Thursday, September 03, 2015

Roko's Basilisk, Pascal's Wager, Math, and the universe

So - recently this article was shared in a group chatting about the Age of Turing interactive narrative/ARG - Roko's Basikisk. It is an interesting concept, and one I can not quite wrap my mind fully around.  It is based on the same precepts as Pascal's Wager regarding religion and God.  What's interesting, is that many who believe AIs will become "godlike" have this Roko concept and those regarding a Christian God have the Pascal concept. It seems that if we can not "prove something", then in the end perhaps it is best to believe in it just in case. I guess humans just like to have their cake and eat it too.  Along with those concepts, another concept is the concept the UNiverse is made of math - http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-the-universe-made-of-math-excerpt/ - again something my mind just does not want to fully dive into.  So, what is the universe and where is it going?  Phew, my brain hurts, I think I am going to go watch something non-thinky like The Simpsons (I am so smart, S-M-R-T)  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/your-best-creative-time-not-when-you-think/