Artificial Intelligence
All we seem to be hearing these days is about something mistakenly called “artificial” intelligence. It is turning me into a neo-Luddite—I want to throw shoes into every computer plant.
But…never mind. I want to talk about the greatest source of intelligence we can encounter—the brilliance of the natural world around us. I want to talk about what seems to be our “divorce” from wonders available to us at practically no cost. I will share my own experiences “out there” and the offerings of our very finest nature writers and adventurers.
My aim is to inform and inspire. Quite frankly, this site takes direct aim at the phrase “artificial intelligence”. The point is that there is no such thing. Intelligence resides, and always will, within the human mind. No machine will ever replace it. True art cannot be conceived and created any other way. The human mind has evolved mysteriously. Machine facsimiles are a product of accumulated information. They may indeed be impressive and may fool us.
My plea: Do not be easily deceived.
In this site the theme will be, look around you at creation and be confronted by seeming “miracles” everywhere. I shall provide authors and readings meant to confound and inspire a new/old way of seeing and learning. The great philosopher Yogi Berra is famous for saying profoundly, “You can see a lot just by looking”. Wendell Berry, author and farmer, is the subject of a documentary entitled “Look and See”. I can say it no better.
Looking ahead—I have gained a renewed passion authors who are exploring “where we came from”. If one asked me, where do you start, I would answer without hesitation, Loren Eiseley, an anthropologist turned supreme “naturalist”. His “little” book The Immense Journey” is his recounting what he has observed and learned from his many years in the field, often alone surrounded by phenomena that reveal upon inspection, the secrets of the planet’s life. He is, at one and the same time, a sensitive observer, a talented writer, and someone wide open to the mystery of science.
Read it if you will and then we can explore contemporary authors of the first order who have pursued fields of study from biology, you as you to geology, forestry, and astrophysics (and more). Their experience and expertise will inform and astound you as the secrets of the universe unfold.
I also highly recommend the Fiction and essays of one of our great American heroes Wendell Berry who believes in conservation (looking after the land) and practices it as a farmer in Kentucky. He also cares deeply about our loss of “community” and how it affects us.