5 ms·

We seem obviously to be the smartest living things in the universe we know of. We're also approximately the dumbest possible things that could construct the so

We seem obviously to be the smartest living things in the universe we know of. We're also approximately the dumbest possible things that could construct the society and technology we have (if we weren't, we would've done it sooner). I agree that some humility of our own intellect as primates would do us a lot of good in the coming age of AI.

lalopalota 4y ago
s/We /A few of us/
- kadonoishi 4y ago
  Appreciate the careful space after "We ".
  - dane-pgp 4y ago
    I suppose it makes up for the missing one after "us".
dustingetz 4y ago
civilization was not constructed, it evolved, like our biological bodies
- ben_w 4y ago
  I’d say it gets more constructed and less evolved the further up the hierarchy of civilisation we get. A merchant of 1320 had relatively few laws to contend with, a corner shop in 2020 could not function without many layers of engineered rules for the people who provide them with the services they are themselves required to use due to other engineered rules for the benefit of their customers.
  - MathYouF 4y ago
    This makes me wonder what laws and tedium of administration merchants of the 1320's would complain about. I'm sure they still had a few depending on the region, and maybe more severe possible outcomes (highway robbery, unlawful arrest because of the influence of a rival merchant, arbitrary taxation and tariffs, etc.).
    - ben_w 4y ago
      Yup. I think also languages were much more variable, and doing accounting in Roman numerals was so hard they did it twice and averaged the answers, and contracts and tax receipts were done by carving marks in sticks (hence, apparently, the etymology of "stocks").
      - simonh 4y ago
        Even the Romans didn’t use Roman numbers much for actual maths, they used the Greek system.
        ben_w 4y ago
        Huh, TIL. Thanks :)
        simonh 4y ago
        You’re welcome, I learned that here too a few years ago. Love HN.
  - Nasrudith 4y ago
    Construction and evolution aren't mutually exclusive, instead they are different parts of the process, the generation and the scoring functions really. Evolution works not because of DNA (although it is one mechanism) but survival bias in a literal sense. Things which survive longer and increase in number we wind up with more of.
jacquesm 4y ago
> We seem obviously to be the smartest living things in the universe we know of. Humblest too.

lalopalota 4y ago

s/We /A few of us/

kadonoishi 4y ago
Appreciate the careful space after "We ".
- dane-pgp 4y ago
  I suppose it makes up for the missing one after "us".

dustingetz 4y ago

civilization was not constructed, it evolved, like our biological bodies

ben_w 4y ago
I’d say it gets more constructed and less evolved the further up the hierarchy of civilisation we get. A merchant of 1320 had relatively few laws to contend with, a corner shop in 2020 could not function without many layers of engineered rules for the people who provide them with the services they are themselves required to use due to other engineered rules for the benefit of their customers.
- MathYouF 4y ago
  This makes me wonder what laws and tedium of administration merchants of the 1320's would complain about. I'm sure they still had a few depending on the region, and maybe more severe possible outcomes (highway robbery, unlawful arrest because of the influence of a rival merchant, arbitrary taxation and tariffs, etc.).
  - ben_w 4y ago
    Yup. I think also languages were much more variable, and doing accounting in Roman numerals was so hard they did it twice and averaged the answers, and contracts and tax receipts were done by carving marks in sticks (hence, apparently, the etymology of "stocks").
    - simonh 4y ago
      Even the Romans didn’t use Roman numbers much for actual maths, they used the Greek system.
      - ben_w 4y ago
        Huh, TIL. Thanks :)
        simonh 4y ago
        You’re welcome, I learned that here too a few years ago. Love HN.
- Nasrudith 4y ago
  Construction and evolution aren't mutually exclusive, instead they are different parts of the process, the generation and the scoring functions really. Evolution works not because of DNA (although it is one mechanism) but survival bias in a literal sense. Things which survive longer and increase in number we wind up with more of.

jacquesm 4y ago

> We seem obviously to be the smartest living things in the universe we know of. Humblest too.