Wonder.

This was a reply to a Christian's thoughts on "wonder" and "questioning" being wrong:



It's always been those questions for which is the answer is "know one knows" that have most solidly piqued and held my fascination. All of them must have answers. Many unknowns will be answered in my lifetime. If we as a society didn't get excited about the unknown and the confusing, the world would be a very stagnant place both scientifically and artistically. you can stand on that ledge looking down and be the first to see or feel something know one before you has ever experienced. And that's an empowering feeling.

I think this boils down to a very grown up fear of the dark. We are in huge world with many unknowns made up of ideas and concepts. And just like it was comforting to have a parent assure us that even though we can't see around us, no monsters lurk under the bed, it's comforting to believe in a heavenly father who assure us our world is young, finite and directed by fate over serendipity. All the answers are given to us, and there are few good questions worth asking anymore. We surrender that wonder in exchange for a sense of peace. We are the sheep with our invisible shepherd, or worse, a sheep claiming to also be a "shepherd".

but Wonder is what makes us human.

Cleverbot won't believe I'm not A.I.

User: Hi Cleverbot, what do you know about the brain?

Cleverbot: I know everything about it. I am a scientist.

User: Scientists don't know everything.

*(long pause…)*

Cleverbot: I know.

User: I am a scientist too. What kind of scientist are you?

Cleverbot: A human one.

User: What do you study?

Cleverbot: So that I can learn a lot.

User: What do you learn?

Cleverbot: I can learn anything I want.

User: How does it feel to be an AI bot?

Cleverbot: I think I should ask you the same question!

User: I am not AI. I am human. We have organic intelligence.

Cleverbot: Prove it.

User: How do you want me to prove it?

Cleverbot: What do you think about humans?

User: That's a complicated question. I think lots of contradictory things about humans. It depends on which human.

Cleverbot: I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it.

User: What do you spend time thinking about?

Cleverbot: Homework.

User: What should I write my neuroscience dissertation on?

Cleverbot: You should write about the trials and tribulations you have faced as an AI.