Comments by "" (@baronvonbeandip) on "GEN" channel.

  1. I'm not a Harvard grad so I guess my answers aren't worth much on the market... but here goes: #3 What is true intelligence? A: Intelligence is the weighted ability and potential ability, granted by cognitive faculties (for us that's a brain, for a computer, that's an array of circuits, for an alien species, it might be an mechanical process, etc), to solve iterated questions of constrained optimization. For example, a low intelligence human cannot employ object permanence to make 1st level decisions in their environment. A human that has object permanence but no abilities of induction cannot complete a conservation task (ala Piaget). A person with only egoistic thinking cannot employ theory of mind and can make 2nd level inference about the qualities of people. These things scaffold off each other and the more intelligent AMOGUS are able to intuit the nature of complex systems by making suppositions based on group dynamics. #5 Is there objective truth? Yes, but objective truths are largely uninteresting. Things like "X is X" and "If X is of Y and Y is of Z, then X is of Z" are deductive and, though useful in the formation of things like number theory, analysis, etc, are useless to people who want to make inference to the world around them (aka pure mathematics v applied mathematics). This is the difference between deductive and implicit logic. This is undertaken, of course, with the presumption that there is nothing but the things which can be speculated upon (ie the question of superdeterminism). Once metaphysics and phenomenology is added to the mix, all bets are off. #6 Merit or representation? Depends on your definition of merit. Take endangered species, for example. My merit of their inability to survive, they are unfit to continue existing and should go extinct. However, if the system becomes too homogeneous and deviation/mutation doesn't allow for the process of finding new local maxima as a result of the species going extinct, it is actually preferable, on a systemic level, to maintain representation of those endangered species. If you only have a narrowminded view of merit (aka test scores or genetic viability in the first-iteration of the game of scholastics or relationships), then it's probably better that representation be maintained because you are unable to make an informed decision as to the worth of a thing. #7 Is college worth it? As with anything, it is what you make of it. If you aren't interested in scholastics or have no need to access the resources provided by the research rat-race, you're probably better suited to being as an end-user of scholastic endeavor. College is expensive and time-consuming and its value decreases day-by-day as platforms like Youtube, Khan Academy, etc democratize higher learning. My time in college has become more and more valuable as I've put effort into it, which is hard to say about most career pursuits but that is because I know I'm suited to it, flaws and all.
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