thought, they generally become ostracized to the World of the Amateur Scientist.  If they’re fortunate enough not to do so, by following the rules, they immediately forget how to do anything like chop wood much less cut firewood or dig a ditch, if they ever knew it.  However, they are much more aware of the real world than the working man; it’s in fact self-evident.  This very occasionally causes a problem with those who are obviously fit for the Way but can’t manage for some reason to fit in, and the only solution is of course, The Way of The Amateur Scientist, hereafter referred to as WAS.  [If there is a hereafter.  The problem described is real, though.  Experimentation isn’t verification in an empirical schema.  Hypothesis, theory, endit.  Sorry, folks.  When you can’t prove causation all is irretrievably lost.

So the ‘facts’ identified through the Singularity can’t solely come from the scientists, who are safe in their cubbyholes protecting the Stability of the Society, as do the courts, law enforcement, and armed forces.  The Singularity occurs (rather, begins) when indexing of information and direct interfacing with computers meet, which means among other things mobile virtual space and storage, not connected to the Internet.  You simply don’t lay yourself open to viruses.  Although some will.  There are indications that this will occur when actual Artificial Intelligence occurs in identifiable form.

We are approaching Singularity, I believe.

About Chiropractors

I commented on a post about them some time ago.  My word, how little people know about some things they talk about.  Mind you, that’s the essence of salesmanship and the backbone of religion–faith that is not only unknowing but which rejects knowledge.  In the process religions are corrupted and products are tainted.

The Council of Nicea

I certainly do get on some odd reading streaks (the brief ones).  It was in passing, while thinking about methods of belief, especially with respect to science in particular being a method and system of belief.  The most peculiar thing about it perhaps is how stringently it tends to deny it.

 

I think I need to play games or something.

–Glenn

8]

I Hear Reality Is Just a Step Away

 

08/23/08

This is the first entry on the “new” computer. That is, with the fan cannibalized off Rose’s old computer, and with the brand new 320-gig interior hard drive. I can’t hear the bloody computer any more. I hadn’t actually realized I could, I guess. So a lot of the over-heating was most likely simply due to a hard drive that shouldn’t have been working at all. Diablo II operated smoothly. I think both hard drives were used, although the larger one was narrowly. Whatever. I’ll be setting up some drive syncs. The oddest thing is being able to do something on the system now even while the CPU is using most or all of its capacity. I’m planning on saving all writing to a central “My Documents” folder and then mirroring it. I also will be cleaning off an exterior hard drive from the looks of things since I couldn’t get Norton Save & Restore to initiate. I really don’t think it’s a virus, either. I hope not. I’m getting tired of this crap. I keep running checks and I keep protection up. I still haven’t quite recovered from Rose telling me she doesn’t trust me because I’m too much of a good trip. I guess I’ll get over it or I won’t, as I told her.

21:29 More appropriate I suppose. Hadn’t thought about the fact that a program has the capability now to insert times. So I may as well do it on the diary-like entries I make. AbiWord because Open Office seems to be much like Microsoft Office in that it’s untrainable in some respects; an opening letter of a “sentence” must be capitalized. That meaning might lie in other directions is simply unsupportable, sort of like some New Age girdle I suppose: can’t be leather because it would be victimizing the beasts but can’t be plastic because it would be victimizing the beasts. …Maybe it should be human skin. But then of course there would be animal-rights activists wondering why we’re having all the fun.

21:37 I think that the first point of focus is going to have to be the representative system. After all, I have finally logically proven that no representative system can actually be true. It has to be infinity plus one, so to speak: so it’s not only the problem of the inter-relationships of the components of the representative system (and the establishment of sets within the system, which is actually what the modal system and Dooyeveert are on about), the problem of modeling permutations within the represented system–because you cannot be assured that each and every instance is identical, each must be represented, unless aspects of relevancy are identified and then defined. Definition essentially means assigning social identity stability. Relevancy is task-oriented, case-oriented, whatever. Either that or you’re daring to assume that your representative system, which was thrown together in a limited amount of time and for timely reasons…is absolutely true, for all time and under all situations. This is where Dooyeveert fell.

 

21:51 One thing you do know is that any judgement, and particularly any valuation or valorization, is relative and the product of a work of artifice. Language is by nature artificial. Our only hope toward a first step of reasoning clearly would be the production of an artificial language. One of the problems confronting even the mention thereof is quite similar to the realization in the late 1970’s that indeed one soldier could be given the power to wipe out an entire city. Trust is perhaps even more a product of artifice than is any monetary value. The real problem is going to come when need intersects with its description. Need alone has little power. Description, even masterful description, when it is not driven and kept if not secret then certainly not advertised–that has no power at all. Every time, though, that the two have met, whole worlds of perceived structure have fallen.

 

22:10 At about 14 I actually did become convinced that there was a sort of loop involved in the information available to me. truth/reality/perception/description and pick any part of it, proceed in any direction on it, and you came back to where you started. Eventually. No matter the grand words of it. I did try to have faith, which I perhaps foolishly defined as a belief in some sort of God directing things. I mean presumably in real time. Like, that would be what the deacon’s meetings were about. To this day, I haven’t the faintest idea. The ministers or for the Catholics the priests, the holy men, all interpreted reality so that… Easiest answer was, maintain the power structure. There would be a few exceptions.

 

If you have someone who is exceptionally intelligent, you have to hope she or he is also exceptionally moral. At this point, I would be interested in using this. As in, I did my part.

22:23 Yeah. Besides, it would be fun. And it would be the part indicated if the character survived this long, for that matter. Loki. Good at that.

 

Anyway, that reality/truth thing is tricky. That intent should be indicative of veracity is asinine. If that were true every man would be a (successful) politician. Reality is the presumptive, that is, in the justinian model, while truth is a matter of intent. That nearly got us into nuclear war, by the way.

 

The first step in approaching reality is the realization that no system of representation we have is necessarily particularly close to what is occurring. One good example of this is the recurring question about why we’re not getting radio signals, and how much energy we’re throwing out. They’re using something that’s a lot more efficient, probably FTL, and we’re at best the guys with the big speakers on the corner of the block, nice guys, but too loud and keep the beer inside.

 

 

What I actually mean here is that our assumptions of linear causation aren’t possible. Few occurrences have one cause. Fewer occur by themselves. We assume time is one way because of our representative system. We state things are proven when by our own definitions a hypothesis has graduated to a theory, that is all, and all that can happen. There are innumerable assumptions within every statement we make, and few of us even guess at what they might be. Reality is something that we guess toward; that those oriented toward corners tell us the solution is math I find somehow ironic. And they are, note this, quite carefully telling the truth. Most of the time, anyway. Bear in mind that any given discipline does tend to define relevance pretty, well, sort of, well…automatically. Using the principle of exclusion, as anyone who’s dealt with a government agency can testify. Bear in mind that if language is what you use to define reality then what you can’t say isn’t real.

 

…Yet faith is a primary component in any society, and actually quite often cited in government appeals, presumably not to be overthrown (or they’ll sick the police, army, and navy on us). Might bomb us too. Oops. “Sic.” Sic. …Sick.

–Glenn