人类是卓越的
人类是卓越的
人类不仅仅是泛滥全球的一种细菌形式
Naval:
这四种理论中有三种呈现出一种有趣的模式。在认识论中，通过好的解释，我们说的是猜想及其反驳和错误纠正是我们改进知识的方式。在基因进化中，基因突变、变异和自然选择淘汰了那些不起作用的。然后在此基础上还有模因进化，我们有了想法，然后批评淘汰了那些不起作用的想法。
与此相关的是，在发明中存在试错。在资本主义中，初创公司被创建，那些有糟糕想法的公司会失败。我们看到这种模式一再重复出现。
然而，有趣的是，这里还有另一个元模式，即人类是卓越的。在认识论中，人类是唯一的非贝叶斯推理者。在进化中，人类是我们所知的唯一拥有模因的生物。在计算理论中，人类是我们所知的唯一通用解释者，当然，除了我们发明的计算机之外。
科学将我们从人类处于宇宙中心的观点带到了”实际上，人类并没有什么特别。你只是几乎无限数量的可能承载生命的开普勒行星中的一个小行星”。但我们正在讨论的这四种理论中的三种都指向了人类是卓越的这个方向。人类能够获得最大化的知识。
对我来说一个有趣的领悟是，即使你是上帝，即使你拥有无限的知识和力量，即使你控制着整个宇宙，你仍然不会知道自己不在模拟中。你仍然永远无法证明自己不在模拟中。即使是作为上帝，也没有任何你头脑中能掌握的概念是人类无法掌握的。
当然，除非物理定律不同。如果物理定律不同，那么所有的赌注都无效，谁知道呢？但在当前的物理定律范围内，人类能够获得最大化的知识和最大化的意识。这指向了一个人类是卓越的世界，而不仅仅是另一种失控并泛滥这个星球的细菌形式。
许多这些基本理论都导向一个观点：人类是特殊的，知识是无限的，只要我们不被坏错误纠正的手段并且我们总是在创造新知识，那么就有充分的理由保持乐观。
Humans Are Exceptional
Humans aren’t just a form of bacteria that overran the planet
Naval:
Three out of these four theories have an interesting pattern to them. With good explanations in epistemology, we’re saying conjectures and their refutations and error correction is how we improve knowledge. With genetic evolution, genetic mutations, variation and natural selection weed out the ones that didn’t work. Then there’s memetic evolution on top of that, where we have ideas and then criticism weeds out the ideas that don’t work.
Related to that, in invention there’s trial and error. In capitalism, startups get created and the ones that have bad ideas fail. We see this pattern recurring over and over.
What’s interesting, though, is there’s another metapattern here, that humans are exceptional. In epistemology, humans are the only non-Bayesian reasoners. In evolution, humans are the only memetic creatures that we know of. In the theory of computation, humans are the only universal explainers that we know of other than, of course, the computers that we’ve invented.
Science took us from this view of humans being at the center of the universe to, “Actually, humans are nothing special. You’re just one little planet out of an almost infinite number of Kepler planets that could be bearing life out there.” But the three of these four theories that we’re talking about are pointing us in this direction of humans are exceptional. Humans are capable of maximal knowledge.
One interesting realization for me was that even if you were God, even if you had infinite knowledge and power, even if you controlled the entire universe, you still wouldn’t know that you’re not in a simulation. You still could never prove that you’re not in the simulation. And even as God, there is no concept that you could hold in your head that a human being couldn’t hold.
Unless, of course, the laws of physics are different. If the laws of physics are different, then all bets are off and who knows? But working within the current laws of physics, humans are capable of maximal knowledge and maximal awareness. That points to a world where humans are exceptional and not just another form of bacteria that got out of control and overran this planet.
A lot of these fundamental theories lead to a viewpoint that humans are special, knowledge is infinite, and as long as we don’t destroy the means of error correction and we’re always creating new knowledge, then there’s good reason to be optimistic.