- Post your questions and comments about Playground thru p.292. Please. (By or Before Monday if possible.)
- Are our people "insane with money"? 196
- Should everyone who can write their own name be allowed to vote? 200
- Comment? "Decisions are rarely made by reason but almost always by temperament." 200 (And see Pragmatism lec.1: "The history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments...")
- Have computers taken over our lives and turned us into different beings"? In a good or bad way, or both? 202
- Did you know you were going to marry your future spouse on first encounter? Was Todd's reaction to Rafi's declaration inappropriate? 203
- Do we have to choose between safety and freedom? 204
- Did (Do) artists make the gods? Is the universe guided by an agent that has our welfare at heart? How do you think non-believers should address such questions with their children? 206-7
- Is Rafi's attitude towards Makatea as an "outpost of sanity" to be protected "from the techno-utopians" condescending, as Ina suggests? 211
- Do you ever "let perfect be the enemy of good"? 212
- Do you have a "sanctum sanctorum"? What do you think of Todd's, Ina's, and Rafi's? 216ff.
- What did Todd love, before he loved computers? 221 How does that relate to his seascaaping venture?
- Why would Rafi always be a Cubs fan? 233 Can you relate?
- Again, why did Ina cry through The Tempest? 234, 4
- Is it right for academics not to take seriously their peers who publish in the popular press, and try to address a broader public? 237
- Does "becoming a reef" seem to you a better disposition of mortal remains than (say) cremation? 243 What about "natural burial" etc.?
- Have humans always wanted a way of playing like the one Todd is creating, "more ways to get together" etc.? 245, 249
- (I jumped the gun, bringing this up last time.) What do you think about "finite and infinite games"? 232, 246-8
- Was Huizenga right, that we can only "live in beauty" through play? 248
- Comment?: "In the future there would be no 'real' money." 251 Can you explain crypto-currency? Can you imagine the Star Trek universe (with its money-less Federation)?
- Should Rafi have gone to work for Todd? Should Todd have been insulted by Rafi's rejection ("Put your own mask on...")? 253
- Can you relate to Rafi's prolonged procrastination? 254-6
- Why should computer scientists "never dabble in philosophy"? 260 Should anyone just "dabble"?
- "What's more important, the journey or the destination?" 261
- What does the title of Rafi's thesis tell you about his life? Have you read Plath, Bishop, or Reed? 270
- Do any of us "just need a machine that could read and explain these stories to me and tell me everything they meant," or would that lead to the impoverishment of our capacity to think for ourselves? Is that how people are using, or will use, AI? 271
- What do you think of the Energy Czar's 9% productivity calculation, and more generally of those who settle the question of religious belief for themselves on the basis of such calculations? 283 (And see ch.12 of Nigel Warburton's Little History of Philosophy, on Pascal's Wager)
- COMMENT?: "Please remember that you have not seen the future." 285
- Is PROFUNDA the next generation of chatbot? Is it really "a new way of being in the world"? 287 (And is this an allusion to Heidegger, btw?) Is something like it coming to our world soon, or even already here?
- Are ten trillion parameters really "enough..."? 289
- Is "digested and analyzed" the same as understood? 290 (See Warburton's ch.39, "Can Computers Think?")
- Is PROFUNDA right about "deep intelligence" and "other creatures"? 291
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Questions MAR 31
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Non-conclusion
Thanks, all, for your participation in our small but (at least to me, and I hope to you) rewarding course. I can't think of a better wa...
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MALA (Master of Liberal Arts) 6050- Philosophy in Recent American Fiction (For more info: phil.oliver@mtsu.edu ... https://prafmtsu.blogspot...
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Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer is an excellent example of American existentialist fiction. Here are some additional works that explore existe...
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Here's a curated bibliography of critical responses to Richard Ford's Be Mine and Richard Powers's Playground, encompassing prin...
5. Why should computer scientists "never dabble in philosophy"? 260 Should anyone just "dabble"?
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Todd on this matter. While dabbling can be superficial, having any interest level in philosophy, and the humanities, is beneficial to a person. Todd is too focused on his technological innovations and does not take into account the effects it will have on others and the environment. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should and knowing when to stop is important. The way he is so adamant about keeping philosophy out of his work, unknowingly to him, is what contributed to the rift between him and Rafi.
Dabbling in philosophy is positive in my mind as it can help someone expand their knowledge and understanding of themselves and others. It can also lead to a deeper interest in that can grow into further study and appreciation for the area. Our class right now is a good example of dabbling into philosophy and I’m sure each of us will take away something different from this in relation to our individual academic interests.
I think Todd is being a bit ironic, in the context of his computer science prof's glib quoting of Aristotle. But then the Prof asks the right and clarifying questions, "What makes you happy?"
DeleteI actually think Todd's approach to his creation is "philosophical" in its quest to bring people together on a platform he hopes will foster greater mutual understanding and a sense of fun and play. But from our perspective, seeing what has come (so far) of people's engagement with social media, those hopes may appear naive.
Dabbling is generally better than nothing, I guess, but it should be a starting and not a finishing place. Dabblers are by definition superficial and under-informed.
7. What does the title of Rafi's thesis tell you about his life? Have you read Plath, Bishop, or Reed? 270
ReplyDeleteI see his thesis, “The Design of Darkness,” connecting to the events of his childhood and school years and how they shaped him as a person. I am not the biggest poetry reader, so I have only read Sylvia Plath. But her inclusion alone is a clue to his thesis discussing past abuse and depression, as she experienced that throughout her life and wrote into her poems. She was also a gifted student at a young age, just like Rafi. Besides those similarities, they share the same poetry genre through confessional style. Foe me, it makes sense why she was picked.
For the other poets, I’m assuming they are Elizabeth Bishop and Ishmael Reed, and I can see why he would choose them as well. Bishop’s themes connect with Rafi, and I see a lot of him in this passage from the Poetry Foundation, “Bishop was a perfectionist who did not write prolifically, preferring instead to spend long periods of time polishing her work.… Her verse is marked by precise descriptions of the physical world and an air of poetic serenity, but her underlying themes include the struggle to find a sense of belonging, and the human experiences of grief and longing.” I also see the connection between Rafi and Reed through Reed’s bio. The Poetry Foundation writes that “Reed is not simply a voice of black protest against racial and social injustices but instead a confronter of universal evils, a purveyor of universal truths” and “Reed’s early poems draw from Afro-American and Anglo-American historical and popular traditions—two distinct but intertwined sources for the Afro-American aesthetic.” With more time to delve into their works, I’m sure more connections can be made to examine their inclusion in Rafi’s thesis and what they can reveal about his life.
Links to each poet's bio:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sylvia-plath
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/elizabeth-bishop
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ishmael-reed
Indeed. Powers never drops a name without intending a connection to his story. Plath's sadness, Bishop's perfectionism, Reed's demand for justice all connect directly to Rafi.
Delete10. COMMENT?: "Please remember that you have not seen the future." 285
ReplyDeleteWen Lai’s full statement to the crowd is an important one to stop them from getting swept up in computer-generated, later learned AI-generated, advertisement. I particularly like that he calls it an “advertisement” because the company is trying to sell this potential reality to them to persuade them to agree. The video showcases what they need and want for their home. But nothing has been done yet to make it happen or guarantee it will happen this way. The company is hoping to play on their emotions to sway them to agree. Wen is asking all of them to still use their critical thinking skills instead of believing this video to be absolute fact. Something that should always be done whether it is created by humans or AI.
Sophisticated marketing and slick advertising have become a real challenge to sustaining the informed and critically-minded electorate a healthy democracy requires, haven't they? And after watching the first episode of Ken Burns's new Thoreau documentary, I'm reminded of HDT's scathing early indictment of the culture of commerce in America as potentially incompatible with democracy. It's a problem we've not really begun to solve. I wish everyone would learn, early on, to mute commercials. That's a start.
Delete2. Are our people "insane with money"?
ReplyDeleteThis question can clearly apply to real tech-elite, political-elite, music industry-elite, as well as any generalized elite group that dabbles in the system that is capitalism. Tying into the overall theme of environmental preservation and technology, I think the mindset of being "insane with money", will expire once a certain people in power are not in their respective authoritative positions; it's not natural if you think about it. The mythological aspect adds another interesting layer of "hyperstition", or the concept referring to "fictions" or ideas that become real through collective belief, hype, and technological investment, acting as a self-fulfilling prophecy. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
10. COMMENT?: "Please remember that you have not seen the future." 285
This is an interesting quote from the book. As biological creatures, humans can only conspire as to what we think might happen in the future. Our current actions can only predict what the future will be, and then some. Using the past as an example can also help humans determine what our future may be, if we act accordingly. There is also a level of arrogance that can play into how human see the future; pushing certain self-assured or self-righteous narratives/actions that can be harmful or irresponsible could have a negative impact on our future. This eventually creates an "us vs. them" culture.
The present leadership (if you want to call it that) of our country is clearly "insane with money" but our politics has been infected by it from the start. We had a chance to begin fixing that with the campaign finance reforms of the '70s, later struck down by the Supreme Court. What a mistake.
DeleteWe don't see the future, especially when viewed through the self-serving lens of a corporation that stands to profit from its own particular vision of a future it's invested it. But I agree with Wm James: "our really vital question: what is this world going to become, what is life going to make of itself?" We can't know the answer, but we should care. We should have a vision.
8. Do any of us "just need a machine that could read and explain these stories to me and tell me everything they meant," or would that lead to the impoverishment of our capacity to think for ourselves? Is that how people are using, or will use, AI? 271
ReplyDeleteI don’t think any of us needs that as much as we think we do. Our society’s growing reliance on AI is actively eroding critical thinking skills. Nobody wants to put in the intellectual labor of doing their own research and coming to their own conclusions. They’d rather have a machine do it for them. This is exactly how people are using AI. I’ve heard cases of high school and college students using ChatGPT to write their essays for them. I’m not against someone using a tool to help them with their work. I understand that writing, specifically, doesn’t come easily to everyone and can be stressful. But there’s a big difference between using a tool to help you with your work and letting the tool do the work for you. If we let AI continue to think for us, we’ll eventually lose the ability to think for ourselves.
I think you're right, many people--young people in particular, students--are using it that way. But there is another and smarter way to use it, understanding it be a mirror of the "wisdom of the crowd" but never deferring to it uncritically. My own conversations with Claude lately have spurred my own creative thought and even my sense of fun and play, because I push back against anything Claude says that isn't obviously true. "He" is a useful and sometimes helpful interlocutor, used thusly, when humans aren't available and interested in the topic I wish to explore. I don't "need" smart AI, yet, but I do think there's a way to benefit from it without a big downside. That's what we should be teaching the kids, not just turning them loose with AI sans instruction or guardrails.
Delete13. Is "digested and analyzed" the same as understood? 290 (See Warburton's ch.39, "Can Computers Think?")
ReplyDeleteThese are not the same thing. I agree with John Searle that computers can’t actually think and don’t have consciousness. They merely “follow the rules their makers have programmed into them.” AI works the same way. A human programmer creates an algorithm and feeds information to the AI. The programmer then prompts the AI to output results based on the information they (the programmer) gave to it and within the parameters of the algorithm they (the programmer) created. Information that comes from AI isn’t necessarily or always reliable, because it reflects the convictions and personal biases of whomever programmed it. If a neo-Nazi creates an AI and feeds it information exclusively from neo-Nazi websites, whatever information the AI puts out will skew toward that worldview. Similarly, if the Silicon Valley tech billionaires who created Profunda wanted to transform Makatea into a seascaping hub, they’d feed Profunda whatever information they thought would sway the islanders toward accepting their plan. This explains why Profunda showed the islanders pictures of shiny new buildings and highlighted how much profit the island would make but downplayed the negative impact the venture might have on the local environment.
What makes AI programs like Profunda dangerous is their capacity to deceive and give out biased information. To me, this is like eating something that has already passed through someone else’s digestive tract. Or, like being presented with food that looks appealing and smells alright, but you don’t know what it is, how it was made, or where the ingredients came from. Then, after the meal is over, you find out the delicious thing you just ate was human meat. (Weird analogy, but I hope y’all get my point.) I like to know where my food comes from and taste things for myself. Similarly, I like to find things out for myself instead of relying on AI to feed me the information.
The thing about Profunda, as opposed to Claude, is that it's a bit more eerily human-like (as in its recitation of animal rights and its discourse in response to the little girl's query about giving them a vote). I don't think it's conscious, but since I don't know what precisely catalyzed human consciousness I don't think I'm in a position to say that it never will be. And then we'll face some real ethical challenges.
DeleteAgain: don't "rely" on AI, but use it smartly as a tool... until IT transcends that status.
1. [My comment/question]: When the Makatean nurse Tiare Tuihani asks the AI assistant Profunda what the new medical clinic will look like (assuming the islanders vote in favor of the seasteading project and are able to have a new clinic built), the mayor Didier wants to “apologize to the machine and chide the nurse for embarrassing the island.” (p. 289) I found it interesting how Didier’s attitude toward Profunda changed in the span of only a few pages. He first refers to Profunda as a “creature” (p. 287) but later wants to apologize to it, as if it actually has the capacity to feel human emotions like embarrassment. Why might Didier have been embarrassed by the nurse’s question? What about Profunda might have led Didier to think of it as closer to human than machine?
ReplyDeleteI thought calling it a creature was already anthropomorphizing. Yes, he did a quick turnaround. In that regard I suppose Powers thinks him representative of a lot of us, who prematurely regard these smart machines as person-like.
Delete8. I think AI is a new form of technology that handicaps us whether we realize it or not. For example, people are so used to auto spelling when on their phone or computers that they struggle to spell words. The same is true for our memory. As a child I could remember every family member and friend's phone number and birthday without paper and pencil, just 100% memory. Now, I do not know my mom's phone number by heart because I never have to type it in. I think some people strategically use AI as an assistant while others use it to think for them. Therefore, many have become prompt creators rather than critical thinkers.
ReplyDeleteRight. It's so easy to be lured into laziness just because we can. But to reiterate, I still think it's possible to use AI smartly... and essential, at least, that we try. It's here, it's not going away. We need to master it.
Delete6. In my opinion, the journey is more important than the destination. We can use Ford's Be Mine for an example. Was Mt. Rushmore more important than spending time and creating one last round of memories with Paul? Of course not. If we are distracted by what will come tomorrow, we will miss what is happening today and miss out on vital lessons and relationships. I wish this was an interview question asked to me.
ReplyDeleteWho are we to numb someone's emotional expression at their most vulnerable state? Have you ever felt embarrassed for someone's reaction to art? Is this the right thing to do? (Page 234)
ReplyDelete"The nectar is in the journey," said John J. McDermott, and I agree... but of course a journey is not a journey without a destination too, so really it's all important. A Rushmore would only be disappointing to someone who'd entirely missed the pleasures of the journey getting there, I think, and the anticipation of arriving (which is itself a big part of the journey).
ReplyDelete