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Understand (1991)

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Re: Understand (1991)

#31

Post by constantcrying »

thesz wrote: post #17

>wielding one's body is a mental activity. While my strength hasn't increased, my coordination is now well above average... First part is true and it brings up the question why Professor Xavier did not controlled his body with his telepathic powers? The second part is not true. If one can coordinate to fire more muscle fibers at once, one can exert more power. I also do not like that two superintelligent beings are f…

>From what I know, these of intelligence quotient above 160 usually are interested in their work and life and rarely exhibit any, let me say, non-normal behavior.

Even academic mathematics has its share of Dramas. Engaging in conflict is a core evolutionary neccessity, being very smart does not remove you from that.

Re: Understand (1991)

#32

Post by TheFattestNinja »

ipsum2 wrote: post #26

I think I'm stupid, the ending didn't make any sense to me.

《SPOILERS 》There is some idea that if conceived can destroy you. Greco wants to use it to attack the protagonist. The protagonist defends himself by delaying his perception and passing all inputs through a simulated concept so that when Greco communicates the idea it would destroy the sandbox and not himself. But Greco never tells the protagonist the idea. It just lets the protagonist formulate it themselves as a reaction to all the triggers Greco planted beforehand.

Re: Understand (1991)

#33

Post by TheFattestNinja »

ipsum2 wrote: post #26

I think I'm stupid, the ending didn't make any sense to me.

《SPOILERS 》There is some idea that if conceived can destroy you. Greco wants to use it to attack the protagonist. The protagonist defends himself by delaying his perception and passing all inputs through a simulated concept so that when Greco communicates the idea it would destroy the sandbox and not himself. But Greco never tells the protagonist the idea. It just lets the protagonist formulate it themselves as a reaction to all the triggers Greco planted beforehand. Before in the story the prot limits his mind not to think "dangerous" things but the limitation of that model is that you need to have a way to describe what not to think about without thinking about them actively. Since hes not aware of the idea existing beforehand he has no limits in place against that. And so they lose their mind.

Re: Understand (1991)

#34

Post by nextworddev »

This is my favorite Sci Fiction of all time, long or short.

Why? It really paints a visceral picture of how learning happens and how superhuman intelligence is achieved through both neuron and physhiological transformations.

Re: Understand (1991)

#35

Post by dmazin »

I love Chiang’s work. I also enjoy all the nonfiction essays he has written lately on AI.

Regarding this story itself. I have a guilty love of stories about genius. Can anyone recommend similar stories/books/movies?

Re: Understand (1991)

#37

Post by jadbox »

TheFattestNinja wrote: post #33
ipsum2 wrote: post #26

I think I'm stupid, the ending didn't make any sense to me.

《SPOILERS 》There is some idea that if conceived can destroy you. Greco wants to use it to attack the protagonist. The protagonist defends himself by delaying his perception and passing all inputs through a simulated concept so that when Greco communicates the idea it would destroy the sandbox and not himself. But Greco never tells the protagonist the idea. It just lets the protagonist formulate it themselves as a rea…

I had a slightly different take that there was no highly advanced "attack". Greco merely encouraged the protagonist to drop their ego boundary, causing the protagonist self-centered mental breakdown to occur. It seemed clear to me that throughout the story the main form of the protagonist unhappiness and stress stemmed from an egocentric orientation (total separation from society and nature).

Re: Understand (1991)

#38

Post by munificent »

dmazin wrote: post #35

I love Chiang’s work. I also enjoy all the nonfiction essays he has written lately on AI. Regarding this story itself. I have a guilty love of stories about genius. Can anyone recommend similar stories/books/movies?

Flowers for Algernon.

Re: Understand (1991)

#39

Post by hzay »

TheFattestNinja wrote: post #33
ipsum2 wrote: post #26

I think I'm stupid, the ending didn't make any sense to me.

《SPOILERS 》There is some idea that if conceived can destroy you. Greco wants to use it to attack the protagonist. The protagonist defends himself by delaying his perception and passing all inputs through a simulated concept so that when Greco communicates the idea it would destroy the sandbox and not himself. But Greco never tells the protagonist the idea. It just lets the protagonist formulate it themselves as a rea…

The protagonist is super intelligent but didn't foresee this? Also, what is the idea that destroys him?
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