James Bridle — The Intelligence Singing All Around Us
Mar 2, 2023
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In this podcast, James Bridle explores the interconnectedness of life and the paradox of measurement. They discuss the relationship between intelligence and consciousness, the role of technology in shaping our understanding of humanity and artificial intelligence, and the significance of language in connection to the natural world. Bridle also explores the concept of endo symbiosis, challenges traditional views of individuality, and delves into the human capacity to imagine and create non-human intelligence.
The interplay between intelligence and consciousness expands our understanding of the broad commonwealth of life.
Exploring the significance of time and consciousness helps us recognize the interconnectedness of all forms of life.
Technology, like AI, can be a tool for understanding non-human intelligence and embracing our place within the larger interconnectedness of life.
Deep dives
The fascination with non-human life and the interplay between intelligence and consciousness
The podcast explores the fascination with non-human life and the interplay between intelligence and consciousness. The speaker delves into the concept of the broad commonwealth of life that humans are entangled with and the paradox of measuring things accurately. The importance of language in understanding the natural world and the relationship between technology and ecological understanding are discussed. The speaker also emphasizes the need to ask questions that go beyond human-centric perspectives and focus on understanding the experiences of other beings.
The evolution of language and its connection to our understanding of the world
The summary highlights the evolution of language and its connection to our perception and understanding of the world. It mentions how ancient scripts and pictograms reflected a closer connection between language, nature, and the depiction of living beings. The transition to phonetic alphabets and binary numbers led to a separation from the more than human world and narrowed our perception. It emphasizes the need to reframe our understanding of intelligence and consciousness beyond human-centric perspectives.
The significance of time, consciousness, and shared existence
The podcast explores the significance of time, consciousness, and our shared existence. It discusses the transformative experience of time-lapse photography that allows us to perceive the vitality and interconnectedness of other forms of life. The summary mentions the holographic idea of time, where everything is interconnected and the existence of consciousness beyond physical structures. It also highlights the importance of recognizing and learning from the knowledge held by non-human beings and the wisdom in embracing complexity and interconnectedness.
Technology as a way to draw closer to nature and expand our understanding
The summary discusses how technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), can serve as a tool to draw us closer to nature and expand our understanding. It points out the desire to recognize and understand non-human intelligence, which drives our fascination with AI. The summary also emphasizes the need to acknowledge the limitations of language and appreciate non-human ways of knowing. It suggests that learning from the experiences and practices of other beings can pave the way for meaningful survival and flourishing.
Transcending human-centric perspectives and cultivating kindness
The summary emphasizes the importance of transcending human-centric perspectives and embracing a broader understanding of existence. It suggests that being human means striving to be kind, while recognizing that our place in the world is only a small part of the larger interconnectedness of life. It encourages a recognition of the more than human world and a reconnection with the wisdom and vitality it holds.
You might want to take a walk with this one. It is big and full of brain food and an enlivening opening of imagination to possibilities that are emergent now: the notion of the “broad commonwealth of life” that we are “inextricably entangled with and suffused by”; the paradox that the more accurately you try to measure some things, the more unmeasurable they become; the way words we use all the time have kept our cellular belonging to the natural world alive, even as civilization forgot.
The technologist/artist James Bridle brings all of this into interplay with an intriguing, refreshing lens on our lives with technology — and with all that artificial intelligence is and might become.
You might not think of intelligence the same way again, or the truth of mythology, or the letters of the alphabet, or what it means to be human. And you will smile next time you access the place where your digital life is stored and realize what it says about us that we named it The Cloud.
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