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0 pointsadwn1y ago0 comments

> Are you at all concerned that plugging stuff like this into ChatGPT is leaving you with weaker cognitive muscles?

Couldn't this very same argument have been used against any form of mental augmentation, like written language and computers? Or, in an extended interpretation, against any form of physical augmentation, like tool use?

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TimorousBestie1y ago

In fact it has been, dating all the way back to Phaedrus.

> If men learn [writing], it will implant forgetfulness in their souls. They will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks.

criddell1y ago

You can argue whatever you want to argue.

I make my living with my brain so I do worry about the downsides of removing boredom and mental struggle from my days.

steve_adams_861y ago

Me too.

There is another side to this, which is maybe we don’t need to know a lot of things.

It was true with search engines already, but maybe truer with LLMs. That thing you’re querying probably doesn’t actually matter. It’s neurotic digging and searching for an object you will never use or benefit from. The urge to seek is strong but you won’t find the thing you’re searching for this way.

You might learn more by just going for a walk.

Workaccount21y ago

It's almost certainly going to be bad, and almost certainly going to be unavoidable.

I can't spell for shit anymore. Ever since auto correct became omnipresent in pretty much all writing fields, my brain just kinda ditched remembering how to spell words.

buuuttt

Manual labor has been obsolete for at least 100 years now for certain classes of people, and fitness is still an enormous recreational activity people partake in. So even in an AI heavy society, I still strongly suspect there will be "brain games" that people still enjoy and regularly play.

criddell1y ago

We aren't talking about something like spelling or digging a hole. We're talking about a fundamental cognitive skill: reading eight short paragraphs of text and extracting meaning from it.

profsummergig1y ago

> eight short paragraphs of text

Fair point. But they are heavily metaphor-laden paragraphs.

Textual interpretation is a highly subjective activity. Entire careers consist of interpreting, reinterpreting, and discussing texts that others have already interpreted. Film critics, book reviewers, political pundits, TV anchors, podcasters, etc.

'In 1972, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was asked about the impact of the French Revolution. "Too early to say," he replied'

I had my own sense of what the "coquina" metaphor stood for. I wanted to see other peoples' interpretations. Turns out my interpretation was wrong.

profsummergig1y ago

> I can't spell for shit anymore.

This is increasingly happening to me every day. Hope the alien overlords don't have spelling tests (as their version of IQ tests) to separate the serfs from the field-masters.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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TimorousBestie1y ago

In fact it has been, dating all the way back to Phaedrus.

criddell1y ago

You can argue whatever you want to argue.

I make my living with my brain so I do worry about the downsides of removing boredom and mental struggle from my days.

steve_adams_861y ago

Me too.

There is another side to this, which is maybe we don’t need to know a lot of things.

You might learn more by just going for a walk.

Workaccount21y ago

It's almost certainly going to be bad, and almost certainly going to be unavoidable.

I can't spell for shit anymore. Ever since auto correct became omnipresent in pretty much all writing fields, my brain just kinda ditched remembering how to spell words.

buuuttt

criddell1y ago

We aren't talking about something like spelling or digging a hole. We're talking about a fundamental cognitive skill: reading eight short paragraphs of text and extracting meaning from it.

profsummergig1y ago

> eight short paragraphs of text

Fair point. But they are heavily metaphor-laden paragraphs.

'In 1972, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was asked about the impact of the French Revolution. "Too early to say," he replied'

I had my own sense of what the "coquina" metaphor stood for. I wanted to see other peoples' interpretations. Turns out my interpretation was wrong.

profsummergig1y ago

> I can't spell for shit anymore.

This is increasingly happening to me every day. Hope the alien overlords don't have spelling tests (as their version of IQ tests) to separate the serfs from the field-masters.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse