Thoughts and insights

[Jannes]

Human species caricature

Aliens look at humans in a large zoo with many life forms. One alien says to the other: "Lets look at something more interesting."

Edited November 24, 2024 by Jannes

[Jannes]

Lasertek-Park

I sometimes think about starting a lasertek park. It would have all kinds of stuff. It would be soft park parkour oriented and so would allow for many creative maneuvers. I would integrate hiding options and as many diverse weapons as you can possibly get with lasertek. Maybe robots as well. Different game modes from king of the hill, to team fights to zombie fights. A place where you can experience your whole being alive and go all crazy without much risk of getting injured. It would be very inclusive also. For example for elderly people there would be a big sign: "Respect the elderly. Elderly get bigger guns." and they would get bigger guns. 

[Jannes]

I am in love with bullshit.

[Jannes]

On 28.4.2023 at 10:11 PM, Jannes said:

Predictability

Animals are very predictable in their behavior which means they are pretty consistent.

Humans on the other hand are a lot harder to predict.

Jean-Paul Sartre goes so far in comparing animal and human that he says the following.

for humans: existence precedes essence 
for animals: essence precedes existence

Meaning that it's clear what an animal will do if it is put into the world. If you put a lion into the savanna there is just one thing which it could decide to do which is doing lion stuff. 
A human on the other hand can't be predicted like that. A human could invent shit, commit suicide, play the guitar, ..

I don't think that's an absolute statement though. Even animal behavior is very complicated and most of the time not fully understood and at the same time you can predict the behavior of many humans pretty well. So hypothetical from an all intelligent entity there might not be a big difference between animal and human, there might just be more details to consider when predicting human behavior.

The interesting question is what does it mean that certain behavior is more predictable than others? Is little predictability a sign of intelligence, wisdom, consciousness, .. ? We speak very badly of people who are easily to predict. Bots is a funny new swear word and it describes exactly a person who is very predictable so we intuit that it's a "bad" thing.

So let's dive deep into what makes for predictability.
If an object is very simple it's easily predictable.
A rock is as predictable as it gets.
A flower is more astronomically more complicated than a rock but still easily to predict.
A bear is astronomically more complicated than a flower but still relatively predictable if you dive deep into studying a bear.
A human is astronomically more complicated than a bear and pretty hard to predict, definitely not with certainty.

So it seems with primitivity and simpleness comes predictability.

A human is much easier to predict when strong emotions are at play. (Rationality is informed by emotions).

What seems very hard to predict is when humans/ other evolved sentient beings act out of intuition.
What is also pretty unpredictable is when humans act out of selfness motives.

Selfishness makes predictability. And selfishness also seems to be rather primitive.
Intuition is a complicated one. Its a form of intelligence but does it have different traits then reason for example?

Is intuition a trait of of high intelligence?
Does high intelligence has to be selfless?
 

Building on top of my old thoughts on Predictabiliy:

A person with attachments in this world is predictable. A person who trades attachments for virtue, for example truth is not predictable because you cant have truth. You can try to come closer and closer to truth but you will never get there. Meaning a person who is committed to truth will never reach an end its an infinite process that person is committed to. That person won't settle for a "truth" that is comfortable. So all attempts to capture the truth seeker won't work. It will backfire. 
Which is why people who seek truth seem scary. Society rather wants to have people who are at least a little corrupt because they are predictable and can therefore be used for ones own need.

 

I asked chatgpt for a better articulation of my thoughts. This is so well articulated, I dont even feel like I contributed a whole lot to this.  

Your perspective here is profound and touches on the tension between society’s desire for control and the unpredictability of genuine seekers of truth. Here’s an enhanced articulation of your thoughts:

A person tethered to worldly attachments is inherently predictable. These attachments—whether to wealth, status, relationships, or ideologies—serve as anchors, defining and constraining their actions. They create vulnerabilities, levers through which society or individuals can exert influence.

In contrast, a person who forsakes attachments in pursuit of virtue—such as the unending quest for truth—transcends predictability. Truth is not a destination but an infinite process, an ever-receding horizon. To seek truth is to embrace uncertainty and reject comfort, to dismantle illusions, even when they provide solace or societal approval.

Such a person refuses to settle for convenient or palatable truths, rendering them impervious to manipulation. Attempts to control them fail because their commitment to truth supersedes any external influence or internal bias. This defiance of categorization or coercion is unsettling, even frightening, to those entrenched in the predictable systems of attachment and control.

Society, by its nature, prefers individuals who are at least partially corrupt—those with attachments that can be exploited. A person free from these entanglements is not just unyielding; they are also a mirror, reflecting the compromises and hypocrisies of those around them. This mirror can provoke fear and resentment, as it forces a confrontation with uncomfortable realities.

Thus, the truth seeker, by embodying a commitment to an infinite and unattainable ideal, stands outside society’s frameworks of control and predictability. Their existence challenges the very foundations upon which societal power structures are built, making them both admired and feared.