on.the.other.side.of.the.table

I got to sit in on the job interviews this morning. As part of our we.are.a.charity.so.lets.hire.cheap.labour motif, we take advantage of the UBC co-op program every term and hire extra help for the office. These, of course, have appeared in many incarnations. And now, alas, the time has come yet again to hire the next poor.soul to our ranks. As such, I sat-in on — and at some level did participate in — the interviews of our four candidates. It’s odd being on that side of the table. Every interview I have every been involved with previously has involved blood, sweat and fear. This was much more casual. Hmmm… management skills. Hooray.

cured.meats.and.such

As I was explaining to Jess last night — mostly incoherently I think — I was victim to some subliminal messaging. Primed to finish The Two Towers, I plopped down and was pouring over the last few chapters. As such, Frodo and Sam were leaving Faramir’s party, taking with them some well packed food packs: fruits, nuts, and cured and salted meats… Mmm… cured meats, I thought, and I put on my jacket and stole down to the local convenience store — named for just such conveniences — and bought a small pack of beef jerky. Salvation — and an end to the cravings — all thanks to two bucks worth of desiccated.meaty.things. It’s funny how the human brain works.

Karin and I were discussing this very thing over dishes last night. It seems they were having a debate over metaphysics and existentialism yesterday at work: what is the mind, and can we create an artificial human mind using a computer? I thought about this — rambled about this — a bit while I dried, and thought that maybe the difference between a human mind and computer mind is process. Follow me here, this gets complicated.

A human mind follows the pattern of: input —> thought —> output
while a computer “mind” follows the pattern of: input —> processing —> output

So what’s the difference between thought and processing? No much? Lots? That’s where the argument tends to land — and stay — and dwell — and miss the fundamental difference: in a computer, input, processing, and output are three fundamentally distinct ideas. Input comes from the user/enviroment/feedback. Output is sent to other parts of the system. Processing is a mathematical transformation between the two. In a human mind, these three elements exist as similar elements, but — but — thought itself can also serve as not only a kind of processing, but also a kind of input AND output. In other words, thoughts can manifest, remanifest, as well as become, shape, and act as all ends, means, and in.between of human “processing.” Does a computer look at it’s own processing? In a sense, but no. Not nearly to the same extent, nor in the same reflective and meshingly integrated sort of way as does a human mind.

It’s a thought in progress, but I just thought I’d share.