EFTA01013851.pdf

From: J <[email protected]> To: Subject: Re: Neil and other things Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2018 11:37:38 +0000 i think you might define what is culture. it may be the fractal of consiocusness. . rules , operating. it doesn't exist in one place. . silly questions like is there culture if everyone is sleeping. ? the perception or mispercepetion of self - simply may be an evolutionary benefit . one more artificial human construct. . like the weather. . silly anthropomorphism's." it decided to rain. ." I think looking into reductionism is difficult i would as usual go the other way. . crowd behavior. as emotion.. culture as consiousness. think of crowd behavior. - looking at each indiv not useful. not sure it is computable. views? for your child s medical cost . are you covered. ? On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 2:48 AM Bach, Joscha wrote: Dear Jeffrey, I think you are right: Neil and me share a lot of interests. I am curious where that leads, and expect that we will talk again, especially about digital psychology. The meeting with Elizabeth Koch and her crowd was quite fascinating. Her taste in funding scientists is a bit less discerning than yours, but I enjoyed Anil Seth and Guilio Tononi. Tononi is an autonomous intellect masquerading as a decently successful neuroscientist. The core ideas of his Integrated Information Theory of consciousness have never actually been published, which means that his followers (including Christof Koch and Max Tegmark) don't follow a complete theory but his personality. Before I met him, I did not understand why IIT is a bit of a cult. He is sharp, with the demeanor of an austere Catholic priest, and has come up with a perspective on consciousness that is actually new and original, which means that it is almost certainly wrong, but I think that unlike the pleasant Stu Hameroff he really cares about getting things right. (In case you are interested in the topic, I include a paper that got accepted for the AAAI spring symposium on machine consciousness.) Elizabeth Koch seems to struggle with the horrible plight of being born into royalty, and tries to escape the moral guilt of undeserved riches by diligently seeking approval from others. She played the role of spiritual life coach at her event, supported by an impressive African ex child soldier, and Joan Borysenko's superstitious promises of salvation through epigenetics and microbiome. I have great sympathy for Elizabeth, but she seems to be confused. I wish she could accept what she's born into and actually do something with it (like creating the life or world she wants for herself); she seems to be a responsible person and might be a force for good. It was good to meet Bamaby there, too. These days Mira and me are worried about Taiyo; his doctors suspect Coats disease, Coats plus or something similar. We'll get results from full genetic testing soon, and have scheduled an eye surgery for him in early January. We will try to get as much done as we can before we move to SF, because Boston Children's seems to be one of the best places in the US to get treatment. As always, thank you so much for all your support. Sincerely yours, Joscha EFTA01013851  Joscha Bach, PhD Harvard University: Program for Evolutionary Dynamics One Braille Square, Cambridge 02138 please note The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of JEE Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to [email protected], and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved EFTA01013852