Of AI and Ants.

http://utility.prod.bigthink.com/videos/eo-wilson-on-the-meaning-of-human-existence


Just for the record; Yes, I own a copy of ANTS. Now that's out of the way.

The 5 disciplines that Dr. E.O. Wilson mentions in this brief talk (watch this 6 min. video) about the meaning of meaning (which was a preamble to discussing his book on the meaning of human existence) are as follows:

Evolutionary Biology
Paleontology
Archaeology
Artificial Intelligence
and
Robotics

Having followed Dr. Wilson's work since the publication of ANTS in 1990, I'm fascinated by this current list of five disciplines. He, like me, reveres Darwin. He, like me, marvels at Biodiversity.
He, like me, has studied the various Creation Myths around the world. He, like me, says that religion has no place in man's search for meaning, as they are all in competition with one another. He, like me, is stimulated by physics and molecular biology, but know they are rhetorical approaches to the deeper understanding of what makes us human and why we are here. He, like me in my classroom with discussions of Frankenstein, and what does it mean to be human, sees the importance and awe of human studying the mind and whole brain emulation.

I haven't read his latest book, yet,  and therefore don't know how his thoughts progress. But I like the way he's framed the definition of "meaning". And I especially like the bit he says very near the end:

 "And let me just add to that why leaving out history of the whole human species, genetic as well as cultural, you have no chance whatsoever in defining the meaning of human existence because history, that goes back essentially to the origin of literacy, history makes no sense without prehistory. That is to say the biological evolution that's led up to the human condition at the beginning of history. And prehistory in turn, is a study of our ancestors going right back into the animal kingdom, makes no sense without biology."

He builds from prehistory to the origin of literacy to our biological evolution. Marvelous. How did our being able to repeat stories, account for history and the invention of  agricultural (no longer nomadic animals) contribute to what it means to be human. Once we truly settled into cities and cultures; we kept evolving with our cultures and inventions. We've labeled each Era of our development and given the discoveries and mutations names of movements or phases. With each new evolution, human and technological, there have been moral and ethical advancements and missteps. Some catastrophic (genocides, nuclear bombs) and others wonderful (psychology and computers). 

Most people don't like to think of ourselves as human animals. I've always been odd in feeling most comfortable with that definition. It rings true with what Wilson describes as "our ancestors going right back to the animal kingdom." 

What also fascinates me is this. Today I took a field trip to the MFA with my World Studies students. None of them, Juniors in a High School from Central Massachusetts, had ever been to the museum in Boston before. They were in awe of the ancient objects of art, modern landscape installations, the bust of Dante and Virgil made three hundred years ago and three hundred years after the Inferno was written,   and the skull drum from Tibet used by Buddhist monks. They looked at jewelry, furniture, clothes and masks from around the world and over millenniums, and commented on how much we've changed in size and habits from our ancestors. 

These same kids, as we first started reading Frankenstein, were asked if the creature was human. Many of them said, "no." Their arguments were that it was "not born of woman" and "it was artificially brought to life." As the story progressed and the creature learned to read and philosophize, they had a harder time saying it wasn't human. When it gets to the critical section where it's feeling abandoned and gone on killing spree due to it's ostracization, the student's felt compassion and empathy, not hate and fear. By the end of the novel, and before they had to write a sequel chapter, they deemed the creature human. He learned, communicated, felt deep emotions, and wanted love. 
Many circles call Shelley's signature work the first science fiction novel; we study it as a masterpiece of Romanticism.  

Last year, at the start of the World Cup, the games began with a paraplegic kicking the first ball. He had an exoskeleton robotic armature that allowed him to walk, kick and wave on a world stage. 
When I lived in SF, I was close enough to the AI community, that I knew the idea of getting brain or neuro-jacked, was just a matter of time. The romantic notion of defeating death with electricity was a pre-cursor to defibrillation. The idea of tapping our nervous system to reanimate limbs is now a reality. 

When I discuss the study of Bio-Ethics with my students we still hit evolutionary and religious walls. Is suicide a sin if you know you're dying of cancer? I say not. Most of my students say so. This brings us down to some of the essential questions of what it means to be human in the classroom and for them as soon-to-be voters and future parents/children who will have to make life and death decisions on technologies and medical procedures I can't even imagine as I write this. 

Yet I write this as a Happy Mutant, or as my dentists over the course of my adult life time have said, one of the next evolution. You see, I have no wisdom teeth and never will. Isn't that ironic!

So this is a long way round to saying, I plan on reading E. O. Wilson's latest book. And maybe it will help me with how I frame the memoir the excavation of my own history and bring meaning to my personal evolution that might be of use to pass along to others...

Good night, sweet Ant and AI lovers, G'night!