“One of the surprising discoveries of modern psychology is how easy it is to be ignorant of your own ignorance.” I call this having low reflexivity.
Daniel Dennett passed on yesterday, April 20th, 2024, which, in the universe’s irony, was also the same day that Charles Darwin also passed on in 1882. Dennet was a brilliant philosopher, and I loved his “intuition pumps” to help you think more clearly about certain issues. I also like that as a philosopher he respected science and engineering.
Dennett, in his book Darwin’s Dangerous Idea explains that natural selection unified the world of mechanism/material/physical and the world of meaning/purpose/goals which, until Darwin, seemed to be unbridgeable. He believed that Darwin’s idea was perhaps the greatest idea ever, and at this point in history I think he’s right.
In his last recorded video (need link) someone asked him about linguistics, and he recommended that folks read Daniel Dor’s book The Instruction of Imagination.
With regards to recent debates about concerns regarding artificial intelligence he also mentioned that AI (LLMs) conjuring convincing human simulacra can indeed put at risk essential social infrastructure such as contracts, obligations and consequences. This could lead to our decision-making to be manipulated or subverted. Highlinghting that the emergence of “extremely manipulative” autonomous agents is extremely more ominous than potential rogue AGI. The warning is that this will happen without any intention at all, a natural selection of software. But that hopefully the scientific method with a flavour of humanist freethinking will save us?
The sense that our “self” is a unified, coherent entity is merely a marvellous, evolved illusion. Humanity’s emergence from unthinking matter is marvellous, but not miraculous. Nothing “mere” about calculation or algorithmic processes: it was only ever a question of scale and complexity. Dennett expanded on Gilbert Ryle’s ghost in the machine criticism to further show that there is no need for a homunculus at the center of conciousness. Conciousness needs to be explained in terms of neurons and the processes they create. That gradualism solves the mind-body problem.
Deep emotional attachment is what life is all about, and nurturing, protecting, and ensuring it flourishes is what brings us happiness. Happiness is the closest thing we have to a summum bonum, the highest good from which all other goods flow. The secret of happiness: Find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it.