Can A.I. be Empathic?
Not readily in the completely human sense of course. But can A.I. show sufficient ‘empathy’ for a human to recognize it as such, relate to it and even ‘grow’ through it? [Please read: “Landscape of Empathy”] Humans tend to ‘recognize’ human features in many things. We look at the clouds and we see human faces Read the full article…
Towards Universal Empathy
Universal empathy is a moral stance that may solve the in-group >< out-group problem. [‘further on ‘In-Group Creates Out-Group?’] “How numerous the living beings may be, I pledge to liberate (from suffering) them all.” This is one of four Buddhist ‘vows of the Bodhisattva.’ Not being an adept of Buddhism, I find in it a Read the full article…
In-Group Creates Out-Group?
One frequently encounters the idea that a group gets formed by building defensive walls against other groups. Is this the best way? People are groupish. This is: we like to ‘be in a group’. Yes, with quote signs, because the group may be of very diverse kind. For instance, it may be quite abstract: a Read the full article…
Delayed Gratification, No Frustration
The ability to delay gratification is important in any well-functioning society. Can it be fostered with little frustration? Western culture evolves towards a cult of ‘immediate gratification.’ Is this healthy? Marshmallow In a 1960s experiment at Stanford, a number of kids got one marshmallow and could get three if the child wouldn’t eat the one Read the full article…
Moral Motivation
If morality doesn’t lead to action, then what’s the use? Let good people do good things. How? I guess the doing should not be the focus of an additional endeavor. It should be part and parcel of the moral communication itself. For instance, telling a child what is moral behavior, should deeply touch the child Read the full article…
ACE in a Moral World
ACE: Adopt – Combine – Expand. This is a recurring pattern that I see in many domains. It’s also specifically relevant in morality. I invented the acronym ACE a few weeks before writing this text while looking at many patterns and recognizing this underlying blueprint. So, please remain skeptical. Nature is a tinkerer, not an engineer. Read the full article…
Collective Morality
This is not about any concrete ‘habits and rules of moral behavior.’ Collective morality is about the thinking about such habits and rules. It should be based on rationality as much as possible. This rationality should be founded on two endeavors as always when rationality is optimally exercised: taking into account as much as possible Read the full article…
Morality VERY Broadly
Medicine, education, judicial system… morality is relevant not only towards any direct purpose but also in how things are done. This may be seen as the deeper purpose. VERY? Morality being about ‘relief of suffering’ – of oneself and others [see ‘Morality Is the Relief of Suffering’] – it is relevant in many domains, including Read the full article…
Don’t Think Too Fast: “I Do Know It”
AURELIS, or more generally the deeper self, is not easy to grasp. That is clear. Less obvious perhaps is that it is VASTLY not easy to grasp. According to me, the greatest difficulty is an ego that is standing in the way. Is it really necessary to thoroughly ‘grasp’ it? According to me, the greatest Read the full article…
A Symbol for the Deeper Self
Religions often find the use of symbols very important, not only in stories but also physically: using statues of wood or stone, special ‘sacred spaces’ with an altar, incense, and the like. There is also a community of people, who come together at certain times: these gatherings are ‘symbols’ too if they are meaningful for Read the full article…
A Synthesis of a Synthesis
Below are some of the things that, together, straightforwardly show the importance of AURELIS. They are put in a super direct way and so they lack some nuance. This is a synthesis of a synthesis: The placebo-effect is a proof of the huge power of the deeper self. Lots of cases of being-ill result from Read the full article…
The Real Power of a World Model
A world model is not only a model of the world. It is also a model that comes from the world (the world in a certain model) and that can act upon an individual in a very powerful way. First of all, dear reader, it can act upon you too. Allow me to be very Read the full article…
The ‘AURELIS Choice’
In short: this is about a conscious choice for the ‘total person’, in which ego at least has a very interesting place but is not standing in the way of the ‘deeper self’. It is a choice of ego itself to occasionally take a step aside. Team-play. AURELIS is an attempt to realize this in Read the full article…
AURELIS USP: ‘100% Rationality, 100% Depth’
USP: ‘Unique Selling Proposition’. A term from the hard business world. That is, of course, also this world. A USP induces someone to echo, in just a few words, the basis of what a product/project is about. It is a message, a ‘promise’. The AURELIS take goes to something that indicates: ‘100% rationality, 100% depth’. Read the full article…
Peace
It’s the people who create the war. Of course. A similar cliché is: peace only starts within yourself, and nowhere else. But what does that mean, ‘peace within yourself’? Peace does not start at the enemy, but at the enemy of the enemy. At yourself, thus. And then also at the enemy. Because even that Read the full article…
Autosuggestion Changes Your Brain
Something that may hold someone back from really being able to put faith in the influence of autosuggestion on the body, is the idea: psyche is abstract – how can this have an impact on the physical, concrete body? This is a question that’s on many people’s minds since long and probably many people will Read the full article…
Expansion of Consciousness
Curious how so many different worlds can live in one word People talk often about expansion of consciousness as something that is quite the opposite from what is my understanding of it. At the very least, I think, it is interesting to clarify this distinction. Because AURELIS is about expansion of consciousness from a to Read the full article…