What gives a thought its existence? As we generally assume, it is our mind that gives a thought its existence. Still, this is very nondescript in determining the true origins or functions of a thought. If our "mind" is what we describe as our advanced brain computational abilities, does this mean that thoughts are just products of complex computations, similar to answers to math problems?
A thought, some say, is never original. I argue that thoughts are and always will be original. In the same way that no individual is the same physically, no individual can have the exact same thought. Thoughts are products of the environments in which they dwell, the human mind, which is unique to each individual. But if we can harness thoughts and thus act upon them consciously, how dramatically can we act upon thoughts unconsciously?
Our unconscious, as we know, is vastly more fit in terms of solving problems or basic computational power. Therefore, I believe that every thought that we consciously visualize becomes the subject of our unconscious, rather than our conscious. In other words, do we don't act upon ideas according to our conscious thoughts and will, it is the subconscious force that controls our actions and, to an extent, the actions of others around us. To put it more cynically, our unconscious minds are only allowing us to be aware of thoughts at their discretion, only after computing the outcome of our visualizing the thought.
This seems untestable at the moment, and it may very well stay that way. But if our unconscious minds are indeed the puppet masters of our thoughts, what power do we have, both consciously and unconsciously, over our thoughts? In the story of Bahir, he is said to have seen Muhummad's future as a prophet. Regardless of the validity of this claim, I wonder what would give Bahir the ability to foresee this future. Is it a computational advantage that Bahir gained from inward spiritual awareness that allowed him to see what could have easily been seen by others were they to possess the connection with their subconscious that Bahir had?
I wonder if our thoughts (or our actions upon these thoughts) are mediated by our commonality as a species in order to further our advancement. By this I'm referring to the "butterfly effect," which I describe as a metapsychological conundrum. If our unconscious minds are all "working together" to further our species, they would allow only certain ideas and thoughts to become conscious in certain individuals at certain times, creating the action needed for progress. It may be that this unconscious syncing is what spurred our evolution as far as intelligence goes.
Thoughts, viewed simply as complex computations by the human brain, can therefore become more complex if a more complex computational device is used. As we know, computers are headed towards supremacy over the human brain in terms of computational power in a matter of years.
To get to the point of my post, I am curious what effects the thoughts of AI's will have on humans and the physical world. As I stated before, our thoughts may be mediated to ensure the survival of our species, but if complex thoughts are created by AI's, they will presumably have no indifference regarding preservation of the human species and will therefore produce thoughts that we are not biologically capable of producing. Once these thoughts are created, I am curious to see if we will be able to resist those that are harmful to the species or if we will ignore the instinctual warnings of acting upon these alien thoughts.
As mind clones and true AI are introduced, I believe that they will harness both the power of our unconscious mind and our conscious mind and produce thoughts that are beyond human comprehension.Once mind clones have the ability to use their far more advanced computational power, they will create theories and complex questions that humans may not even be able to do anything with. Eventually, there will be two schools of thought, machine and human. I am willing to bet that machines will out think humans within the next few decades.
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