Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mathgenius 2377 days ago
In the 1850's it was widely believed that the invention of the telegraph would bring about world peace.

The problem is language itself. We trust it way too much to convey meaning, and truth. But it's just a delusion, or a mirage, in much the same way that the search for artificial intelligence is. In fact, I would say that language itself is the first AI invented.

3 comments

Some of the ancient Greeks were aware of the limitations and drawbacks of language. Rumor is some of the Spartans took it so far as to refuse to read or write, and even speak as spartan (heh) as possible.
Not only some Spartans. Socrates did not write anything down (Plato did that for him), thinking that writing was a poor way at finding out about the world e.g.

https://newlearningonline.com/literacies/chapter-1/socrates-...

Is it your "thinking" Plato's ? Or Socartes? It's probably is better to QUESTION rather than form your own INTERPRETATION. At least a dialog is formed. Maybe the acients were more informed then we are.
> Rumor is some of the Spartans took it so far as to refuse to read or write, and even speak as spartan (heh) as possible.

Do you have any source or pointer to learn more about this ?

Lookup “laconic”.
Interestingly some people see novels and plays as vital tools for creating better decision makers. By entering into another persons imagination we can experience events and lessons that we would never have access to in real life or by observing real events in our communities. So - yes, Artificial Intelligence on the page.
The problem is that language is polymorphic.