R7.5 The Forms, the Matrix, and AI w/ John Vervaeke
Ancient Greece Declassified
Dr. Lantern Jack
4.8 • 587 Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2022
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Philosophers today often dismiss Plato's Theory of Forms as an outdated and failed attempt by a pre-modern thinker to explain knowledge. However, cognitive scientist John Vervaeke offers a radically different take on Plato's theory and how it ties in with recent debates about the nature of intelligence.
John Vervaeke is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of the popular YouTube series Awakening from the Meaning Crisis.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following episode is also available in video format on YouTube. |
| 0:05.0 | If you're more of a visual person than an audio file, you can view it on our channel at |
| 0:09.0 | YouTube.com slash lanternjack. |
| 0:11.0 | I hope you enjoy. |
| 0:17.0 | Hi! |
| 0:19.0 | Thanks for tuning in to Ancient Greece, declassified. |
| 0:23.6 | Episode R7.5, The Forms, The Matrix, and AI. |
| 0:29.6 | Everyone knows the story of Plato's cave. |
| 0:36.6 | Even if you haven't read Plato's own account of it in The Republic, you know some version |
| 0:41.7 | of the story because it's been reused, repurposed, and reinterpreted by countless authors, |
| 0:46.5 | playwrights, and movie directors. |
| 0:48.4 | Perhaps the most famous recent adaptation is The Matrix. |
| 0:51.9 | If you've seen that movie, you know the basic outline of the cave. |
| 0:55.0 | It's a story of awakening, of realizing that everything you thought was real, in fact, isn't, |
| 0:59.0 | and of the painful but exhilarating journey that leads to the discovery of what truly is real. |
| 1:05.0 | 2400 years later, this story arc still captivates us. |
| 1:08.0 | We feel its power. |
| 1:09.0 | But what about the theory of knowledge that Plato intended his story to illuminate, the so-called |
| 1:14.2 | theory of forms? |
| 1:15.8 | How does that theory hold up today? |
| 1:17.9 | It's been criticized by philosophers. |
| 1:19.7 | It's often mocked by students. |
... |
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