added by Ajinkya Wadhwa · updated 2y ago
Page Not Found — Wait But Why
- Not only could this mind within a mind think its own thoughts, it could actually overrule the will of the genes, override the software’s commands, and drive human behavior.
from Page Not Found — Wait But Why by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- Let’s call our ancient animal software, which is still very much in our heads—our Primitive Mind. And let’s call this highly advanced, independent new consciousness our Higher Mind.
from Page Not Found — Wait But Why by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- If genes could talk to their animal, they’d probably issue a few simple commands:Stay alive and well functioning as long as possible. And then pass us into new containers before you inevitably deteriorate. Once we’re in new containers, those containers are more important than you. Sacrifice yourself if it’ll help them fulfill the first two instruct... See more
from Page Not Found — Wait But Why by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- When he thinks about it—and he does think about it, sometimes—he wonders whether this is all a mistake and he ended up in the wrong head. Because he can’t help but notice that next to him at all times is a hectic ball of orange fuzz that was living here when he moved in.
from Page Not Found — Wait But Why by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- So genes are like gravity—but animals aren’t like atoms.
from Page Not Found — Wait But Why by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- The Higher Mind is rational, reasonable, and thoughtful.
from Page Not Found — Wait But Why by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- But when the tides turn, the Primitive Mind’s torch grows along with his influence, and the room gets increasingly smoky. The more smoke there is, the more it blocks the Higher Mind’s light, cutting off his access to his human and making it hard for him to do his job.
from Page Not Found — Wait But Why by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- This light was so bright and so clear and so powerful that it was as if it had its own awareness—an awareness of itself, of the human it lived in, of the ancient software running beside it. The human brain had grown a mind of its own that could think for itself.
from Page Not Found — Wait But Why by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago
- When you have a relentless force consuming finite resources, something’s gotta give. In a star, atoms give, fusing into bigger atoms. In the animal world, animal species give, morphing into new, mutated species—or, more often, going extinct.
from Page Not Found — Wait But Why by Tim Urban
Ajinkya Wadhwa added 2y ago