Comments on: Jaron Lanier, intelligent squid, and the future of communication http://pacificempire.org.nz/2007/03/08/jaron-lanier-intelligent-squid-and-the-future-of-communication/ Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:08:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Phil http://pacificempire.org.nz/2007/03/08/jaron-lanier-intelligent-squid-and-the-future-of-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-3270 Phil Sat, 10 Mar 2007 12:49:36 +0000 http://pacificempire.org.nz/?p=244#comment-3270 I think you're missing the point of post-symbolic communication completely. Think Greg Egan and uploading. It would be revolutionary in terms of what could be conveyed, and the varied techniques and nuances which could be used on an ad-hoc, creative and completely individual basis. You can't say that about facial expressions. You might as well say that vocal communication is limited by background noise levels, which is also true but it doesn't detract from talking as our most important means of communication. Finally we don't really have any knowledge about what squids and octopuses express beyond the absolute basics. Also worth noting that the squid could be individually identified by their unique patterns. The medium rather than the content of squid expression is what Lanier wants us to emulate, anyway. I think you’re missing the point of post-symbolic communication completely. Think Greg Egan and uploading. It would be revolutionary in terms of what could be conveyed, and the varied techniques and nuances which could be used on an ad-hoc, creative and completely individual basis. You can’t say that about facial expressions.

You might as well say that vocal communication is limited by background noise levels, which is also true but it doesn’t detract from talking as our most important means of communication.

Finally we don’t really have any knowledge about what squids and octopuses express beyond the absolute basics. Also worth noting that the squid could be individually identified by their unique patterns. The medium rather than the content of squid expression is what Lanier wants us to emulate, anyway.

]]> By: Luke http://pacificempire.org.nz/2007/03/08/jaron-lanier-intelligent-squid-and-the-future-of-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-3196 Luke Thu, 08 Mar 2007 10:30:43 +0000 http://pacificempire.org.nz/?p=244#comment-3196 "Imagine the potential of communication by instantly changing your appearance. You could describe ideas, express emotions, convey a massive amount of information through complex patterns." Uh, Phil, don't we already convey emotions by instantly changing the appearance of our facial features? I think the use of communication-via-appearance will always be limited because you have to be looking at the person at the exact moment when they are expressing their message. From descriptions, it seems like squid communication is limited to simple emotions and signals - things we already can convey with face, gestures, etc. “Imagine the potential of communication by instantly changing your appearance. You could describe ideas, express emotions, convey a massive amount of information through complex patterns.”

Uh, Phil, don’t we already convey emotions by instantly changing the appearance of our facial features?

I think the use of communication-via-appearance will always be limited because you have to be looking at the person at the exact moment when they are expressing their message.

From descriptions, it seems like squid communication is limited to simple emotions and signals – things we already can convey with face, gestures, etc.

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