
What Do You Believe But Cannot Prove? - jackchristopher
http://www.edge.org/q2005/q05_2.html
======
markbao
Given how unfathomably large [1][2] our universe is, there is life out there.

We can't be so special, that in all of the universe, we're the only living
organisms.

[1]
[http://content.ytmnd.com/content/c/1/4/c14120ab010cd708c758f...](http://content.ytmnd.com/content/c/1/4/c14120ab010cd708c758f95499a2a468.gif)

[2] compare
[http://screenshots.markbao.com/660e999564918601acab7157bbac8...](http://screenshots.markbao.com/660e999564918601acab7157bbac84cd.png)
and
[http://screenshots.markbao.com/f0698e51086874626454f576b3f99...](http://screenshots.markbao.com/f0698e51086874626454f576b3f992c1.png)

~~~
rms
You ever see this?
[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070814150630.ht...](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070814150630.htm)
<http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1367-2630/9/8/263>

------
10ren
"It is by logic we prove, it is by intuition that we invent." - Henri Poincaré
<http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Poincare.html>

------
tc
That unwavering respect for individual liberty and personal sovereignty is
superior to all other systems by which man can relate to man.

That no end can be moral if the means to that end require using violence and
force against a peaceful individual who has not aggressed against his
neighbor.

That a free society is a strong and secure society.

That only freedom can breed sustained innovation and growth.

------
rms
<http://www.simulation-argument.com/>

Though my understanding of the simulation I am living in is rather different
than what Bostrom posits.

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anigbrowl
My cash flow projections.

------
godDLL
That there's hope for humanity.

------
nradov
Human intelligence and free will is largely the result quantum interactions
that are more complex than most anyone suspects. True artificial intelligence
will never be possible on transistor-based computers regardless of Moore's law
or software advances.

------
kvs
P != NP

~~~
dantheman
P=NP

Come on, at least be an optimist.

~~~
kvs
Have a feeling P=NP will implode the allure surrounding algorithms,
optimization, and computer science in general. :)

------
jackchristopher
Note that I submitted _Page 2_ of the article. Page 1 was too cluttered, but
has interesting comments too.

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philh
I was actually thinking about this question an hour or so ago, in the shower.
I believe this is pure coincidence.

I also believe that, given a certain amount of liberty, motivation is the most
important single factor in determining the success of an individual. This
depends on the definition of success, but is reasonably robust. In particular,
it covers wealth and happiness (commonly used to judge other people's success
and our own, respectively).

------
10ren
Too many! But I like the second one's (STANISLAS DEHAENE) idea that _we can
mobilize our old areas [of the brain] in novel ways._

I think so too. It reminds me of a study that showed that when we use tools
(eg drive a car), we use the same brain areas as when we move are bodies. We
literally use tools _as_ an extension of the body. That's deep sensory and
motor flexibility, that seemingly could exist without intelligence.

~~~
8plot
I too have been thinking about this same phenomenon, and I believe some day
(soon), BCI + exoskeleton/ artificial wings will give us the true ability to
fly like birds.

------
falsestprophet
nickb = paul graham

~~~
aswanson
Do you believe you can assign nickb that value or that they are equivalent?

------
endtime
I don't really _believe_ anything I can't prove (in the philosophical sense; I
believe reasonable things that I haven't personally verified, like for example
that the moon is not made of cheese.).

But there are things I'd like to believe but don't know how to
"prove"/justify:

-That we have free will (in the sense that requires that the universe is nondeterministic).

-That some things are absolutely morally wrong.

------
pg
It's worth doing good work.

------
riffer
Trying to disprove things is the best way to get in touch with reality

------
mindhacker
Intelligence beyond earth.

------
known
God

------
skorgu
That intelligence is nearly guaranteed to emerge from sufficiently complex
systems.

------
Luc
That the universe consists of matter, albeit strangely behaving matter, and
that everything we see in the universe, no matter how wonderful, can be
ultimately reduced to the interactions of this matter.

------
speek
Computational AI will never get anywhere close to true Intelligence, but
Neural Networks might get close.

Even better would be a hardware _and_ software approach, not a brute forcing
approach.

~~~
saurabh
I have pondered over this for a while. When we say human intelligence or "true
intelligence" as you say it, the fact is, it is full of irrationality and
errors. I believe that computational AI will go farther than we can imagine
for the simple reason that we cannot process information the way a computer
can; its relentless.

~~~
aristus
Insisting that computer intelligence resemble human intelligence is probably
the characteristic that the future will mock the most, like the way we mock
primitive overdecorated Victorian machines.

------
esonica
1\. Living with a positive attitude attracts positive events and outcomes in
your life.

2\. I can do anything I put my mind to ; unproven till I have done everything
:)

------
tdavis
Perpetual Satori. Trying to prove it only proves I'm not yet allowing myself
to understand it. Therein, as the saying goes, lies the rub.

------
Raplh
That nothing I believe can be proved.

------
joshu
I don't know what it is but edge's format has always been difficult for me to
read.

~~~
Luc
Get the book: [http://www.amazon.com/What-Believe-but-Cannot-
Prove/dp/00608...](http://www.amazon.com/What-Believe-but-Cannot-
Prove/dp/0060841818/)

------
vicaya
That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting
for.

------
8plot
Massive collaborative fiction will produce the next great novel.

~~~
olefoo
Don't do it; the last time someone tried that they wound up w/ Myspace.

~~~
8plot
Too late, I've already started, and so far it's working better than I
imagined.

~~~
Shamiq
Link us, please.

~~~
8plot
<http://StoryMash.com>

~~~
olefoo
Excellent, let's hope you turn out more like LiveJournal though ;-)

------
herval
that the man never actually landed on the moon? :-)

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cabalamat
God doesn't exist.

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Angostura
That this comment will rightfully be voted down.

------
pclark
Good work is effort well spent.

------
Banzai10
Swine flu will dissapear soon!

