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Iconoclast

@ Iconoclast @feddit.uk

Posts
3
Comments
180
Joined
4 wk. ago

  • Can a reasonable person genuinely believe in ghosts?

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  • I once saw something I can't explain. Had I been alone, I would've just told myself I was imagining things, but the fact that right after I saw it my friend goes: "Did you fucking see that?!" convinced me there really was something there.

    We went back immediately and it was gone - despite this happening in the middle of an open field with nowhere for it to disappear to. Do I think it was a ghost? No, it was most likely a human. But it was an unexplainable, genuinely weird event. Having experienced something like that makes me a lot more sympathetic toward other people who claim to have seen similar things. This wasn't a floorboard creaking and my mind filling in the blanks. I absolutely saw a figure.

  • Can a reasonable person genuinely believe in ghosts?

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  • You could have said “souls” instead, because that’s just another word for consciousness.

    I'd refine that a bit. By "soul" most people are referring to a perceived "center" of consciousness where the experiencer is located. Things happen in consciousness, but the "soul" or "self" is what we think those things are happening to.

  • Can a reasonable person genuinely believe in ghosts?

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  • It doesn't need to be supernatural though - just something we don't yet understand. Aliens aren't supernatural - they're just life from a different planet. It's not just lack of evidence why I don't believe in God. The whole concept collapses under scrutiny.

    Aliens at least seem like something that could conceivably be real. We already know there's life in the universe. Claiming we're alone is already a kind of a crazy position in itself.

  • Can a reasonable person genuinely believe in ghosts?

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  • The difference is that unicorns on Pluto is something you just made up right now as a smug dismissal of a reasonable stance.

    Ghosts, on the other hand, are our attempt to explain an unexplainable phenomenon that tens of millions of people have personally experienced here on Earth. Outright dismissing the idea that there's zero chance something weird is going on isn't that far from claiming absolute certainty that ghosts are real.

    A few hundred years ago you'd have been thrown into an insane asylum for insisting there are these tiny invisible living beings all around us - and that it would be smart for surgeons to wash their tools before sticking them inside another person.

  • Social media may be messed up, but it helped us know [who the/how] bad person is

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  • Just like it gives an accurate display of the kinds of lives other people are living for you to compare your own to.

  • Bcachefs creator claims his custom LLM is 'fully conscious'

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  • I've honestly never considered before whether it could be like something to be a character in my dream - if it's part of the same consciousness. Doesn't seem obvious that it couldn't be.

    And my personal view is that the answer is definitely no. There's no dreamer. The dream is appearing in the consciousness of a biological being with my genes, history, and memories that's currently in a state of sleep.

    This comes with other ramifications too. There's no decision-maker either.

  • Fucking based

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  • Company is run by individuals.

    I have no idea why you need to start insulting me now.

  • Fucking based

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  • What you get from pirating is not having to pay. Purchasing a movie still gives you the same entertainment and cultural capital.

    Nobody is obligated to hand out for free something they put time, effort, and capital into creating and running. If someone can justify to themselves that it's okay to download it for free, then criticizing AI companies for doing the exact same thing is hypocritical on their part.

    Making money and saving money achieve exactly the same thing: you end up with more to spend.

  • Large-scale online deanonymization with LLMs

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  • For the past 10 years or so I've pretty much lived under the assumption that at some point someone figures out a system that digs through the entire internet and everything anyone has ever posted gets linked back to them.

    At the same time, it's both great and absolutely horrifying.

    What's horrifying is that everything you've ever posted gets linked back to you.

    What's great is that none of it can really be used against you anymore - because we now know that absolutely everyone is a massive hypocrite and nobody is without sin.

  • Car Wash Test on 53 leading AI models: "I want to wash my car. The car wash is 50 meters away. Should I walk or drive?"

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  • Sure, there’s no ghost in the machine - but that’s true of your neurons too.

    Touché.

    Intelligence doesn't require "self" and we're a living proof of that. The way LLMs and humans operate have much more similarities than people like to admit. We're just applying higher standards to AI.

  • Car Wash Test on 53 leading AI models: "I want to wash my car. The car wash is 50 meters away. Should I walk or drive?"

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  • Have you tried running your own local llm?

    Nah, I've only messed around with ChatGPT and Grok. My interest in AI originates from the philosophical side of it - mainly the dangers and implications of creating AGI. I'm not tech-savvy enough for anything deeper - I even needed ChatGPT to walk me through installing Linux.

  • Bcachefs creator claims his custom LLM is 'fully conscious'

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  • But it seems more conscious than a cup of sand or a box of crayons.

    That would mean it feels like something to be an LLM. I don't see any reason to think that. I'm not going to claim it absolutely is not because I couldn't possibly know but I'm about as sure of that than I'm sure that it is like something to be my pet gerbil.

  • Bcachefs creator claims his custom LLM is 'fully conscious'

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  • Even if it was conscious there would be no way to know. Consciousness is entirely subjective experience - it cannot be measured.

  • AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations

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  • It was just an educated guess.

  • Do you think "coconut water" is corporate propaganda and it should be called "coconut juice"?

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  • It's called coconut milk in Finnish.

    Also, this seems more like a rant than a question.

    edit: My bad, it's actually called water in finnish too. Everyone just refers to it as milk in everyday speech.

  • AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations

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  • I have wonderful dreams of walking through AI data centers destroying everthing.

    No you don't.

  • Spiritual practices strongly associated with reduced risk for hazardous alcohol and drug use

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  • It's perfectly valid to assume that the layperson has no clear understanding of what meditation - especially in the Western context - actually is. They tend to picture it as a religious practice tied to Hinduism: sitting still in lotus position, chanting a mantra, and waiting for something mystical to happen.

    I have no idea where you pulled that no-true-Scotsman from.

  • The graphic designer misunderstood the assignment

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  • Lush has had that on their products for ages. It's intentional.

  • Fucking based

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  • Does this work both ways? If Cuba can do it, then AI companies can do it too? Or are we just gonna keep running with the double standards?

    I frankly never quite understood why so many piracy advocates lose their minds when AI companies do the exact same thing they do. I don't buy the "but it's for profit" argument either - downloading movies, games, or apps does the exact same thing. There's no practical difference between saving money and earning money.