[dr_dshiv]

Eudaimonia means “good demons.” Plato used it to refer to the source of Socrates’ inspiration. Etymology of daimon might have it mean the apportioners, dividers or rationers.

“With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon” — Elon Musk

Let’s hope for good demons! I’ve been thinking about it lately, and in a world that many believe is filled with intelligence and consciousness at different levels, it might make sense to dust off our Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy. There are a lot of intriguing ideas there, like the immaterial world of forms.

I know that many people reactively disbelieve in immaterialism—but it is a quite common perspective among physicists. There, most probably agree that the basis of the world is not material stuff, but rather immaterial mathematics.

Just don’t anthropomorphize the daimonia. Human consciousness and intelligence clearly isn’t the only type of intelligence or consciousness in this world.

If you are interested in the intersection of the esoteric and AI, I’ll be giving a lecture June 1 at the Ritman Library of Hermetic Philosophy in Amsterdam. I just got tenure so I’ll be trying to push the envelope :) https://embassyofthefreemind.com/en/plan-your-visit/agenda#D...

[egypturnash]

The Ancient Greek word "daimon" doesn't mean "demon".

Daimon or Daemon (Ancient Greek: δαίμων, "god", "godlike", "power", "fate") originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit such as the daimons of ancient Greek religion and mythology and of later Hellenistic religion and philosophy. The word is derived from Proto-Indo-European daimon "provider, divider (of fortunes or destinies)," from the root da- "to divide".

-- Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimon)

The sorts of beings modern English refers to as "demons" are* daimons, but so are "guardian angels" and "saints".

[lioeters]

> During the event, we introduce a version of GPT that has been trained on the complete works of Plato and other esoteric texts, and invite attendees to ask deep questions of Plato. Our AI generates new dialogues in response, offering a unique opportunity to explore the value of dialectic between AI and esoteric philosophy.

That is brilliant. It's so refreshing to hear of Neoplatonism and Hermetic Philosophy, not just for historical study but as a living stream of thought and inspiration. People seem to forget that the roots of science is magic.

[amon22]

Mathematics (can) model reality, not the other way around. I have immense respect for the humanities but your lecture looks like a lazy attempt to ride the AI hype.

[dr_dshiv]

Reality models mathematics! That’s a great way to put it. That’s why there are no perfect spheres in a material world—yet billions of material entities teleologically approximating spheres. Clearly the ideal sphere is ontologically prior to any specific material approximation.

You have immense respect for the humanities—but will casually call me a lazy hype monger? Pity.