undefined | Better HN

0 pointsFrustratedMonky2y ago0 comments

Think the issue is what constitutes 'intelligence' at all. Forget computers.

This article breaks down how the cell behaves down the the molecules. Once each part is pulled apart and examined, where did the 'intelligence' go.

The single cell, looks 'intelligent'. But, when it is all pulled apart we don't find it. It is just chemicals, reactions, physics.

Then, scale that up to multi-cellular organism, then human, its all just mechanistic, chemicals, physics. So where did the intelligence come from? Humans are also just twitching flagella.

This article just makes it a more stark idea, because a single cell appears 'intelligent', but we can pull it apart and examine the constitutive parts, the chemical, molecules.

So there is not much wiggle room for philosophy or souls. It looks intelligent, but look, we can peer under a microscope and don't see the intelligence.

0 comments

2 comments · 2 top-level

RetroTechie2y ago

The intelligence is in the parts' interactions.

Compare with an OS kernel: individual code snippets are useless / meaningless.

Executed by some CPU or VM, each snippet can be seen to modify that machine's state.

Snippets put together may be observed, and understood as implementing some specific algorithm. Again: useless / meaningless in isolation.

Some snippets may be seen to address I/O, and so it may be assumed to be part of a subsystem that controls (or is controlled by) a peripheral device.

Now put all those parts together, and you have an intricate piece of machinery that shows flexible, adaptable, goal-oriented behaviour. Behaves in a 'smart' way (for varying definitions of 'smart').

Where did the intelligence come from? The parts' properties, how they're put together, and their interactions (among themselves & their environment).

As science progresses, I think we'll come to realize it's just that: a matter of scale & how the many parts and variables interact with their environment. No magic (but fascinating & wonderful nonetheless).

Jensson2y ago

> This article breaks down how the cell behaves down the the molecules

No, just for a single molecule. The cell does a lot more than that. Can read this if you want to learn a bit more.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6194112/

> So there is not much wiggle room for philosophy or souls. It looks intelligent, but look, we can peer under a microscope and don't see the intelligence.

Sure, but we still can't replicate its behavior in a natural environment, just simple lab environments.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse