Variation, Selection, Universality, & Attention

Howdy! I'm Carlos, and I work on artificial general intelligence. In this episode, I discuss:
1. My main research question: What makes human minds so powerful?
2. Why the Darwinian ideas of variation and selection are central to understanding how minds work.
3. My latest research: How do humans identify and focus on what's relevant?
Follow me on Twitter! @dela3499 ( / dela3499 )
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, UA-cam, and more: carlos.buzzspr...

[@NeilEvans-xq8ik]

Great video, Carlos. Keep em coming. Will we see your Twitter videos here, too?

[@agicarlos]

Thanks! I should definitely do that.

[@pickaxingoneuropa8457]

Solid opening music man👍🐋 Sorry about the youtube name- Valentine Keane here. . I follow you on Twitter and am subscribed on your 'making Minds and Making Progress' page.
So, Carlos. I'm interested in AGI as a hobby. Consequently, I took notes. I just want to offer feedback oand just offer points for future discussion. There are 3 pressing questions on statements you made. I apologise, profusely, in advance- these questions are a little heavy on the head:
1. 'Evolution creates new things'.
Yes, but convergent evolution occurs with dolphins/icthyosaurs, thylacines/wolves. Echo location genes (mmm better to say alleles) arising independently across very different species, eyes (human vs octopus), etc. Does it really create new things or is there a computational code to create a certain phenotype. One set of alleles that a universal Turing machine organism has AND on another planet. This last sentence is important. Does evolution just produce similar sets of alleles that give rise to a Universal Turing Machine phenotype? So, thinking about that- is evolution really creative or just a non-creative process? Is it really creative or just reproducing the same code for the same environmental demands?
2. on HARS.
One of the questions you're asking is what makes human so powerful. I have a (controversial/myopic?) answer. The sets of alleles we've evolved. Yes. Humans can do anything and animals only some. Agreed. The dog was a good example. However, relating to the previous point, what if we took specific code, i.e.: alleles that give rise to a 'universal turing machine dog'. In other words: alleles for a 'universal turing machine human' (in genetics- a few like myself call these HARS or human accelarated regions) and add these to a dog embryo in the exact genome region required to produce desired phenotype. So we have a Dawn of the Planet of the Apes or ahh Eternal Night of the Asteroid of Rhesus Macaque scenario. Does that not answer your question? Can research into Human accelerated regions not produce knwoledge and, thereafter, explanations of why we are UTMs. I finish this segment on this point: what are the HARS for creativity? What specific alleles To me, creativity is the result of environment and alleles (that evolved in that environment). G, E and GxE.
3. Is there a G, E, GxE and maybe even a C (for creativity)? I am trying to challenge you so as to try help solve the problem of how you and others might bring about an AGI. As you have said, 'you can't come up with better things if you can't come up with new things'. Here is a new idea, a new thing to explore outside the current space you've presented (so far)
I have two sources, one a short sci fi by Ted Chiang I can only request that you read (it addresses how we might give rise to AGI by mimicing nature.):
i) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lifecycle_of_Software_Objects
We select the alleles- digitally- and create a digital AGI as a result. (again I stress, after reading this short story: what are the HARS for creativity? What specific alleles?)
ii) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm1696
This article- if you scroll down, produces a wondrous image. How the transposing of alleles to different regions gave rise to us. Accelarated human evolution. The article alse references the source paper. It is fascinating man. Code that gives rise to creativity. If anyone is researching AGI, I cannot stress the importance of this seminal paper from the Zoonomia project. This will be one road we can take to producing AGI. It may well be an animal before a digital entity.
Could you imagine that....conversing with your cat? Or something like it? I know it sound laughable. But the future always is, initially, to paraphrase Clarke.
I'll check out the other podcasts tomorrow. Cheers man
👍🐳

[@agicarlos]

Cheers!