The Magic Mirror. Third delivery

The magic mirror, the reason for unreason...

… “The reason for the unreason of your beauty”…Don Quixote exclaimed at the feet of Dulcinea del Toboso to declare his eternal love, in the emblematic and inexhaustible source of wisdom that is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Spain, 1547 - 1616)

Dulcinea del Toboso, as is known, was the leitmotiv character of the “delusions” of a gentleman named Don Quijano, by chance of the writer's imagination, he became a knight errant, protagonist of the immortal masterpiece.

Dulcinea, actually Aldonsa Lorenzo, far from being a beautiful and immaculate noble maiden, was a toothless peasant who understood nothing of the flattery of that eccentric knight who offered her his unconditional love.

I take this fragment of the masterpiece of universal literature as an excuse to expose an intellectual anchoring point towards our analysis of the relationship between our intellect, its nature and artificial intelligence.

In the same spirit - and although they may seem like factors disjointed -, we will see that these have a common thread that weaves them together and brings them together to make a third element that shows us an integrated vision of a panorama that may or may not be close to reality, but at least we are heading towards it. Along the way we will find new clues that will continue to show us new worlds to discover.

ThusI present the second lens / observation example:

???

According to the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939), there are three stages in the development of sexuality and human personality. The third stage of human sexuality, which according to Freud can never be completely reached, is the so-called “adult genitality”, a stage in which sexual drives are definitively appeased and give way to a life in intellectual and emotional/drive balance that It leads to a form of definitive and sublime maturity of the person.

Below we will analyze a study requested from Artificial Intelligence on the influence and impact exerted by the stage of genitality of Freud's psychoanalytic theory and some more modern theories that point out certain variants and specific contributions.

Once this is done, we will analyze, for our part, the action of artificial intelligence itself, its epistemic resources and its management in dynamic communication with me as inquisitor.

We will then see what conclusions we reach or what panorama we find afterwards.

Dialogue with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) system:

Inquisitor:

Hello. Today I want to talk about Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and the evolutionary stages of human sexuality and I want to stop at the last one, called adult genitality, a stage that supposedly can never be completely reached. What can you tell me about this aspect of the theory?

AI:

Hello! Of course, I will be happy to talk about Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and the evolutionary stages of human sexuality.

Freud developed psychoanalytic theory in the early 20th century, and one of his best-known contributions is the theory of the stages of psychosexual development. This theory postulates that an individual's sexual development is divided into several stages, and the satisfaction of certain needs at each stage influences subsequent personality and behavior.

The three main stages you mention are the following:

• Oral Stage: Focuses on the mouth as the main erogenous zone. This stage covers approximately the first year of life and is related to feeding and sucking.
• Anal Stage: It focuses on the anal area and covers around 2 to 3 years of age. Freud suggests that experiences related to toilet training can affect personality development.
• Phallic Stage: This stage occurs between ages 3 and 6, and focuses on the genitals. It is during this stage that Freud introduces the Oedipus complex and the Electra complex, which involve emotional conflicts in relation to parents.

Freud argues that the culmination of psychosexual development occurs in the genital stage, which spans from adolescence to adulthood. At this stage, libidinal energy is directed towards mature sexual relationships and the formation of more stable emotional bonds.

Regarding the claim that adult genitality can never be fully achieved, Freud suggests that there are always influences from earlier stages on the personality and that unresolved conflicts may persist. However, it is important to note that Freud's theory has been subject to criticism and has been revised over time. Many contemporary psychologists have proposed alternative approaches and questioned specific aspects of psychoanalytic theory.

Inquisitor:

Very good, but I want to go deeper into the analysis of the genital stage and the intellectual aspects and the modification of libidinal energy. How do you think the influence of libido affects stability in an environment of constant intellectual growth, if this is possible?

AI:

Freud suggests that in the genital stage, libidinal energy is directed toward mature sexual relations and the formation of more stable emotional bonds. Here, the libido is freed from previous fixations and focused on the search for sexual and emotional gratification in adult relationships. However, the idea that this stage ends completely can be questioned.

In relation to the influence of libido on stability in an environment of constant growth of intellectuality, it is interesting to explore how Freud's theory addresses the interaction between sexual drives (libido) and life drives (Eros) with the instincts of death (Tanatos).

• Life Drives (Eros): These include libido and are oriented toward survival and reproduction. In the genital stage, the libido is released to pursue mature emotional and sexual relationships.
• Death Drives (Tanatos): Freud also postulates the existence of a death drive, which is an impulse toward self-destruction and aggression. In the context of your question, we might consider how the death drive may influence intellectual development.

From the Freudian perspective, the balance between these drives can affect psychological and intellectual stability. If libidinal energy is channeled in a healthy way towards the pursuit of knowledge, creativity and intellectual growth, it could contribute positively to personal development. However, if there are unresolved conflicts or imbalances in these drives, psychological distress could arise, which, according to Freud, could manifest itself in various forms, including neurotic symptoms.

It is important to note that many current trends in psychology have evolved beyond Freudian theory, and there are more contemporary approaches to understanding intellectual and emotional development. Cognitive psychology, Erikson's developmental theory, and other approaches offer alternative, more up-to-date perspectives on how personality and intelligence develop across the lifespan.

Inquisitor:

Could you make any specific contribution about these more modern theories of knowledge and development of intellectuality?

AI:

Sure, I'd be happy to provide you with a look at some more modern theories about the development of intellectuality and knowledge. Importantly, these theories do not completely invalidate Freud's contributions, but they have expanded and enriched our understanding of human development. Here are some contemporary perspectives:

• Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development:Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development that focuses on how children actively construct their understanding of the world through interaction with available information. His theory addresses how intellectual skills, such as memory, logical reasoning, and problem solving, evolve throughout the different stages of child development.
• Erik Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development:Erikson extended Freud's psychosexual theory by including social and emotional aspects. He proposed eight stages of development that span the entire life, each with a specific task to overcome. These stages address issues such as identity, intimacy, and generativity.
• Lawrence Kohlberg's Socio-Emotional Development Theory:Kohlberg focused on moral development and proposed six stages of moral development spanning from childhood to adulthood. His theory focuses on how people reason morally and make ethical decisions.
• Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory:Bandura highlighted the importance of observational learning and the influence of the social environment on development. His theory highlights the role of role models and imitation in the acquisition of new skills and behaviors.
• Howard Gardner's Theory of the Development of Multiple Intelligences:Gardner proposed that intelligence cannot be reduced to a single capacity, but that there are multiple intelligences, such as linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, interpersonal, among others. This theory expands the traditional understanding of intelligence.

These contemporary theories have enriched our understanding of human development by considering cognitive, emotional, social and moral aspects. Each approach offers a perspective only about how intellectuality evolves and how individuals interact with their environment throughout life. It is important to note that current research continues to explore and refine these theories for a more complete understanding of human development.

Inquisitor:

If we unify all the existing theories and we had to make a definition that contemplates at least one aspect of each one separately, but in an integrated and holistic context, how would you define libido and its role in the generic development of the human personality?, considering beyond the sexual aspects; the intellectual, ethical, moral, cognitive and above all hermeneutical.

AI:

Integrating all theories into a holistic framework is a challenge, as they come from diverse currents and approaches. However, we could offer a broad definition that encompasses key aspects of these theories in the context of libido and its role in personality development:

Libido, in a holistic sense, can be understood as the vital energy that drives the integral development of the person throughout their life. This energy manifests itself in different dimensions, as proposed by Freud, Piaget, Erikson and others. It is not limited only to the sexual sphere, but also covers cognitive, ethical, moral and even hermeneutical aspects.

• In the sexual sphere, libido drives the search for mature emotional relationships and the healthy expression of sexuality.
• In the cognitive aspect, libido channels energy towards curiosity, learning, creativity and the active construction of knowledge, as proposed by Piaget.
• From an ethical and moral perspective, libido plays a role in the development of moral consciousness and the ability to make ethical decisions, as Kohlberg's theory suggests.
• In psychosocial terms, libido contributes to the formation of identity, intimacy and interpersonal relationships, according to the stages of development proposed by Erikson.
• In the social and learning sphere, libido, according to Bandura's theory, influences the observation, imitation and adoption of behaviors, as well as the internalization of social norms and values.
• In the scope of multiple intelligences, libido can be seen as a driving force behind the development of various abilities and forms of intelligence, according to Gardner's theory.
• From a hermeneutical perspective, libido could be considered the interpretive force that guides the subjective understanding of the world and the construction of personal and cultural meanings.

In this integrated framework, libido becomes a dynamic force that drives human development in its physical, emotional, mental and social dimensions, influencing the formation of personality and the ability to interpret and give meaning to human experience. It is important to note that this definition seeks to synthesize key elements of various theories and does not necessarily reflect the entirety of any of them specifically.

Inquisitor:

Thank you, you have been a valuable ally

AI:

You are welcome! I'm glad to know that could be of help. If you have more questions in the future or need additional information, don't hesitate to ask. I'm here to help!

This dialogue, transcribed verbatim to be taken per se as an object of study, shows us several aspects that we will take into account in the following lines.

First of all, it is necessary to highlight the accuracy and precision of the AI system's responses. These are objective and adjusted to logical validation based on documentary data entered into their data banks.

From the epistemological point of view, it takes each one as epistemes and manages them as such without altering or modifying their essences and contents, thus maintaining the logical coherence of the respective approaches and precision of the semantic and semiotic assemblies.

In short, there is nothing to object about AI responses from the point of view of their content, form or objective of their epistemic management. AI fulfills its mission satisfactorily.

From our human point of view, faced with the same question and over time and the experience shared at times and confronted at others, the phenomenological, ontological and epistemological vision of the phenomenon has been by nature discreet and collimated, although profound and creative in its environment specific study, all of which increased as positivism gained ground in the scientific treatment of natural phenomena, which obviously do not escape those concerning the human mind. In this way, scientific and philosophical currents have emerged that are oriented towards different horizons to travel through the same ocean of doubt and ignorance, in search of finding it at the end of their paths.

Each current of thought contributes a “specific meaning” to the study and analysis of the entities of interest, whatever they may be. However, the very existence of trends condemns their followers and practitioners to be immersed in them with the consequent lack of observation with the lenses of others, who, through other routes, go in search of the same "treasure." When their routes inexorably intersect (and this is no coincidence), the tendency is the confrontation and invalidation of the adversary through objective and procedural documentation according to Koch's postulates, which are undoubtedly the “abc” of scientific and positivist thought. Without which no progress is possible in the application of these sciences. That is to say, far from denying them, we adopt and practice them, but all of humanity knows that history is mined with innumerable findings, discoveries and contributions to the human collective of knowledge that originated very far from positivist methods even when they generated products of immeasurable value. scientist for humanity.

So, as AI itself mentions, according to Gardner, there are multiple “Intelligences” that do not necessarily respond to positivism, although they should not be integrated as a whole in the very generation of knowledge at its bases and during its process until the end.?

The procedural basis on which AI is built and developed is precisely the logical/deductive positivist one, since there is no way it can make an inductive process that subsequently motivates a logical/deductive one that closes in a circular manner in a mandatory algorithmic environment. .

AI inexorably needs an inquiring, triggering element (us) to put its logical machinery into operation, which can become incommensurable, but it will always be algorithmic and will require a fixed or relatively static physical substrate from a thermodynamic and logical-functional point of view. There will always be hardware and software.

What does it do to our subjectivity?

Can AI be subjective?

The answer to the second question is NO. But can humans be totally objective in any instance of life? In this case the answer is not so simple.

In living beings, regardless of our genetic pool or our logical and ordered information component in a specific way, the interactions of the environment, other living beings and biological communities will play a role, with slightly different results and behaviors. Although subgroups are identified in all populations and they share a universe of differences with others, they ultimately have a uniform, homogeneous and repeatable behavior, which makes them studyable as a scientific object. In each individual there will be a slightly differential behavior given by the subjective component (magical thinking, fantasy, imagination, beliefs and ideologies), all of them also influenced in the same way by the environment, other beings and the environment in general, forming another great fractal.????

Notwithstanding the above, each individual has multiple components that make up a fractal identity but inside it is identifiable like a fingerprint. This imprint could be the product of a universe of dynamic interactions with the environment, fellow humans, other species, with themselves throughout their perception (insight) and their own personal and shared life projects.

The same type of interactions are shared by human actions and disciplines since human are; therefore they cannot be separated from their nature.

These interactions make the existence of sensitivity, individual and collective emotion, perception, individual and collective knowledge, the individual and collective unconscious, magical thinking, life and death drives, instincts, libido.

There is not only one intelligence and neither is knowledge. Objective and positive knowledge is transmitted and shared through objective and concrete means, for which the recipient must have a minimum of training to fully understand and apply it. Artistic, hermeneutical, emotional and perceptual Knowledge is transmitted per se through the execution of an act that symbolizes or contains it but whose essence differs in nature from its own physical constitution. We can physically relate a sunset as the physical interaction of light with the atmosphere, but with these precise and exact data we will never be able to only make one feel the emotion of seeing “the sun hide on the horizon” and appreciate the beauty and aesthetics that this simple and everyday phenomenon can show us.

A postcard of a beautiful mountain forest on a quiet Nordic autumn afternoon may captivate us with its beauty, but if we were a deer standing in the same viewing spot as us, we would have a vision diametrically different from our own. Behind every tree, a deadly predator can hide. If the adult male deer (which is alone by the very nature of the species) had the ability to appreciate the aesthetic, beauty and emotional values that we have and that inspire in us feelings of peace, serenity and calm in that same place, It is motivated by the opposite. The deer must be alert to respond to defensiveness, fight or aggression facing the imminent deadly attack of many different predators. If the deer had the brain of a human and was in that condition of loneliness, it would probably be paralyzed by panic and would be far from observing beauty or apocryphal value of any kind in the environment that surrounds it. However, the deer is not prey to panic, but rather to extreme alertness and ability to face and solve the problem that it cannot yet identify but feel that is lurking there. Deer do not have the luxury of appreciating beauty or aesthetics. In short, the deer brain is perfect… for a deer.

With music you can convey a feeling or with a painting, or in a verse you can paint a landscape and a mood all at the same time.

I can transmit the interaction of the force of gravity with the surface tension on a hanging drop of water, with physical formulas that describe and demonstrate it completely, but I cannot transmit with them the sensation of visual pleasure that an image of that same drop can generate if I observe it when a beam of sunlight refracts through it...

Human intelligence is unique because it includes in its own essence, that of all the intelligences evolved in nature through millions of species of living beings that in the more than 3 billion years that life has been installed and evolving on earth, they did interactions in one way or another and established a large cybernetic network in which each factor (species, populations, individuals, environments, learning and instinctive, cognitive and experiential assets) make the global collective universe a chaotic system that is sensitive to each interaction and each induction of biological collectives; ditto for their individual essences.

What becomes a factor at a time and a place, becomes a factor of many other factors that will cybernetically act in the grand total of nature, from which the characteristics of the physical, functional and communicative structures (instincts, intelligences, states of pleasure/displeasure, convenience/comfort and finally emotions).

Speaking of artificial intelligence, there is no “versus”, but rather “along with”... There is also no final substitution.

Artificial intelligence is digital (reduced and limited discrete intervals 0/1), while biology is analogical (progressive, inductive and constant evolution but excitable in its slope). But biology is above all: cybernetics. Cybernetics is a pressure valve from a 19th century steam engine…

Perhaps in this instance I can convey the essence of our statement made previously:?

“In Biology, Hardware is Software” …

I can explain with positivist science the motives and etiology for Don Quixote's behavior at the feet of Dulcinea del Toboso, but I can also feel what Don Quixote feels when appealing to“Reason for the Unreason of her Beauty”…

Eduardo Terranova, 2024.