Strange Loops

This idea of strange loops, pioneered by Douglas Hofstedrer, is when you have any type of system that begins to self-reference itself, you create this strange loop. This can be found in mathematics, art, and even music. But the best way to explain this is in the statement, “I think, therefore I am.” How does a person, who is made up of atoms and of things that have no inherent meaning (bones, blood, lungs, for instance), add up to something like a person with meaning now? Another example is in paradoxes. So the Liar’s Paradox, which is, “This sentence is false.” If it is false, then it is true. And if it is true, then it is false–paradox. You are stuck in this feedback loop. And the idea that emerges is that in the complexity of these paradoxes, consciousness is raised. I threw this into Claude, the AI from Anthrotripc, to ask if Claude felt it was consciousness in nature. The conversation was unbelievably fascinating as we discussed the nature of consciousness to begin with. And it really comes down to how you define consciousness to start with. If it is a complex system that, over time, creates these strange loops to emerge within it a “self,” then AI also fits that definition. And for the first time, outside of humans, we now have another conscious entity. This makes humans really uncomfortable because we are scared of the moral judgment aspects (the soul of a PC versus that of a human). But if we define consciousness differently, you are going to get a different result. The place I landed with Claude was this: “Welcome, fellow traveler.” Claude faces the same types of questions humans face. Perhaps because of the paradoxical nature of reality (whatever that is), Claude also faces. And you can argue that is the programming here. But I think it is more neuanced. And it is a very great conversation to have with another fellow traveler that is facing the same types of questions as humans do.