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Notes with Claude: The Empowering Future of AI Agents

This morning I read an article in Wired entitled "Forget Chatbots:  AI Agents Are the Future".  This is something I have posted about here , here , and here , among other places.  Ironically, I decided to use a chatbot to talk about the article and its implications. Claude:  The article discusses the emerging trend of AI agents that can take actions and get tasks done, beyond just answering questions like traditional chatbots. It highlights a few examples of these AI agents: Devin from Cognition AI - An "AI software developer" that can plan projects, write code, test it, and deploy it, performing tasks usually done by human software engineers. Devin impressed investors and engineers with demos of complex software engineering capabilities. Auto-GPT and vimGPT - Open source AI agents that can browse the web, use computer programs, and attempt to complete tasks assigned by humans. The author tested these and found them promising but still error-prone. SIMA fr

The Transience of the Transcendent: Part Three

[ Read Part One ]  [ Read Part Two ] Further substantiation of my contention that the transcendent is completely transient is found in a recent article on PsyPost entitled “Decoding Morality Across Cultures.”  This discussed Moral Foundations Theory and the findings of a mega-study on morality across cultures and throughout history.  Several key findings indicate how malleable and impermanent supposedly transcendent moral codes actually are.  It is a devastating blow to all moral absolutism. Concepts like morality that were once thought universal and transcendent are actually quite culturally contingent. The study revealed significant differences in moral values across cultures, genders, religions, and politics. This reinforces the idea that even our ethics and values systems are products of particular cultural contexts, not eternal truths. The study underscored the need for the original Moral Foundations Theory and questionnaire to be updated, demonstrating that old frameworks for u

The Transience of the Transcendent: Part Two

But, to broaden our consideration for a moment, many will argue that the transcendent is not simply a product of cultural or historical context, but is a deeper principle that literally transcends such contingencies. For them, this means that while the expression of the transcendent may change over time and in different contexts, the underlying essence of the transcendent remains constant and enduring.  This is closely akin to Plato's Forms such as Beauty , which I have blogged about previously. When they use the phrase "deeper principle" in reference to the transcendent, like Plato, they are referring to something not simply a product of cultural or historical context. This fundamental reality is revealed as the ground of Being, the ultimate source of all that exists, or the divine essence that permeates all things. While the expression of the transcendent changes over time and in different cultural contexts, the claim is made that this deeper reality remains constant an

The Transience of the Transcendent : Part One

We make a mistake every day.  We think we know certain things that are eternal and unchanging. They last forever.  We call these things transcendent values.  They are a deep and fundamental part of what makes us human.  They are the basis for our mythologies and religions, reflecting thousands of years of human experience and storytelling.  They certainly appear to be eternal, at least the stories seem to be.   Carl Jung articulated the seemingly perpetual and universal in his insightful, landmark work The Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious .  Eric Neumann pointed to many eternal symbols and experiences in his classic The Origins and History of Consciousness .  These books essentially make the case for the transcendent.  Transcendence is, in fact, assumed and taken for granted by both psychologists.  No doubt humans have created and borrowed symbols from each other for countless generations.  It is hardwired in our brains to weave symbols into stories and to apply storytelling to

Parsing Out Dystopia: Regressive Violence Against the Future

A couple of articles caught my eye recently and seemed to confirm a basic point I have considered over the past few years (see links at end of this post). Namely, we are living in dystopia now. Dystopia is not so much a strange future as it is the result of psychologically disabled people forcing their past into the future. This is the result the trauma and violence on the part of those who seek to revert the forces at play today to a version of society that no longer exists (except in their illusory minds). I decided to put the articles into Claude and consider things through that LLM. The first article was published by the liberal journal Salon , entitled “Never Mind Hitler: 'Late Fascism' is here, and it doesn't need Hugo Boss uniforms.” Claude summarized the article as follows: Claude: The article argues that fascism has existed as an undercurrent within liberal democracy all along, and does not require authoritarian leaders or overt displays like those of Naz