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Why birds do not fall while sleeping

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21–30 of 191 posts

Re: Why birds do not fall while sleeping

#21

When I was younger, I was fascinated by evolution, especially the intricacies of how things just work. This fascination also explains why many people believe in the intelligent design theory. However, witnessing the rapid evolution of AI with just a few hundred GPUs, enough data, and power, I no longer wonder what a billion years of feedback loops and randomness can achieve.

Rapid evolution of AI needs a director, a human training and guiding it to get tangible results.

Which is built on all this "billions of years of randomness" to begin with.

Re: Why birds do not fall while sleeping

#22

You know how when your hand is relaxed, your fingers are curled? When birds relax, their feet curl in a similar way, and this provides enough grip that if they're on a perch, they will automatically hold on as easily as if they're awake. There's a bit more to it, as the way the tendons in their feet and legs are attached, the foot will automatically grasp when the ankle is bent, so it's a much stronger grip than our…

> It's the wings and chest muscles that get tired.

But some birds can use tricks to fly without flapping, and I'm pretty sure some birds can sleep aloft.

https://news.mit.edu/2017/engineers-identify-key-albatross-m...

Re: Why birds do not fall while sleeping

#23
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So do humans, babies and the elderly especially. What has 4 legs in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and 3 in the evening? The key here is how relaxed is the interpretation of "permanent".

Baby crawling adults walking and old man with cane?

Okay but that's a pretty long day, isn't it? I'm not sure that's a proper 'riddle', per se.

Re: Why birds do not fall while sleeping

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rapid evolution of AI needs a director, a human training and guiding it to get tangible results.

Which is built on all this "billions of years of randomness" to begin with.

Random, that's what we think, bacteria living in gut can also think the whole digestive process to be part of some random universal law

Re: Why birds do not fall while sleeping

#26
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For now.

The AI guiding and training another AI will in turn need guidance on higher level.

Even if it does break the loop, it would always be named as started by a 'creator' or an initiator. And also the AI will require power source to maintain itself which will be provided by creatures outside it's system.

Re: Why birds do not fall while sleeping

#28

When I was younger, I was fascinated by evolution, especially the intricacies of how things just work. This fascination also explains why many people believe in the intelligent design theory. However, witnessing the rapid evolution of AI with just a few hundred GPUs, enough data, and power, I no longer wonder what a billion years of feedback loops and randomness can achieve.

AFAIK key insight into evolution is not randomness but rather sheer amount of compute. Specifically, evolution is a massively parallel flood algorithm that will try every single mutation. Barely any of them will have positive impact on organism fitness, but some will.

Re: Why birds do not fall while sleeping

#29
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kangaroos engage in quadrupedal (actually pentapedal—using their tail as well) locomotion at slow speeds.

Indeed, their trademark hopping is actually only really when stressed/startled. Many of the animal sanctuaries in zoos in Australia actually have little signs telling visitors not to be disappointed if they don't see the animals actually hopping: "Laying down and sunbathing, and the slow walk with their tail is a sign of relaxation and a lack of stress on the animal."

Oh. I did see one hopping across a local park. I didnt realize it might be stressed. I assumed like a dog they like to run.

Re: Why birds do not fall while sleeping

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is built on all this "billions of years of randomness" to begin with.

Random, that's what we think, bacteria living in gut can also think the whole digestive process to be part of some random universal law

Using your analogy, it's absolutely unknowable to bacteria, and therefore absolutely unknowable to us. Random is perhaps the most intellectually honest way of describing it, since it is widely accepted that randomness is a feature of relatively uncomplicated systems.
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