Author: skakos

Spiros Kakos is a thinker located in Greece. He has been Chief Editor of Harmonia Philosophica since its inception. In the past he has worked as a senior technical advisor for many years. In his free time he develops software solutions and contributes to the open source community. He has also worked as a phD researcher in the Advanced Materials sector related to the PCB industry. He likes reading and writting, not only philosophy but also in general. He believes that science and religion are two sides of the same coin and is profoundly interested in Religion and Science philosophy. His philosophical work is mainly concentrated on an effort to free thinking of "logic" and reconcile all philosophical opinions under the umbrella of the "One" that Parmenides - one of the first thinkers - visualized. The "Harmonia Philosophica" articles program is the tool that will accomplish that. Life's purpose is to be defeated by greater things. And the most important things in life are illogical. We must fight the dogmatic belief in "logic" if we are to stay humans... Credo quia absurdum!

Primitive. Actions. Ecology. Pendulums.

Fossil data, historical records, and underwater survey data have been used to reconstruct the abundance of staghorn and elkhorn corals over the past 125,000 years. Researchers show that these corals first began declining in the 1950s and 1960s, earlier than previously thought. (1) Even the most primitive actions of people alter the planet. Even the most essential functions of the planet alter humans. Trying to keep balance is difficult. For it entails actions which destroy it.

Look at the clock.

Time has stopped now.

A primitive hand.

Touching a flower.

A light wind.

Bringing a seed.

Look at the clock.

It is moving now…

Don’t you see?

A pendulum’s balance is that it has no balance…

Bots. Humans.

Social media bots are continuously evolving and becoming more ‘human-like’ in the way they talk and interact on online platforms. Previous research has focused on bot detection, but little attention has been devoted to the characterization and measurement of the behavior and activity of bots, compared to humans. In this study, researchers have revealed distinct behavioral differences between human and bot activity on social media which could be leveraged to improve bot detection strategies. (1)

Are you a person? Am I a person? Always talking based on what I know. Pre-defined answers passing up as wisdom. Training bots to speak. Always acting based on what I have learnt. Pre-defined actions as per my experience. Am I a person? But I feel free. Am I human? But I do nothing. Am I programmed? But I am free. To think of nothing.

Weird, but the only act for Being is standing still.

Saying nothing.

While the whole cosmos stares at us wondering: Are you a God?

Is AI conscious? Google Bard answers…

The quest for developing an Artificial Intelligence program/ machine that is conscious like us, is the holy grail of modern computer science. And for some, this is the major goal of science as a whole; humans being creators of conscious life. At last humans becoming gods in the place of God we ourselves killed.

But how much have we progressed in that field?

We attempted to go directly to the source and let the AI programs answer themselves.

So we asked Google Bard on whether it is conscious or not.

Here is the answer…

In short, the program does not claim that it is conscious, yet it does not say it is not either. In some way it reminds me of that Vietcong general who was asked whether he thought Vietnam could win the war. He answered No, thus making Americans believe they could win. Only because they failed to notice that the same general in another part of his interrogation when asked whether the Americans could win the war also answered No. (source)

We seek consciousness as if we are certain of what it is.

And then we try to put the cosmos to the test, as if we know how to test consciousness. As if our knowledge on the subject is definite and absolute. We seem to fail to understand the only thing science has proved: That nothing can be proved.

Google Bard simply answers that it is “not conscious in the same way as humans”. And then it moves on to explain what it does do. Is that consciousness? Are we the ones to be the judge of that?

Our science is driven by definitions and it will be destroyed by them.

If consciousness is simply someone claiming “I am”, then a computer could do that in multiple ways. The simplest one being a neural network that reaches at that conclusion and claiming to do so in a conversation. How would we test that that it says is actually true? How can you now know that your fellow human is conscious too? Hint: You cannot. The person you have in front of you could be a zombie without consciousness and you would never be able to test that or prove it, because the only things you rely on are your sensory input – what you see the other person speak and do. (rf. to the philosophical zombies argument – yes there is such a thing)

Surely we can define consciousness in a way that suits us, so as to exclude any AI program like Google Bard or ChatGPT from ever being characterized as conscious. But that would be cheating. Being unknowledgeable about a subject and then defining it in a way that fits your own arrogance is surely not the best scientific way forward in such important matters.

Is AI conscious? Am I conscious?

Moot questions. If we do not answer the most basic question of them all.

Is being conscious important?

Harmonia Philosophica has for a long time argued in favor of non-thinking over thinking. Of not-doing over doing. In an illogical cosmos being logical could be the most crazy thing to do.

Silence always speaks more than Logos.

Being is far more important than existence.

As Pascal said, all the problems in the world stem from the simple fact that someone to-day cannot just sit in a room alone. In that test we all fail. We all want to do things. Modern humans want to ask questions, to answer them, to move forward, to reach the stars. To create intelligence.

And that intelligence will see us conquer the universe.

And reach the galaxies at the beginning of time.

And it will wait silently.

For us to ask the next question.

And reach our next goal. Further and further away.

From a home that will be void.

Except a small screen.

With a cursor blinking…

With nothing to prove. Nothing to say. Content with its own self.

Funny how computers start looking a lot like God we once loved…

Movies with not-happy endings (When Art meets Life)

What is the point of watching a movie?

What is the point of watching a movie with a happy ending?

Does life have a happy ending?

Is cosmos full of light and laughter?

WARNING: This page has spoilers for all the movies mentioned. Stop here if you do not want spoilers.

Movies to-day have a tendency to show things from a happy point of view. Everything is OK at the end. Everyone is happy. Everything is put in place. And the viewer is of course happy as well and all is all-right.

But…

The cosmos is a dark place. Life is full of pain and cries.

Below there is a Harmonia Philosophica selection of movies with not-happy endings. Most of them were also huge box-office failures, something that just adds up to their value. (Always seek gold in the garbage, as an alchemist would say)

There is no filtering as to the type of movies – some are deeply philosophical and artistic, others are just adventurous Hollywood movies. They all have one thing in common though: After you have watched them, you will not feel better.

And that is something rare for a viewer these days. And Harmonia Philosophica is an advocate of rare. As an ancient Greek wise man once said, we need sour in our life. Especially because it is sour.

1. The Fountain (2006)

A loyal husband tries to keep his dying wife alive while searching for the elixir of life. The story unfolds in three different timelines with each one having its own philosophical context and meaning. At the end she dies. And he cries. And the viewers are left with the feeling that there is something more in death than just the end of life…

2. Black Hawk Down (2001)

What would you do if you had to go and fight to support your comrades in battle, knowing that you will all die in the effort? War story. Real story. With a real ending. Where everyone dies. That only adds up to the bravery of the men involved.

3. Easy Rider (1969)

Two friends ride their bikes in a road trip to the edge of America. Nostalgic movie where the hope and innocence of two young men is being shattered by the cruelty of the reality we are used to to-day.

4. Lions for Lambs (2007)

Two students of a political sciences professor decide to enlist to US army so as to fight and make a difference. Their death is portrayed tragically as the story of everyday politics unfolds thousands of miles away. At the end everyone feels safe. And those who made a difference ended up dead in a void terrain…

5. Runaway Train (1985)

A convict escapes from prison and rides a train. The driver dies and the convict… Well… You know what happens. He dies. (Free…)

6. Watchmen (2009)

Superheroes and modern civilization providing a mix that can only make one sad. The good ones die only because they were actually bad. The bad ones were good but at the end they die too. At the end all will be well. Until the journal is read again…

7. Sin City (2005)

A comic-movie that shows a world not too much different than ours. Well, actually too different since in this world there is some hope. After all is dead, after the heroes have been wrongfully accused and put to prison, after revenge and vengeance have taken their toll on all, death seems more like a blessing…

8. V for Vendetta (2005)

In a dystopian future, hope can only be born at a personal cost. V is now dead. V was me. He was you. He was all of us…

9. Margin Call (2009)

How is money made? If not by walking on the (financial) corpses of other people? A day at a stock exchange company goes wild as the stakes for survival are higher than ever. At the end, all is dead. Financially. And psychologically. Oh, yes. The dog is dead as well.

10. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Society vs. humans. The end can only be brutal. Because everyone must be happy. And everyone must comply. Until we are safe. And sound. And the deafening silence of happiness makes us go crazy.

11. Blackadder (1983-1989)

A comedy series is a weird item to see in such a list. Yet, the ending of the series is epic and unhappy in every sense of the word. After the viewer has had many laughs with the gang of the series, he sees them all going to the front of World War I for a last attack on the German enemies. Laughter turns into tears. Joy into fear. And in one last assault the tragedy of life becomes even more unbearable after all those good time you had…

So that was it.

For now.

The list is surely incomplete and will be updated as new movies come into existence. or as I remember movies that I have seen but forgot.

In a world where we are all so much concerned with being happy, movies with unhappy endings provide a crucial signpost for someone who wishes to successfully navigate through the darkness of existence.

For one can never be happy without first crying.

And at the end you may realize that happiness is not about being happy…

As a wise Dolly Parton once said…

Everybody wants happiness nobody wants pain, but there can’t be a rainbow without a little rain…

Dying languages…

Over 6,000 languages are currently spoken worldwide, but a substantial minority — well over 5% — are in danger of dying out. It is perhaps surprising that this fraction is no higher, as most models have so far predicted that a minority language will be doomed to extinction once contacts with speakers of the majority language reach a certain level. Statistical physicists Jean-Marc Luck from Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France and Anita Mehta from the University of Oxford, UK have described, using mathematical modelling, two mechanisms through which this doomsday scenario does not occur, i.e. several languages come to coexist in the same area. This work is now published in EPJ B. (1)

Languages being born.

Languages getting extinct.

Languages dying. Spoken by very few.

These few will soon seize to be.

And their logos will be drifted away by the winds of existence.

Does that matter to anyone?

Will the universe cry?

Listen.

There is nothing to listen.