This is something I wrote around 1988, and is still good today. I'm placing it here for view and comment, and also because the server seems to be a rather good storage place for ideas.
Reality, true reality, is elusive. A sober man, mentally alert, can sense that he is close to realizing where he is at, what he is doing, and plans the effect of what he does. He also knows that there are things he cannot see that can spoil his plans, like the flu bacteria that invades his system from the lips of a loved one.
We can only get close to achieving a true picture of what is real. Our limited senses, our background information in our brain that tells us what things are, and our emotions and chemical changes in our bodies hold us back from getting a clear piture.
However, there are times, when conditions are right, that a flash of intuition gives us a jolt of pure reality. Throughout the ages, man has tried through prayer, drugs, meditation, and sacrifice to receive these jolts. And our greatest accompishments have been possible from this. A lot of conflict has come between this spiritual method of obtaining the truth, and the scientific, trial and error way. Right away, scientists claim that spiritual truth is not proven by existing facts. And the followers of the intuitive method chastise the scientist for his slowness.
Now, the scientist has a new tool, the database. The full knowledge of the world will be catalogued, analyzed, and information will be construed along with a statistic that describes the probability of the new facts being correct.
The mystic (spiritual user of intuition), concentrates on learning how the intuition works, and be able to call it for use on will.
So now, what are we to do? In order to search for the truth, which discipline do we follow? Or should we try to follow both? Which discipline will achieve its goal first? Or will some biological computer using both be invented? To my way of thinking, that seems to be the answer.
Then what? Population explosions, universal explorations, elimination of work, the true accomplishment of man will be devastating. And what will it be? A Tower of Babel for God to destroy? A merging with God? The new messiah? Or the Anti-Christ? Satan?
Definitely the end of the world as we know it.
Eight years later, I still feel this way. It's easy to see now the medium of choice for the database, but what about the spirituality tie-in? I have yet to feel anything spiritual from the net. (Am I missing something?)
Have the spiders evolved yet to be able to infer new truths with a probability factor? I'm sure someone is working on it. Give me a shout if you are, and I'll add a link.
I don't know about a biological computer with intuition. I expect this would have to be a person. I don't want to open myself for full discussion on this matter, 'cause the nuts would come out.
jimc@tough.com
Copyright © 1996 Jim Comeau