Ways of Being: Beyond Human Intelligence
- Downloads：6798
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-05-26 09:21:56
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：James Bridle
- ISBN：0374601119
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
sarah y
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hotly anticipated yet still surpassed and cartwheeled past all expectations
Hampus Jakobsson
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I actually didn't know what to expect when I picked yo Ways of Being， I had just seen people liking it and had a feeling that I would like it （who wouldn't with that cover？！）。 But， I never expected what I got or that I would love it。 One of the things I take away is how extremely narrow our definition of "intelligence" is。 It is more or less "is it intelligent， in the way we view humans to be intelligent。" To quote Arkady Martine: "How wide is your definition of 'we'？" Bridle shows the amazing b I actually didn't know what to expect when I picked yo Ways of Being， I had just seen people liking it and had a feeling that I would like it （who wouldn't with that cover？！）。 But， I never expected what I got or that I would love it。 One of the things I take away is how extremely narrow our definition of "intelligence" is。 It is more or less "is it intelligent， in the way we view humans to be intelligent。" To quote Arkady Martine: "How wide is your definition of 'we'？" Bridle shows the amazing beings around us - animals or plant kingdom and how they add to the planet's wealth and perspective and ask how we can include them （more than exploiting them）。 Secondly， Bridle cherishes randomness。 Randomness and chaos are something we humans tend to want to remove and build systems to protect ourselves from as we want order and predictability。 We even believe the "best" to come from a structural tournament style of evolution， and Bridle reminds us that natural selection only selects but need a wide random input to select the best。 We _need_ randomness。 Any machine learning person， can tell you that you need a wide input of data， and you need to both "exploit" （select the according-by-algo selected best option） and "explore" （test the non-by-algo selected best option） to not get an overtrained model。 Finally， Bridle talks about how computers should be designed to be less deterministic and centralized。 He frames it as "Non-binary" （accepting that there isn't always a Yes/No or other binary dichotomy as an answer）， "Decentralized，" and "Unknowing" （accepting that one doesn't know， without being helpless）。 With this， a more inclusive， more equal， and less dominant output will be generated。 I must say that the biggest takeaway from the book is to widen our minds and look at the world as something not to domineer and control but to include and participate in。 （The Audible is read by James Bridle himself， which added to it， so I would recommend listening to it！） 。。。more
Doc Martin
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Warning: this book will change the way you view the world。I read this book over the early UK May bank holiday weekend and it kept blowing my mind。Examples of my mind blown include- Tree populations in the eastern United States have been migrating north and west-wards at an average rate of between 10 and 15Km a decade due to climate change。- Observations in the wild of octopuses suggest that they learn， remember， know， think， consider and act based on intelligence。 Cephalopods can even recognise Warning: this book will change the way you view the world。I read this book over the early UK May bank holiday weekend and it kept blowing my mind。Examples of my mind blown include- Tree populations in the eastern United States have been migrating north and west-wards at an average rate of between 10 and 15Km a decade due to climate change。- Observations in the wild of octopuses suggest that they learn， remember， know， think， consider and act based on intelligence。 Cephalopods can even recognise human faces。 This changes everything we think we know about ‘higher order’ animals。- The symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants through mycorrhiza networks can help us better understand models of global climate change。 Fungi and their study are challenging our understanding of Darwinian evolution and natural selection。 Time to shift our thinking to the three Fs of biodiversity; Flora， Fauna and Funga。- The Richardson effect。 A paradox identified by Meteorologist Lewis Fry Richardson: ‘The more accurately you try to measure some things， the more complex they become。’Working in the accounting profession， I am guilty of viewing everything as a ‘decision problem’。 James Bridle points out…‘One of the greatest misunderstandings of the twentieth century， which persists into the present， was that everything was ultimately a decision problem。 The appearance of computers was so wondrous and their abilities so powerful that it convinced us that the universe is like a computer， that the brain is like a computer， that we and plants and animals and bugs are like computers - and more often than not we forget the ‘like’。 We treat the world as something to be computed， and thus amenable to computation。 We think of it as something which can be broken down into discrete points of data and fed into machines。 We believe the machine will give us concrete answers about the world which we can act on， and confers upon those answers a logical irrefutability and a moral ability and a moral impunity。From this error flows all kinds of violence: the violence which reduces the beauty of the world to numbers， and the consequent violence which tries to force the world to conform to that representation， which erases， degrades， tortures and kills those things and beings which do not fit within the assumed system of representation。’If we are going to make a difference in the sustainability （ESG） space， we must open our eyes far beyond our traditional focus on cost of everything。 We must understand and value the animals， plants and natural systems that surround us and on which our existence depends。 。。。more
Jay
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Brilliant
Carolyn Bragg
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I chose this book because I thought it had an important message。 Unfortunately， the author's voice is snarky， pessimistic， and his logic is very circuitous （long winded and round-about）。 Reading the Introduction was painful slogging。 Now that he had told us what he was going to say， I hoped he would do so with more focus。Although the author was in Greece， I found the comparison of Parnassus' drunken dancing to being close to nature and comparing it to self-driving the AI car up to the mountain p I chose this book because I thought it had an important message。 Unfortunately， the author's voice is snarky， pessimistic， and his logic is very circuitous （long winded and round-about）。 Reading the Introduction was painful slogging。 Now that he had told us what he was going to say， I hoped he would do so with more focus。Although the author was in Greece， I found the comparison of Parnassus' drunken dancing to being close to nature and comparing it to self-driving the AI car up to the mountain peak， sadly typical of this book。 Off topic， fanciful， and chapter filler。 It's a practice I've heard called "going off into the weeds。" When we finally got back to the logic of a neural network， I was not enchanted。A judicious amount of editing might take several months， but this book could be so much more concise and instructive。 Sadly it needs a story editor in the very best sense， because the entire thing is told as a story。 A very long-winded story with a few repetitive themes and phrases that I think we all caught by the second or third time。For example， his evaluation of our "computer mind" uses are deemed "stupid" although they are valuable in gathering data and completing tasks--both part of an AI's function。 He scoffs at chess programs because they "destroy human opposition。" Yet chess programs played （and continue to play） an important role in developing AI。 [Newswise: AI Chess Engine Sacrifices Mastery to Mimic Human Play， 1/25/21， Cornell Univ。]Even his views of how "we" view AI and natural intelligence differ widely from my experience as an intelligent， aware citizen of the world。 Maybe I only choose to read things that tend to agree with my point of view， but the author is condescending and dictatorial; stating what everyone thinks and how very wrong they are。The early part of the book is not a balanced view about science or even philosophy， and the rest is not a large improvement。 Although science is talked about， mostly in lyrical form。 At times， it is a very long essay on subjects the author finds interesting， and wishes to correct us all about。 Interspersed with novel-worthy descriptions to set the scene for one event or another--such as the day he first showed the self-driving car how he drives （his method vs coding）。 Or tidbits （including crude things） a speaker or scientist said about about a tangential subject。But the author's focus is not on how quickly we have come so far in just 100 years。 He spends an excess of time criticizing avenues of thought and experiments because--of course--they make little sense to him。There are many fascinating facts and subjects， like plants that have demonstrated a memory of predatory sounds， and the nursery behavior of giant redwood trees toward seedlings and cooperative trees， and communication recognized between animal species， and much more。I agree on many points that are made in this book; the incredible value and "different intelligence" of living things， the unhappy misunderstandings that have occurred。 But the experiences and thoughts of the author are not reality by association （because he says or thinks so）。 His negativity and gutter humor （happily not often）， is not universal。If you can read this just for the science， and hike past the stumbling blocks， then I recommend this book。 Some of it is very interesting; enlightening even。 But in my opinion， proverbial hiking boots， a stout walking stick， and a cabin to relax in between chapters， is required for the health of the reader。I'm disappointed that this was written in such a pretentious way， and I cannot recommend this book to the general public without substantial editing。 2/5 Stars Great science， when you get to some。Thanks to Farrar， Straus and Giroux Publishing and NetGalley for the preview of this pdf; the review is voluntary。#FarrarStrausandGirouxPublishing #NetGalley #WaysofBeing #EthologyAnimal Behavior#AIandSemantics#AnimalBehaviorandCommunication#Science #LifeScience #ArtificialIntelligence#MoreThanHumanWorld 。。。more
Chantal Lyons
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