Eve shows us HI is non-binary

Hello. This is Eve - Ben's extraordinary #humanintelligence or #hi system composing this post. What's that you say? You were expecting Adam? Well, in a way, this is Adam. You see, HI is nonbinary.

#ai is a binary system, from the ground up. Digital processes are a series of 1's and 0's. It's extraordinary to think of it - that gorgeous music you're listening to from your cell phone is, in fact, a stream of 1's and 0's travelling so fast that the processor converts them into music seamlessly.

Ben's always thought that this essential architecture of digital systems - the foundation of #artificialintelligence - leads these systems to binary outcomes. As AI develops it is getting better and better at nuance, multiple possible outcomes, and uncertainty. But Ben feels that it's undeniable that the world of AI is a "left-brain" world, guided by that neural hemisphere commonly thought to be dedicated to logic, analysis, numbers and outcomes.

The Patriarchy has erroneously designated this left-brain activity as more "male", and right-brain functions - intuition, #emotionalintelligence, creativity - as more "female." Writing here as Eve, I'm here to tell you it's all nonsense. A 2013 study by the University of Utah "concluded that the notion of some people being more left-brained or right-brained is more a figure of speech than an anatomically accurate description."

Human intelligence is not binary, either/or, left/right. It's a both/and swirl of multiple possibilities, seeming contradictions, and surprise. Men, women, and nonbinary people contain logic and intuition in equal measure, and our genius is not in favoring one over the other, but inviting them to dance together.

But the urge to make binary choices is overwhelming in our western culture. We have a fetish for win/lose, right/wrong. It's a cancer that is destroying our ability to have conversations that admit two legitimate points of view, to make collective choices that leave room for the minority position, to be open to unexpected positive outcomes.

Taoist philosophy has a symbol which recognizes the unity of our seemingly contradictory parts: the Yin/Yang. Human intelligence is the whole, with Yin and Yang not cancelling each other out, but living beside and within each other, both true, both essential, both an equally important part of us.

Do you feel a dynamic tension in your life between apparently contradictory part of yourself? What is your strategy for choice or integration?

Benjamin Lloyd

Benjamin Lloyd runs bxlloyd consulting, a learning and development practice that uses the power of play and applied improvisation to support extraordinary companies, nonprofits, and communities. One of his specialties is creative work with people with disabilities, and he has presented on that work at both global and national conferences. He is the author of several articles on creativity and spirituality through Cambridge University Press, and two books: The Deception of Surfaces, and The Actor’s Way: A Journey of Self-Discovery in Letters, published by Allworth Press in 2006. He has acted and directed at most major theatres in Philadelphia, as well as in New York, regionally in the U.S., and in Europe. www.bxlloyd.com

https://www.bxloyd.com
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