Dennettian
@dennettiancreature.bsky.social
Darwinian->Skinnerian->Popperian->Gregorian->Dennettian
It's frustrating to hear people debating whether AI is conscious. People need to understand the evolution of theory-of-mind - critical is this conversation. People are easily fooled by computer software that generates text that is statistically similar to consciously-generated language.
October 4, 2026 at 11:49 PM
It's frustrating to hear people debating whether AI is conscious. People need to understand the evolution of theory-of-mind - critical is this conversation. People are easily fooled by computer software that generates text that is statistically similar to consciously-generated language.
Reposted by Dennettian
I think the reason creating the computational structures that constitute consciousness in a computer can't create consciousness is that consciousness requires an "I" which requires self-motivated intention, which requires wanting and computers can't want.
October 3, 2026 at 7:27 AM
I think the reason creating the computational structures that constitute consciousness in a computer can't create consciousness is that consciousness requires an "I" which requires self-motivated intention, which requires wanting and computers can't want.
I like using AI as a search engine with a conversational interface. But it's problematic; it mimics theory-of-mind; it can fool the naive and ill-prepared. LLM's are trained on human language, which requires consciousness. I have no choice but to pretend at some level in order to use it properly.
September 27, 2026 at 10:19 PM
I like using AI as a search engine with a conversational interface. But it's problematic; it mimics theory-of-mind; it can fool the naive and ill-prepared. LLM's are trained on human language, which requires consciousness. I have no choice but to pretend at some level in order to use it properly.
Don't believe the hype.
September 16, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Don't believe the hype.
Reposted by Dennettian
Fucking bullshit that this guy is not only doing the press rounds but is the guy politicians on the "left" are taking their cues from.
September 16, 2026 at 4:20 AM
Fucking bullshit that this guy is not only doing the press rounds but is the guy politicians on the "left" are taking their cues from.
Reposted by Dennettian
I wrote down my thoughts about the last several weeks of AI hell.
aiguide.substack.com/p/misleading...
aiguide.substack.com/p/misleading...
Misleading Metaphors, Real Risks
What To Fear from AI Agents and How to Reclaim Our Human Agency
aiguide.substack.com
September 10, 2026 at 8:27 PM
I wrote down my thoughts about the last several weeks of AI hell.
aiguide.substack.com/p/misleading...
aiguide.substack.com/p/misleading...
"But in my view, the net effect of the last decade of “Doomer” talk (Coxon appears to be a card-carrying member of that party) has been to make the Frontier AI companies wealthier and more powerful." - Gary Marcus
Gary Marcus on the latest AI scare, taking various sledgehammers to crack this very small nut garymarcus.substack.com/p/no-anderso...
No, Anderson Cooper, AI is not going to kill all humans by 2030
AI is already causing harms, there are are many real risks, but constant focus on absurd end-of-the-world fantasies has made the situation worse
garymarcus.substack.com
September 11, 2026 at 5:03 PM
"But in my view, the net effect of the last decade of “Doomer” talk (Coxon appears to be a card-carrying member of that party) has been to make the Frontier AI companies wealthier and more powerful." - Gary Marcus
Reposted by Dennettian
AI Doomerism has been in the news lately, especially with the loud, viral resignation of Jacob Coxon from Anthropic.
Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't seen any statements from CEOs and other execs who are more on the AI Booster side of the ledger.
>>
Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't seen any statements from CEOs and other execs who are more on the AI Booster side of the ledger.
>>
September 11, 2026 at 3:05 AM
AI Doomerism has been in the news lately, especially with the loud, viral resignation of Jacob Coxon from Anthropic.
Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't seen any statements from CEOs and other execs who are more on the AI Booster side of the ledger.
>>
Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't seen any statements from CEOs and other execs who are more on the AI Booster side of the ledger.
>>
Reposted by Dennettian
My thoughts on existential risk:
* Humanity isn't going to be wiped out any time soon.
* Negligible chance that AI by itself causes catastrophic damage to humanity (millions dead).
* Some nontrivial chance that human beings will leverage AI to help them do something catastrophically harmful.
* Humanity isn't going to be wiped out any time soon.
* Negligible chance that AI by itself causes catastrophic damage to humanity (millions dead).
* Some nontrivial chance that human beings will leverage AI to help them do something catastrophically harmful.
September 10, 2026 at 4:26 PM
My thoughts on existential risk:
* Humanity isn't going to be wiped out any time soon.
* Negligible chance that AI by itself causes catastrophic damage to humanity (millions dead).
* Some nontrivial chance that human beings will leverage AI to help them do something catastrophically harmful.
* Humanity isn't going to be wiped out any time soon.
* Negligible chance that AI by itself causes catastrophic damage to humanity (millions dead).
* Some nontrivial chance that human beings will leverage AI to help them do something catastrophically harmful.
It is reasonable to claim a general hierarchy: life...sentience...intelligence...consciousness. AI systems extend human intelligence, so one could claim that AI exhibits intelligence, but it is not the AI's intelligence. A raccoon's intelligence belongs to the raccoon; it evolved within the...
September 5, 2026 at 11:04 PM
It is reasonable to claim a general hierarchy: life...sentience...intelligence...consciousness. AI systems extend human intelligence, so one could claim that AI exhibits intelligence, but it is not the AI's intelligence. A raccoon's intelligence belongs to the raccoon; it evolved within the...
Even if Mary could know everything about how her eye-brain system responded to the experience of seeing red, at the neuronal level including associated memories and emotions, she could not "know" the experience, because it is impossible to "know" or make sense of what is going on in her brain.
Mary’s Room and the Gramophone Model: The Brain Stores Residue, Not Color
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) Mary’s Room: Why Complete Knowledge About Colour Can Never Replace the Experience of Colour
PDF | Mary’s Room is commonly interpreted as showing that complete physical knowledge cannot account for conscious experience. This article offers a... | Find, read and cite all the research you need ...
www.researchgate.net
September 3, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Even if Mary could know everything about how her eye-brain system responded to the experience of seeing red, at the neuronal level including associated memories and emotions, she could not "know" the experience, because it is impossible to "know" or make sense of what is going on in her brain.
Reposted by Dennettian
Haha, a more fitting logo for Google.
August 31, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Haha, a more fitting logo for Google.
Please cancel all Google accounts.
August 30, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Please cancel all Google accounts.
God evolved on Earth.
August 29, 2026 at 11:36 PM
God evolved on Earth.
Thank you Simon. This is a welcome and much needed debunk. A related topic is the Baldwin effect - how culture alters the fitness landscape for further genetic evolution, and that in turn affects culture.
Debunking “nature versus nurture”, a thread.
Different people in a population carry variations in their DNA; the science of genetics makes it possible to assess if/how that correlates with individual differences in any observable trait, from medical conditions to aspects of cognition/behaviour.🧪1/9
Different people in a population carry variations in their DNA; the science of genetics makes it possible to assess if/how that correlates with individual differences in any observable trait, from medical conditions to aspects of cognition/behaviour.🧪1/9
August 27, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Thank you Simon. This is a welcome and much needed debunk. A related topic is the Baldwin effect - how culture alters the fitness landscape for further genetic evolution, and that in turn affects culture.
Consciousness evolves. Mind emerges. Theory of mind is emergent informational/behavioral connective tissue that holds society together. It evolved to domesticate the ape. Bodies with brains are the cells of a collective, having mind-antennae for societal circulation. Natural language is health.
August 26, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Consciousness evolves. Mind emerges. Theory of mind is emergent informational/behavioral connective tissue that holds society together. It evolved to domesticate the ape. Bodies with brains are the cells of a collective, having mind-antennae for societal circulation. Natural language is health.
Reposted by Dennettian
This sign is a great example for helping to explain why chatbots present such a potent illusion.
A probably not short thread 🧵>>
A probably not short thread 🧵>>
![Photo of a sign with a doorbell attached. The printed sign reads:
CURRENT GUGGENHEIM ACCES BY HUSKY CARD ONLY
[Logos for Amazon, FedEx, UPS]
DELIVERIES/VISITORS
PLEASE RING THIS DOORBELL
Delivery hours M-F 9:00am-(obscured)
University of Washington
Taped next to the doorbell is a hand written note that reads:
yes! it rang! Pelase wait 30 seconds before pressing again.
thanks!](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:aeug3w4mdhnc2wv73hmrh36v/bafkreiapsjhnxrhqjrux3pi4np3xrwg4twz7tcrlwkmyojstelb2ndfzdi)
August 20, 2026 at 4:09 PM
This sign is a great example for helping to explain why chatbots present such a potent illusion.
A probably not short thread 🧵>>
A probably not short thread 🧵>>
Reposted by Dennettian
"Musk’s meddling in the site’s algorithm to suppress certain kinds of posts and elevate others is well documented. So if your anti-fascist posts on X are still getting views, it’s either because these posts are so toothless as to escape Musk’s notice, or because they are in fact useful to him."
It Is Past Time for You to Quit Elon Musk's X
Yes, I'm talking to you. 🫵
publiccomment.blog
August 17, 2026 at 7:20 PM
"Musk’s meddling in the site’s algorithm to suppress certain kinds of posts and elevate others is well documented. So if your anti-fascist posts on X are still getting views, it’s either because these posts are so toothless as to escape Musk’s notice, or because they are in fact useful to him."
Regarding theories about life and the way information and computation - as the fundamental currency of living matter - consumes, captures, and uses energy: that energy and the body it functions within is necessary for anything that can be said to have experiences. Blaise Agüera y Arcas refers to...
August 9, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Regarding theories about life and the way information and computation - as the fundamental currency of living matter - consumes, captures, and uses energy: that energy and the body it functions within is necessary for anything that can be said to have experiences. Blaise Agüera y Arcas refers to...
Enshittification manifestation: "dickover". Informational web sites where the text is impossible to read because of moving, flashing, animating shit in the periphery that seem to be perfectly timed for maximum distraction. daringfireball.spicytakes.org/post/2026-05...
What Is a Dickover? - John Gruber
Exploring John Gruber's definitive writings on Apple, UI design, web standards, and the tech industry through two decades of Daring Fireball.
daringfireball.spicytakes.org
August 6, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Enshittification manifestation: "dickover". Informational web sites where the text is impossible to read because of moving, flashing, animating shit in the periphery that seem to be perfectly timed for maximum distraction. daringfireball.spicytakes.org/post/2026-05...
The philosophical zombie is not possible. Every existing phenotype feature was selected for by evolution. Phenomenal consciousness is part of a larger behavioral ecosystem including theory of mind and language. Experience is not an option - it comes with being alive.
August 4, 2026 at 9:46 PM
The philosophical zombie is not possible. Every existing phenotype feature was selected for by evolution. Phenomenal consciousness is part of a larger behavioral ecosystem including theory of mind and language. Experience is not an option - it comes with being alive.
I think Blaise Agüera y Arcas articulates Minsky's Society of Mind idea with good evidence and explanation in his book What is Intelligence. He also captures a lot of Dennett's later thinking on mind and society. I wish he were more thorough with citation, but overall the book is illuminating.
July 26, 2026 at 5:23 PM
I think Blaise Agüera y Arcas articulates Minsky's Society of Mind idea with good evidence and explanation in his book What is Intelligence. He also captures a lot of Dennett's later thinking on mind and society. I wish he were more thorough with citation, but overall the book is illuminating.
Reposted by Dennettian
Phil Halper (aka Skydivephil)
@skydivephil
·
33s
Premiering now, everything wrong with Panpsychism with a a panel of experts in philosophy of mind youtube.com/watch?v=jQzS...
@skydivephil
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33s
Premiering now, everything wrong with Panpsychism with a a panel of experts in philosophy of mind youtube.com/watch?v=jQzS...
Panpsychism Debunked: Why Consciousness Isn't Everywhere
YouTube video by Phil Halper (aka Skydivephil)
youtube.com
July 23, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Phil Halper (aka Skydivephil)
@skydivephil
·
33s
Premiering now, everything wrong with Panpsychism with a a panel of experts in philosophy of mind youtube.com/watch?v=jQzS...
@skydivephil
·
33s
Premiering now, everything wrong with Panpsychism with a a panel of experts in philosophy of mind youtube.com/watch?v=jQzS...
Exciting to see the concept of Umwelt as applied to neural nets. From just reading the abstract, my take-away: if you train a neural net with everything that matters to a racoon, it will result in racoon-like representations (although I have no idea how such training would be done).
But a footnote to the term 'world model':
What world does a world model represent? arxiv.org/abs/2604.17960
What world does a world model represent? arxiv.org/abs/2604.17960
The Umwelt Representation Hypothesis: Rethinking Universality
Recent studies reveal striking representational alignment between artificial neural networks (ANNs) and biological brains, leading to proposals that all sufficiently capable systems converge on univer...
arxiv.org
July 23, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Exciting to see the concept of Umwelt as applied to neural nets. From just reading the abstract, my take-away: if you train a neural net with everything that matters to a racoon, it will result in racoon-like representations (although I have no idea how such training would be done).