I find Benford’s ideas about mathematics being a ‘universal language’ between our species and another theoretical alien species to be extremely interesting. I think I fundamentally do not understand the concept that he is getting at, because our mathematics are abstracted from the actual natural phenomenon in the same way that our language is abstracted one layer from the things they describe. Is there a fundamental way to understand mathematics without using our conventional number system, for example? They mention binary code as a way to get this across, but again, there is a layer of abstraction there. The sheer alien-ness of another intelligent species not from Earth cannot be overstated.
I read “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” a long time ago, and what strikes me now when reflecting and rereading sections (thanks Jonah for that great passage!) was how well Douglas Adams seamlessly blends deep science fiction themes with comedy and light humor. For example, there is a sense of ridiculousness to the basic premise of the book where Arthur (the main character) is whisked away from Earth as it is destroyed to create room for a motorway bypass. When you think about it, this points to a sense of a larger universe, with Earth being only one tiny part. This sense of scale and insignificance persists throughout the entire book, and the sense of ridiculousness stays as well.
The movie Her is extremely thought provoking on many different levels. Most striking to me is the changing idea of what human attraction and love means in the context of an artificial intelligence system. I also was wondering about how human an artificial intelligence mind would have to be? What are some of the requirements for a system to be considered ‘intelligent’? Could we create an alien mind using artificial intelligence and how far away are we from true AI?
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