Well, when metaphors break, I say just toss ’em. It’s not exactly like the distinction between hardware and software; your new metaphor makes a little bit more sense in terms of what we’re discussing now, but in the end, the brain is only completely like the brain.
We could think of it this way: the brain is like a computer with an awful user interface, which forces us to constantly run a whole lot of programs which we don’t necessarily want and can’t actually read or control. It also has a little bit of processing power left for us to install other applications. The only thing we actually like about our computer is the applications we chose to put in, even though not having the computer at all would mean we had no way to run them.
I was not being 100% serious when I said I was smarter than my brain; it was sort of intended to illustrate the weird tension I have: all that I am is contained in my brain, but not all of my brain is who I am.
So as far as we know, the hacked together mess that is the human brain is actually what general intelligence requires.
This hacked-together brain results in some general intelligence; it’s highly unlikely that it’s optimized for general intelligence, that we can’t, even in theory, imagine a better substrate for it. In short, “corrupted hardware” means “my physical brain is not optimized for the things my conscious mind values.”
Well, when metaphors break, I say just toss ’em. It’s not exactly like the distinction between hardware and software; your new metaphor makes a little bit more sense in terms of what we’re discussing now, but in the end, the brain is only completely like the brain.
We could think of it this way: the brain is like a computer with an awful user interface, which forces us to constantly run a whole lot of programs which we don’t necessarily want and can’t actually read or control. It also has a little bit of processing power left for us to install other applications. The only thing we actually like about our computer is the applications we chose to put in, even though not having the computer at all would mean we had no way to run them.
I was not being 100% serious when I said I was smarter than my brain; it was sort of intended to illustrate the weird tension I have: all that I am is contained in my brain, but not all of my brain is who I am.
This hacked-together brain results in some general intelligence; it’s highly unlikely that it’s optimized for general intelligence, that we can’t, even in theory, imagine a better substrate for it. In short, “corrupted hardware” means “my physical brain is not optimized for the things my conscious mind values.”
Point taken, and you’re probably right about the optimization thing. Thanks for taking the time to explain.
You’re welcome! :) Thank you for forcing me to think more precisely about this.