art. humanness. souls. creativity. robots. algorithms. the impossible. God.

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i was commenting on a friend's blog and i decided to carry it over to a post.


can robots be creative? this post isnt about robots, but answering this questions might have some pretty solid implications on God, life, and the human soul. im writing a paper on how the soul is what makes humans human. the soul validates itself through algorithm*-less choices, creativity, and the possibility of failure - all of which are shown through expressive art (keyword expressive) because the art is a product of choices, evolving ideas, and subjectivity (not everyone will like it or deem it a "success"). expressive art in itself does not mean anything unless it points to the person/artist/creator. therefore, a printer cannot be an artist because though it creates, it cannot creatively create; it is merely a conduit of the creativity obeying a programmed, linear, and un-evolving algorithm to print an image. so can we ever create something that creatively creates? can we create non-linear algorithms that disobey themselves and evolve into other algorithms? is AI even possible or is it like trying to create life?


God is God because he can do the impossible by creating evolving algorithms. He is also an artist because He can creatively create. if the essence of life is to have breath and creativity, then He is the author of Life. He creates, therefore He is. -deep silence-

*(an algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that guarantees an output. for example, a math equation like 4x=8 is programmed to yield x=2 every time because it follows a uniform set of procedures. a calculator is programmed with algorithms to do arithmetic and also complicated equations to follow a procedure that will consistently yield a output. boom.)