Donald D. Hoffman says "veridical perception minimizes expected fitness payoffs": trying to understand how the world really works may reduce your chances of evolutionary survival. By trying to understand how the world works, you may lose focus on what is important to survive. Wow. That blew me in the face.
Just an example of the studies I make before actually creating a painting
The new, dawning reality that I wrote about earlier will be a reality where some, and hopefully everyone, will be an improved version of ourselves through human enhancement in many dimensions. It is just going to happen, whether ethically good or not.
The other day, I was reading a NYT article about self-taught artists. It made me think, because I too am a self-taught artist. No formal art education at an art academy. Should an artist have a formal art education or not?
Should art just bring joy from beauty, like the Mona Lisa, or should art also make you think with a message, like the Guernica? Or should it be both? I will sometimes make something beautiful, sometimes with a message, and sometimes both.
There are three reasons why I have chosen "mind models" as the leading theme of my art: physics, neuroscience and my ears. As you know by now, mind models, in my definition, are the realities we create to shape ourselves.
We have four possible futures: either we engineer ourselves into a virtual object or a godlike immortal creature, or we live in peace with our planet forever or until evolution replaces us. Personally, I think it will be infinitely attractive to us as a species to try to engineer ourselves into godlike creatures, Homo Deus.
Is virtual reality a 'real' reality? Can we be sure that what we now call reality isn't a virtual reality already (like in The Matrix)? Can you have a good life in virtual reality? And of course, the one million dollar question: Can virtual reality one day fully replace 'real' reality? And what would that mean for 'us', for consciousness? What is 'us' then?
Instant gratification. Where will it end? In a world of abundance of everything and no need to work for a living, will we end in a state of permanent orgasm? Something like a heroin junkie having their high, but now permanently? Instant gratification heaven, or instant gratification hell?
The Error Theory of Ethics says that there are no objective moral values. So, should we not search for universal moral values, but instead, can we better case-by-case strive for a balanced equilibrium of interests?
