Read this interesting article about human learning abilities today. I continue to be amazed by the capabilities of human consciousness. Now, I know that this is not my field of expertise; but over the course of my readings I have become deeply amazed and interested in the studies about "consciousness". Consciousness is that illusory something which gives us the awareness that we exist. That same something probably is also the reason that we are aware of being aware. Gets a bit complicated soon, doesn't it? This article gives me hope not be deterred. Apparently a lot of scientist are trying to figure it out too!
The first time I came across different ideas about consciousness was when I read the books 'The Tao of Physics' and then 'The Web of Life', both by Fritjof Capra. To learn more, I read Roger Penrose's amazing book 'The Emperor's New Mind'. Now I want to read Ray Kurzweil's books 'The Age of Intelligent Machines' and 'The Age of Spiritual Machines'.
There are many pieces of this puzzle I guess, starting with "What is thinking?", leading to "what is the mind?" and ending with "what is consciousness?"; with a whole host of other things to figure out before a complete picture can emerge. I am most intrigued by the idea of consciousness being an "emergent property" of the body (not just the brain). The idea is that our sense organs, the nervous system and the brain form a network. An emergent property is something that emerges out of the multitude of small local interactions between the various nodes of the network. So consciousness is something that we feel when this whole network is working and exchanging signals back and forth. Surprisingly we are also aware that we are aware.
Taking this to the next level then, will consciousness emerge spontaneously if a certain level of complexity is established? Imagine the consequences. Cars have become incredibly complex these days and will keep getting even more complex. Someday there will be numerous sensors on the car feeding information to a central computer. The computer will be much more complex than the one on which I am working right now. (its already a Pentium 500MHz dinosaur!). There will be sensors to steer and drive the car, to detect problems before they arise in the engine and transmission, to operate the A/c system and a whole host of other things. Imagine if one day you take the car to the shop to get it installed with a new sensor and suddenly you realize that consciousness has emerged! At this point the car will be able to be consciously aware of its own existence!
You may want to be elated at first, now that the Age of Spiritual Machines has arrived. But imagine the problems this may cause. The car will have feelings and emotions. On a cold, wet day it may feel like not starting up at all when you will be in a hurry to get to work. It may be jealous of the shiny new Corvette parked beside it in the parking lot. It may be angry and grumpy if you miss an oil change or don't take it to the car wash. May be it will take itself to the car wash whenever it is in a mood for a shower. The newly conscious cars may rally against the destruction of the old "unconscious" cars and may declare them to be endangered species.
Somehow the idea that human beings could someday be able to create "conscious" machines seems a bit frightening to me. My fear is not about some "Matrix" like scenario where the machines take over. We aren't doing half a good job of taking care of all the sentient beings that exist naturally right now! Imagine a day when we add to that, sentient being created by "us".
We have come a long way from hunting the saber toothed tiger with clubs and rocks, largely due to our wisdom. However, I don't think that our capacity to use our wisdom wisely has evolved all that much. We still use our brains to do as many stupid things as good. So it would be good if some things are left for nature to do on its own.
Technorati Tags: Consciousness, Mind, Intelligent machines
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Blog Finds
Recently NYTimes stopped free access to a lot of good things on their website. If you want to read the columns online you need to subscribe to TimesSelect. Since this stopped my access to the daily dose of opinion on their website... I was forced to look at other places. There is an opinion that too much "opinion" stanchs free thinking. I don't really agree with that. Isn't pretty much everything we read somebody else's opinion? So I set out to find other places where I could have a healthy and nutritious "schmeal".
I hadn't warmed up to the idea of regularly following blogs till now. The blog search engines were not (and in my opinion still aren't) as good as they should be in my opinion. But I decided to give blogs a try anyway. So I went around searching for some good reads. I have to say that the so called "blogosphere" is really a tangled mess, a jungle if you will. The probability of finding good blogs (or blogs you may like) is equal or less than that of finding really crappy ones. Inspite of this I came across some really cool finds. Here's a sprinkling...
GreenThinkers I think is a cool blog... a bunch of people posting things about green technologies i.e anything that would help you lead a more sustainable lifestyle (from composting toilets to hybrid cars). Some posts are really interesting... e.g the one today about the problem of "pee bombs" on US highways. Fun stuff and educational too.
I was trying to find blogs about India or blogs by other desis (an Indian term for another Indian here in the US) like me. I first came across India Uncut by Amit Varma... which I thought was good. On Amit's blog I found this link to Arzan's blog. Arzan, it turns out, has figured out a solution to those nasty "smashits" and "bollywoodnow" popups which neither IE nor Firefox can block on their own. Thanks Arzan! You need to use an extension called Adblock (which works really well) inspite of having an inbuilt popup blocker in Firefox. You can read Arzan's post on how to do it. Thanks to Amit Varma... I found some more cool blogs like this one by Megha and few more like Sepia Mutiny and The Acorn, which I would like to keep track of henceforth.
Atanu Dey's blog on Deeshaa is great. I really liked his posts. Do check out a couple of his posts on Tom Friedman's book "The World is Flat" (about outsourcing etc.). I also liked Atanu's essay on India's education system. It makes a lot of sense. I guess it applealed so much because I am a product of that system. The biggest catch of the day was this story by Jean Giorno posted on Atanu's blog... awesome!
I realized that I might have just touched the tip of the iceberg. I can't imagine how many more good blogs may be out there. I think I might have finally found an inexhaustible source of "hot air" for my daily consumption and its FREE! Take that! NYT... even if I can afford to cough up 50 bucks a year... I don't think I will ever subscribe to TimeSelect.
Technorati Tags: Indian blogs
Monday, September 26, 2005
Punctuation mark
The occurrence of a tragic event, in my own life or with someone I know... a close friend or a relative, is like a punctuation mark or more like a stop sign on a road in the middle of nowhere. Once in a while events occur which shake you thoroughly and make you stop and think about the validity of everything...the way to lead your life, your thoughts, beliefs, values... everything!!!
There are many facets to my reaction to such events... beginning with disbelief. It's as if the mind is not ready to accept the fact that such a thing could happen. Every once in a while there are these bolts of disbelief going through the mind saying, "No! This has not happened!" or asking, "Has this really happened...or is this just a bad dream or something?" Even days or weeks after the event I sometimes find myself facing this disbelief. It's as if a part of my mind forgot to walk into the future after such an event.
The worst feeling about such episodes is when there is very little that I can do physically to help. It is sometimes a cause of great frustration to me. Anger, I feel at such times, is futile; although perfectly justified in most cases. All that I can possibly do is hope for the best, pray and send my compassion and good wishes to the person.
Such experiences have always made me think about my own "lifestyle". I strongly believe in the wisdom that everything is connected as Chief Seattle said:
I found myself thinking like this yesterday when I heard that a horrible tragedy had befallen a friend. Once again I realized that there are many ways in which I may be contributing to the problems, which caused great harm to my friend... directly or indirectly as a member of the society. I feel it's my duty to start making my contribution to the solution. I have been reading a lot about Buddhism lately. I feel that Thich Nhat Hanh's 5 mindfulness trainings really capture the essence of this thinking. Each mindfulness training is a reminder: "Don't be a part of the problem... be a part of the solution."
I personally have found that meditating on this thought and trying to be a part of the solution gives me the much needed "outlet" from the whirlpool of emotions that such events stir up in my mind. It cures the frustration a bit and lessens the intensity of the bolts of disbelief. While sincerely hoping and praying for the well being of my friend, I find myself praying also for the strength and wisdom to stop being a part of the problem... and look deeply at the problem... and look deeply at my own life and change the things which I feel could contribute to the problem.
Sending all my good wishes and prayers to my friend today...
There are many facets to my reaction to such events... beginning with disbelief. It's as if the mind is not ready to accept the fact that such a thing could happen. Every once in a while there are these bolts of disbelief going through the mind saying, "No! This has not happened!" or asking, "Has this really happened...or is this just a bad dream or something?" Even days or weeks after the event I sometimes find myself facing this disbelief. It's as if a part of my mind forgot to walk into the future after such an event.
The worst feeling about such episodes is when there is very little that I can do physically to help. It is sometimes a cause of great frustration to me. Anger, I feel at such times, is futile; although perfectly justified in most cases. All that I can possibly do is hope for the best, pray and send my compassion and good wishes to the person.
Such experiences have always made me think about my own "lifestyle". I strongly believe in the wisdom that everything is connected as Chief Seattle said:
This we know...everything is connected, like the blood that unites a family. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons and daughters or earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web... he does to himself.I feel that solving problems that the whole society faces requires every member to think how he or she is contributing to the problem. We are very quick to blame individuals as the cause of trouble. If not we tend to point the finger towards a group. Hardly ever do we look at ourselves and ask "could it be that something I am doing... or not doing... is contributing to this problem?". I feel it is very important for me to ask this question to myself repeatedly. When I look deeply I find that for every problem that I think of as being "out there"... there are connections leading back to me, my lifestyle or my thinking.
I found myself thinking like this yesterday when I heard that a horrible tragedy had befallen a friend. Once again I realized that there are many ways in which I may be contributing to the problems, which caused great harm to my friend... directly or indirectly as a member of the society. I feel it's my duty to start making my contribution to the solution. I have been reading a lot about Buddhism lately. I feel that Thich Nhat Hanh's 5 mindfulness trainings really capture the essence of this thinking. Each mindfulness training is a reminder: "Don't be a part of the problem... be a part of the solution."
I personally have found that meditating on this thought and trying to be a part of the solution gives me the much needed "outlet" from the whirlpool of emotions that such events stir up in my mind. It cures the frustration a bit and lessens the intensity of the bolts of disbelief. While sincerely hoping and praying for the well being of my friend, I find myself praying also for the strength and wisdom to stop being a part of the problem... and look deeply at the problem... and look deeply at my own life and change the things which I feel could contribute to the problem.
Sending all my good wishes and prayers to my friend today...
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Dunking doughnuts and weighing souls
Few days ago I finished reading an amazing book: "Weighing the Soul - Scientific Discovery from the Brilliant to the bizarre". The author of the book is Len Fisher; the honorary research fellow at University of Bristol and more interestingly the winner of the Ig Nobel prize for his research into the science behind dunking biscuits and doughnuts. His first book "How to dunk a doughnut: The science of everyday life" is next on my reading list.
"Weighing the soul..." is captivating. It talks about the debates and fights that led to the evolution of some of the most important scientific ideas in today's world. Len Fisher takes the reader behind the curtains of some of the best dramas on the stage of science in the 20th century. He describes the bizarre experiments attemting to weigh the souls (of humans, dogs and rats!) and attempts to convert ordinary materials into gold. We hear about the travails of Galileo and how they may have helped bring forth some great science which finds widespread relevance today. We learn the interesting details in the efforts to understand the nature of light and electricity. Len Fisher gives the account of "battles" between two ideas proposed by scientific minds...E.g. Isaac Newton and Thomas Young about the nature of light or between Galvani and Volta about the nature of electricity... or even more interesting between the pointed lightening rods proposed by Ben Franklin and the blunt tipped ones proposed byBenjamin Wilson.
In the chapter on the nature of life, Fisher portrays the attempts to understand what life means and the clash between the mechanists (who sought to explain all life phenomena by the means of known physical laws) and the vitalists (who proposed the necessity of a "vital force" being imbued in living organisms). It is interesting to find that although the mechanists won the day... the contributions to the science made by both sides are equally valuable. Fisher brings out this point very cogently. The "battle of ideas" described by him form a backdrop to the emergence of the winning idea with each side making significant contributions to the final appearance of the winner.
Seeing this "behind the scenes" footage I realized that science is afterall a human enterprise... and it comes with all the usual baggage... ego clashes, personal attacks and pitched battles for dominance. I also thought about the ridiculous "debate" going on in US these days over Darwinian evolution. The ideas that are being proposed as alternative "theories" to Darwin's evolution have been proposed before and they have lost. The vitalist proposing the necessity of a "vital force" were definitely influenced by their religious beliefs. They lost the battle of ideas not because they were not good scientists... they lost the battle of ideas because they could not provide any testable, measurable evidence of their idea... experimental evidence which forms the bedrock of science. They lost because the opposing idea could be tested, could be observed and could explain all the phenomena in question.
I guess today there is so much anxiety and fear about the idea of evolution because it seems like it is out there to remove the role of God from human life. Scientists are not out there to destroy God... but so far science has not felt the need to invoke God into the picture. Scientists are not atheists bent on destroying religion... but science has been successful to an amazing degree in explaining almost all of the things around us without invoking a God or a creator or a designer. Scientists take this success as an indicator that nature is "knowable".... that we can understand phenomena in nature by means of "laws" and "principles" and "theories" which can be tested. Some think that this "knowability" of nature is an article of faith among the scientists. But I feel there is huge degree of success to back it up.
However I cannot bring myself to disagree with one point that Fisher makes in the chapter "What is life?". In the concluding paragraph discussing about the issue of what we know about the nature of life (p163) he says...
"Weighing the soul - Scientific Discovery from the Brilliant to the Bizarre", Len Fisher. Arcade Publishing, New York. 1st U.S Edition. 2004. (ISBN 1-55970-732-1)
Technorati Tags:Len Fisher, Ig Nobel Prize
"Weighing the soul..." is captivating. It talks about the debates and fights that led to the evolution of some of the most important scientific ideas in today's world. Len Fisher takes the reader behind the curtains of some of the best dramas on the stage of science in the 20th century. He describes the bizarre experiments attemting to weigh the souls (of humans, dogs and rats!) and attempts to convert ordinary materials into gold. We hear about the travails of Galileo and how they may have helped bring forth some great science which finds widespread relevance today. We learn the interesting details in the efforts to understand the nature of light and electricity. Len Fisher gives the account of "battles" between two ideas proposed by scientific minds...E.g. Isaac Newton and Thomas Young about the nature of light or between Galvani and Volta about the nature of electricity... or even more interesting between the pointed lightening rods proposed by Ben Franklin and the blunt tipped ones proposed byBenjamin Wilson.
In the chapter on the nature of life, Fisher portrays the attempts to understand what life means and the clash between the mechanists (who sought to explain all life phenomena by the means of known physical laws) and the vitalists (who proposed the necessity of a "vital force" being imbued in living organisms). It is interesting to find that although the mechanists won the day... the contributions to the science made by both sides are equally valuable. Fisher brings out this point very cogently. The "battle of ideas" described by him form a backdrop to the emergence of the winning idea with each side making significant contributions to the final appearance of the winner.
Seeing this "behind the scenes" footage I realized that science is afterall a human enterprise... and it comes with all the usual baggage... ego clashes, personal attacks and pitched battles for dominance. I also thought about the ridiculous "debate" going on in US these days over Darwinian evolution. The ideas that are being proposed as alternative "theories" to Darwin's evolution have been proposed before and they have lost. The vitalist proposing the necessity of a "vital force" were definitely influenced by their religious beliefs. They lost the battle of ideas not because they were not good scientists... they lost the battle of ideas because they could not provide any testable, measurable evidence of their idea... experimental evidence which forms the bedrock of science. They lost because the opposing idea could be tested, could be observed and could explain all the phenomena in question.
I guess today there is so much anxiety and fear about the idea of evolution because it seems like it is out there to remove the role of God from human life. Scientists are not out there to destroy God... but so far science has not felt the need to invoke God into the picture. Scientists are not atheists bent on destroying religion... but science has been successful to an amazing degree in explaining almost all of the things around us without invoking a God or a creator or a designer. Scientists take this success as an indicator that nature is "knowable".... that we can understand phenomena in nature by means of "laws" and "principles" and "theories" which can be tested. Some think that this "knowability" of nature is an article of faith among the scientists. But I feel there is huge degree of success to back it up.
However I cannot bring myself to disagree with one point that Fisher makes in the chapter "What is life?". In the concluding paragraph discussing about the issue of what we know about the nature of life (p163) he says...
No amount of extra scientific information is likely to resolve this issue. The argument is not scientific alone, although some scientists argue there is no point in believing something that cannot be confirmed or refuted by scientific tests. To my mind, this is committing the same fallacy as Driesch did when he could only imagine one way that an intracellular machine might function and decided this was therefore the only way it could function. The fallacy in the first case leads to a hubristic materialism and in the latter case to an equally hubristic philosophy of vitalism. The balance point of view is surely to say that any belief (such as a mechanistic view of life) that can be tested against reality should be, but that does not mean that beliefs that cannot be tested are not true.It is clear that the difference between science and "not science" IS the difference between beliefs that can be tested and those that cannot be tested. But Fisher issues a note of caution to believers on both sides. I think this kind of balanced stance in necessary if we want to avoid the battle between science and faith that seems ever so close.
"Weighing the soul - Scientific Discovery from the Brilliant to the Bizarre", Len Fisher. Arcade Publishing, New York. 1st U.S Edition. 2004. (ISBN 1-55970-732-1)
Technorati Tags:Len Fisher, Ig Nobel Prize
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Here and There
There are so many things that I feel I am interested in... or want to do. Increasingly I am having a feeling that I simply dabble in many things and give them up after a short while. Not that I lost interest in most of the things... over time I find myself dabbling in those same things over and over... but without any definite structure or organization to it. So I decided not to take up anything new unless I can make a project out of it. Further... not to take more that 3 projects at a time (and this is regarding things that I do apart from work... ;-))
So here are some projects I have defined for myself:
Wish me well!
So here are some projects I have defined for myself:
- Binocular messier club: To build my interest in amatuer astronomy I bought a pair of 11x56mm binoculars last December. Have being using them pretty frequently now. So now the project is to observe all the Messier objects in the Astronomy League's binocular Messier Club program. That will give some structure to my observations. It will also need a fair bit of planning and regularity in my part... which is good... I guess :-) plus I will get a binocular messier club certificate too!
- The tree thing: (for lack of a better name)... a few weeks ago I picked up a field guide to north American trees at the local B&N. (No! its not the leather bound Audubon Society one... its a simple laminated pamplet kind). So the project for me is to go on short hikes around State College and get familiar with the trees. I know so few of them around here... I feel bad sometimes. When I was in India, Sampada and I had to run into a bookstore when the heavens started pouring suddenly. There I saw a really nice field guide to trees and shrubs in the Western Ghats. I wanted to buy it but it was a bit expensive and I was not gonna roam in the Sahyadris any soon in the forseeable future (if there is such a thing!). So I decided not to buy it then... but that is going to be on my project list one day! Oh! and I want to not my observations in a notebook or a sketch book.
- The website thing: I have tried once in a while to put up a small website but haven't gone anywhere with that. I was talking with my friend Manish with that yesterday. Only recently I figured out how to put devanagari text on the web using unicode compatible fonts. See the main reason why I wanted to put up my website was I wanted to have many of the Marathi and a few Hindi poems that I like to be online.... which leads me to a new project
- The poems thing: Over a while I have managed to collect a lot of my favourite Marathi, Hindi and English poems. But they are in different formats and some are just prints. So I want to put them up on the web in an orderly way. So the project is to put all the Marathi and Hindi poems in a nice format and then put them up on my website.
Wish me well!
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