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08/19/2018

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Gregory Benford

"Alien Minds, with neuroscience people and philosophers discussing how aliens might understand the universe and what obstacles there are likely to be in communication." Any notes on ideas? Sorry missed it.

Cambias

Greg: The neurologists and biologists on the panel were very skeptical about communication with alien intelligence. Several of them pointed out we haven't even worked out a good definition of what intelligence is -- and there's a strong suspicion that it's actually a set of several different traits, all heavily contingent on human evolution.

The lone philosopher on the panel pushed back hard, arguing that there would be a common ground in scientific and mathematical truths (assuming the communication is via some technological medium).

Gregory Benford

Don't need orked out a good definition of what intelligence is--that'll emerge from the collision of species. We can't really speak to dolphins but they're (a) not all that smart & (b) not tool users, ie, no obvious math smarts to start with...

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