From 67a7eb3f5607ba11d206c265301895ac252ccc9f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Sergiu Ivanov Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:27:38 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Start and introduce the Deal. --- deal.tex | 65 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 65 insertions(+) create mode 100644 deal.tex diff --git a/deal.tex b/deal.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d54bf3 --- /dev/null +++ b/deal.tex @@ -0,0 +1,65 @@ +\chapter{A Deal with Life} + +Life is one of the most beautiful things in the universe. Arguably, +it is because we humans belong to the kingdom of Life that it +fascinates us so. Beyond its intrinsic beauty to which our sensory +organs are attuned, it also deeply attracts us because of the +self-referentiality of its contemplation: when thinking about Life, we +often think about our interactions with it, and ultimately +about ourselves. + +Self-referentiality is also a hurdle: it is intrinsically difficult to +conceive of oneself. Even though theoretical computer science is no +substitute for philosophy, I enjoy taking Gödel's incompleteness +theorems\footnote{\url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gödel's_incompleteness_theorems}} +and especially Hilbert's +\emph{Entscheidungsproblem}\footnote{\url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entscheidungsproblem}} +and the halting +problem\footnote{\url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem}} +as vivid examples: Turing's famous proof states that a Turing machine +cannot generally decide whether another Turing machine will ever halt. +Since abstract computing devices can be seen as distant +mathematizations of the human brain, this formal result hints that +entirely conceiving of our mind---and by extension of Life itself---is +borderline intractable. + +The difficulty of self-referiantiality is also deeply disturbing, +especially because understanding how our bodies function within their +environments has so many essential implications: dealing with the +climate crisis, tackling diseases, improving the quality of life, to +only cite the foremost ones. To avoid the worry of looking into the +mirror for too long, one can brutally build a wall between oneself and +``the rest'' of Life, and adopt what may be called the Engineer's +position: a living organism is a machine constituted out of mechanical +pieces, whilst the human disassembles, adjusts, and reassembles them +again, improved. + +Modern biology, medicine, biotechnology illustrate the high +performance of the Engineer's approach, and this text is not +a criticism of mechanicism per se. Nevertheless, its efficiency does +not entail total truthfulness, nor even exclusivity about truth. +In other words, mechanistic views allowing for impressive technical +achievements does not mean that these views fully reflect reality, nor +that mechanicism is the final stop on our journey to understanding +Life. In my research, I aim for exploring different approaches to +Life and tools supporting such approaches. I take particular +enthusiasm in thinking about striking \emph{a deal with Life}: +establishing \emph{mutually beneficial} interactions with living +systems. + +Concluding deals as opposed to taking the Engineer's position resets +the power balance in our relationship with Life: instead of seeking to +control, hack, or otherwise dominate living organisms, the goal is to +further take into account their well-being. I believe that +approaching Life from this viewpoint is essential if we are after true +solutions to fundamental problems such as the climate crisis or +complex diseases. On a more philosophical note, the framework of +mutually beneficial interactions should remind us that our +intelligence in no way warrants an extraction of the human being into +an exceptional superior stance---we are part of Life, and we ought to +think and act accordingly. + +%%% Local Variables: +%%% TeX-engine: luatex +%%% TeX-master: "hdr" +%%% End: