Many prey animals will have no coherent image of what their greatest predator actually is This is probably more true with very specifically-evolved predator-prey relationships, and likely less so in relations between more generalist animals.pjamesstuart is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Awesome post, I love the fantasy applications of this. I like the idea of reverse engineering what demons are and what they can do through examining what mankind instinctively fears. Parasites freak us the hell out… an analogue for possession. Thinks which slither, lurk, hide, or conceal what they are unnerve us… an analogue for lies, the main hunting tool of a demon.
Fire is the opposite of a lie. An obvious, unavoidable, often uncomfortable and purging truth. It illuminates and spreads… interesting that it has been symbolically connected to both the hellish and the divine though history.
Going to be thinking about this for a while, thanks!
This is still sinking in- evolving to resemble your predator’s perception of your predator is wild. I’m also struck by how much mimicry reminds me of midjourney. Which entity has the feebler grasp of the imagery it creates- a moth or a generative AI?
The mechanism of a genetic algorithm and a neural network are very different, but neither require the ability to grasp (i.e. consciousness) in order to converge.
Oh I understand that, the moth can’t fucking see its own wings for a start, and midjourney is… what? Some code? As you say, neither require the ability to grasp it but that doesn’t preclude being conscious of it. Do moths admire other moth’s wings? Do they understand that they might also have similar wings?
As for mechanisms, they may be different but aren’t there parallels? The image output of the moth’s wing has been selected for as a result of environmental. My lay understanding of Midjourney is that it “improves” the quality of its output based on user feedback? Text prompts acting like the environment, those images responding well to the prompt are selected for and form the basis of future prompts.
Both end up making a pretty shitty picture of a snake.
Back to awareness, my takeaway from the piece is that we share a similar relationship to esoteric entities as a moth to their predators, and share with moths the merest slither of an understanding as to what spares us from diabolical predation. This is due to our unsophisticated sensory array: maybe if we could smell electromagnetism, see ultraviolet or genuinely experience higher spatial dimensions then we’d see the eye of Metatron or whatever… but perception doesn’t evolve to give us a complete, truthful understanding of reality, it prioritises and amplifies those elements that grant us the best chance of passing on our genes.
Also @max I find the midjourney angle interesting from what I think is a twist on Gnosticism (as usual haha): the demiurge “programs” material reality because it enjoys the invisible (to humans) snake head effects evolution produces in response to predation by extra dimensional/ extra causal beings!
Sort of more likely than “material existence just so I can see what percent of this higher order mammal on this tiny planet make it through the good/evil filter I’ve created to see who gets to join me in a multidimensional paradise once the Anthropocene ends”. Though typing that out, it doesn’t seem any more ludicrous… hallelujah! I am saved!
I just got back from vacation yesterday and haven't had a chance to properly follow up on your comments yet, and also probably didn't do a sufficient job of explaining what I meant in the first place, but ya anyway I know you know I like the way you've been integrating these ideas from modernity into an animist or otherwise spiritualist conception of reality e.g. your recent writings on ufology.
Sorry if I sounded defensive- I think I'm a bit insecure because I know I'm something of a journeyman in the STEM environment, and my right-brain approach means I often conflate technical jargon in ways that might inadvertently obfuscate my intent! I always appreciate what you bring to the conversation.
Npnp I get a bit defensive / triggered in the opposite direction for a variety of complicated reasons, and my initial comment came off very terse in the first place, which genuinely had more to do with me being on the road than an intended sentiment, but it came out wrong.
Anyway I enjoyed this post quite a bit, and how it intersects with things we've discussed before. There were broader implications I had intended with my comment, but now it's been a while and I'm struggling to remember / figure out how to articulate what I was trying to get at.
Awesome post, I love the fantasy applications of this. I like the idea of reverse engineering what demons are and what they can do through examining what mankind instinctively fears. Parasites freak us the hell out… an analogue for possession. Thinks which slither, lurk, hide, or conceal what they are unnerve us… an analogue for lies, the main hunting tool of a demon.
Fire is the opposite of a lie. An obvious, unavoidable, often uncomfortable and purging truth. It illuminates and spreads… interesting that it has been symbolically connected to both the hellish and the divine though history.
Going to be thinking about this for a while, thanks!
This is still sinking in- evolving to resemble your predator’s perception of your predator is wild. I’m also struck by how much mimicry reminds me of midjourney. Which entity has the feebler grasp of the imagery it creates- a moth or a generative AI?
The mechanism of a genetic algorithm and a neural network are very different, but neither require the ability to grasp (i.e. consciousness) in order to converge.
Oh I understand that, the moth can’t fucking see its own wings for a start, and midjourney is… what? Some code? As you say, neither require the ability to grasp it but that doesn’t preclude being conscious of it. Do moths admire other moth’s wings? Do they understand that they might also have similar wings?
As for mechanisms, they may be different but aren’t there parallels? The image output of the moth’s wing has been selected for as a result of environmental. My lay understanding of Midjourney is that it “improves” the quality of its output based on user feedback? Text prompts acting like the environment, those images responding well to the prompt are selected for and form the basis of future prompts.
Both end up making a pretty shitty picture of a snake.
Back to awareness, my takeaway from the piece is that we share a similar relationship to esoteric entities as a moth to their predators, and share with moths the merest slither of an understanding as to what spares us from diabolical predation. This is due to our unsophisticated sensory array: maybe if we could smell electromagnetism, see ultraviolet or genuinely experience higher spatial dimensions then we’d see the eye of Metatron or whatever… but perception doesn’t evolve to give us a complete, truthful understanding of reality, it prioritises and amplifies those elements that grant us the best chance of passing on our genes.
r/unexpecteddonaldhoffman space time is doomed!
Also @max I find the midjourney angle interesting from what I think is a twist on Gnosticism (as usual haha): the demiurge “programs” material reality because it enjoys the invisible (to humans) snake head effects evolution produces in response to predation by extra dimensional/ extra causal beings!
Sort of more likely than “material existence just so I can see what percent of this higher order mammal on this tiny planet make it through the good/evil filter I’ve created to see who gets to join me in a multidimensional paradise once the Anthropocene ends”. Though typing that out, it doesn’t seem any more ludicrous… hallelujah! I am saved!
I just got back from vacation yesterday and haven't had a chance to properly follow up on your comments yet, and also probably didn't do a sufficient job of explaining what I meant in the first place, but ya anyway I know you know I like the way you've been integrating these ideas from modernity into an animist or otherwise spiritualist conception of reality e.g. your recent writings on ufology.
Sorry if I sounded defensive- I think I'm a bit insecure because I know I'm something of a journeyman in the STEM environment, and my right-brain approach means I often conflate technical jargon in ways that might inadvertently obfuscate my intent! I always appreciate what you bring to the conversation.
Npnp I get a bit defensive / triggered in the opposite direction for a variety of complicated reasons, and my initial comment came off very terse in the first place, which genuinely had more to do with me being on the road than an intended sentiment, but it came out wrong.
Anyway I enjoyed this post quite a bit, and how it intersects with things we've discussed before. There were broader implications I had intended with my comment, but now it's been a while and I'm struggling to remember / figure out how to articulate what I was trying to get at.