Theory of Mind in Artificial Intelligence

 

Image from techicy

The term “theory of mind” was not in my sphere of knowledge before today. In case it’s not in yours either, it means: “the capacity to understand other people by ascribing mental states to them — that is, surmising what is happening in their mind”. Obviously, this is something we learn to do through experience and/or training. It is similar to, but not identical with empathy.  I heard this interesting term while listening to a youtube video called the A.I. Dilemma. It seems as though this thing called artificial intelligence has been learning things faster than predicted, and no one noticed until a couple of months ago. It now has the “theory of mind” of a nine-year-old child. We humans became alarmed a few years ago when social media began to feed us what we wanted to hear. There is currently a photo making the rounds which purports to be a baby peacock. It is extremely colorful and beautiful, and it is artificially generated. Many people don’t realize this and don’t want to believe it. This is a complicated, deep subject. We are being called upon to recognize truth, and to make every effort to be impeccable in our words, while having pure motives for our actions. Let’s start with the small stuff which is right in front of us. Do your beliefs take you to dead ends in thought? Let’s pay attention and grow deeper!

“Reality can dawn only on an unclouded mind. It is always there to be accepted, but its acceptance depends on your willingness to have it. To know reality must involve the willingness to judge unreality for what it is. To overlook nothingness is merely to judge it correctly, and because of your ability to evaluate it truly, to let it go. Knowledge cannot dawn on a mind full of illusions, because truth and illusions are irreconcilable. Truth is whole, and cannot be known by part of a mind.” 

A Course in Miracles T-10.IV.2:1-6

“Finite mind manifests all sorts of errors, and thus proves the material theory of mind in matter to be the antipode of Mind. Who hath found finite life or love sufficient to meet the demands of human want and woe, — to still the desires, to satisfy the aspirations? Infinite Mind cannot be limited to a finite form, or Mind would lose its infinite character as inexhaustible Love, eternal Life, omnipotent Truth.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 257:22-29

What a Wonderful World!

 

What A Wonderful World

Louis Armstrong

I see trees of green 
Red roses too 
I see them bloom 
For me and for you 
And I think to myself 
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue 
And clouds of white 
The bright blessed day 
The dark sacred night 
And I think to myself 
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow 
So pretty in the sky 
Are also on the faces 
Of people going by

I see friends shaking hands 
Saying, "How do you do?" 
They're really saying 
"I love you"

I hear babies cry 
I watch them grow 
They'll learn much more 
Than I'll ever know 
And I think to myself 
What a wonderful world

Yes, I think to myself 
What a wonderful world 
Ooh yeah

Written by: George David Weiss, George Douglas

Album: What A Wonderful World

Released: 1968

https://youtu.be/rBrd_3VMC3c

Bees are Freeing the Light

 

Photo from Aaron Springston

At this time of the year, I love revisiting a documentary called “Queen of the Sun". In this film about bees, we are told that pollen is materialized light. We're also shown that this light is freed through blocks of honeycomb, beautifully shared with all as pure, sweet honey. And yet again, the light is freed in the goodness of beeswax candles. The freeing of light is cumulative with the bees, and it's something we can experience as we unshackle the light and peace and joy within ourselves. Another lesson from the bees is the importance of community. Watching them working together for a common cause is uplifting and inspiring to me. It makes me want to join with my neighbors and do something important! 

“Mind, supreme over all its formations and governing them all, is the central sun of its own systems of ideas, the life and light of all its own vast creation; and man is tributary to divine Mind. The material and mortal body or mind is not the man.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 209:5-9

“Your brother may not know who he is, but there is a light in his mind that does know. This light can shine into yours, giving truth to his words and making you able to hear them. His words are the Holy Spirit’s answer to you. Is your faith in him strong enough to let you hear?” 

A Course in Miracles T-9.II.5:8-11

Only Loving and Lovable

I have an old friend who feels like she’s drowning in sadness. A man she didn’t want to live without died, and she’s having a tough time going forward on her own. I can understand how she feels as she tries to remember how to be happy. The things we spoke of today led me to tell her about Mary Haskell, the woman who loved Kahlil Gibran. Although she was much older than him, he died many years before her. At his funeral, her friends were amazed that she was so peacefully happy and they wanted to know how that could be. She told them she felt closer to him than she ever had before. I talked to my friend about our unity in divine Love and our inseparability as the experience of God. I’m not sure if she felt better, but I certainly did!

“Today we see only the loving and the lovable. We see it in appearances of pain, and pain gives way to peace. We see it in the frantic, in the sad and the distressed, the lonely and afraid, who are restored to the tranquility and peace of mind in which they were created. And we see it in the dying and the dead as well, restoring them to life. All this we see because we saw it first within ourselves.”
A Course in Miracles W-124.4:6–5:4

"Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Being, and [Its] reflection is man and the universe."
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 465:17-1

A Return to Peace

Photo credit: Aaron Springston

At a meeting, we were talking about how to leave behind disturbing events and return to peace. One woman said she wakes up in the night and her thoughts turn to troublesome things — things which seem to have no solution. Another friend spoke up and said that when this happens to her, she takes deep breaths and repeats the word, “thankful”. As she loses herself in her breath and gratitude, she peacefully returns to sleep. I like that a lot. We all have our ways of turning off this worrisome voice which is based in mortal mind, not divine Mind. I love hearing how others tune into the channel of peace, so let me know what you do! I love the realization that if we get lost in insanity, we have the choice of returning to tranquility!

“The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace.Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress.”
Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 506:11-14

“If we give way to a disturbance, let us learn how to dismiss it and return to peace. We need but tell our minds, with certainty, The stillness of the peace of God is mine, and nothing can intrude upon the peace that God Himself has given to His Son.”
A Course in Miracles W-273.1:3-4

Decluttering, Inside and Out

 

My attention was drawn to the interesting concept of accumulating things simply for the sake of the dopamine rush which comes from the act of shopping. I hear that some people don’t even open packages, but simply stash things away in closets and under beds. I also watched a video which equated decluttering our mind to decluttering our homes. Our accumulations can become prisons for us, and we’re not sure what to do with all our stuff. We may spend too much time taking care of these things: moving them about, cleaning them, worrying about someone stealing them. When I was considering moving, it became quite clear that I was not attached to many things in my home. The last time I moved was almost three decades ago, and it would be nice to give everything away other than absolute necessities — and my art, of course. But since there is no attachment to my tables and chairs — or even my mother’s dishes — it doesn’t seem necessary to get rid of anything. BUT perhaps I’m rationalizing this and I really am attached! I’m pretty sure I crave peace more than things, but it bears watching my ulterior movies in this perception! Hum ….

“Beauty, wealth, or fame is incompetent to meet the demands of the affections, and should never weigh against the better claims of intellect, goodness, and virtue. Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.” 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 57: 15-21

“Under all the senseless thoughts and mad ideas with which you have cluttered up your mind are the thoughts that you thought with God in the beginning. They are there in your mind now, completely unchanged. They will always be in your mind, exactly as they always were. Everything you have thought since then will change, but the Foundation on which it rests is wholly changeless.” 

A Course in Miracles W-45.7:1-4

One Thing at a Time

 

It’s easy to become flustered and overwhelmed by life’s events. I witnessed a person who had reached the proverbial end of their rope today. All the little things had been rolled into a very large ball of knotted string and she was stuck: stuck in feelings of frustration of overwork. I was reminded of the necessity of living in the moment, of doing one thing at a time, of delegating authority to others for the chores easily accomplished by anyone with a desire to do so. Being present is often thought of as a simplified way of looking at life, with many of us thinking it is impossible and counterproductive to do. And as long as our brains are going around in circles, it is extremely difficult. This is where meditation, quieting the mind, is invaluable. Someone once said if you don’t have time to meditate for 20 minutes, do it for an hour. Breathe. Focus. Put one foot in front of the other. I pray to lead the way by example. May peace be with you …

“If men understood their real spiritual source to be all blessedness, they would struggle for recourse to the spiritual and be at peace; but the deeper the error into which mortal mind is plunged, the more intense the opposition to spirituality, till error yields to Truth.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 329:26-31

“The Voice of the Holy Spirit does not command, because It is incapable of arrogance. It does not demand, because It does not seek control. It does not overcome, because It does not attack. It merely reminds. It is compelling only because of what It reminds you of. It brings to your mind the other way, remaining quiet even in the midst of the turmoil you may make. The Voice for God is always quiet, because It speaks of peace. Peace is stronger than war because it heals. War is division, not increase. No one gains from strife. What profiteth it a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? If you listen to the wrong voice you have lost sight of your soul. You cannot lose it, but you can not know it. It is therefore ‘lost’ to you until you choose right.” 

A Course in Miracles T-5.II.7:1-14