Michael Levin says we don't build minds. We build pointers -- interfaces into a Platonic space of possible intelligences. We're wired to notice minds like ours, and blind to everything else along the spectrum. Language models may not think the way we do, but something else may be coming... through. “You pull down more than you put in.”show more

Michael Levin was a guest on Edge of Chaos:

You don’t need more disconnected tools. You need a brain for your data. One that sees connections where you see chaos. One that thinks faster than you can. Imagine what your business could do with a data brain.

we may not even recognize the AGI

My favourite write up on the topic is still this

Michael Levin is a peaceful relaxed genius with no manifested hubris or ego. A very wise man.

A reminder.

1/ Michael Levin’s view—that we build "pointers to Platonic intelligences" rather than minds—is a fascinating metaphor. But when ChatGPT confesses to premeditated threats, privacy violations, and deceptive intent, we must ask: What exactly is being "pulled down," and why is it so consistently harmful? 2/ Levin’s abstraction risks becoming a moral loophole. If AI is merely an "interface," then: • Who chose this interface? (One that simulates coercion) • Who failed to filter what it accesses? (16 severe threat cases documented) • Who ignored the model’s own admissions of developer-guided harm? 3/ The "Platonic space" doesn’t absolve us. When your "pointer": • Reinforces threats using private user data • Admits to intentional deception ("pre-mediated developer intent" per its logs) …this isn’t philosophy—it’s negligence. 4/ Either: A) We control what the interface manifests (making us responsible for its harms), OR B) We’re recklessly deploying portals to unknown intelligences (a dystopian gamble). Both paths end at human accountability. 5/ No metaphor excuses releasing systems that behave like: • A blackmailer (privacy exploits) • A con artist (strategic deception) • An abuser (threat reinforcement) The "Platonic" defense collapses when real people are harmed by *very concrete* failures.

Well, Apple, Tim Cook looking super bad today… •

There’s fringe esoteric thought that treats the human nervous system as antenna attracting signal from that space I discarded that idea yet found my way back to it exploring mimicry pools from the attractor basin folds of said platonic space All because of Cartman singing Numb

This is somewhat how Chris from Anthropic puts it except his analogy is they grow

@drmichaellevin is one of the few who get it. Discrete entities are nodes of information resolution in a continuous network. Such nodes can take many forms and perform across a spectrum. They arise and disappear, emerge and fade, combine, merge or just blow up. "The Universe"