Michael Mangialardi

Covering the borderland between agents and humans from a classical Christian perspective.

Software engineer before AI showed up.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@cryptoID_info @fchollet Any self-initiated movement toward an end (animation) has a soul (animus).

So, yes there is a plant, animal, and human soul, and each builds upon the other in a hierarchy of being.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@aacc229475 @fchollet No. There is no end until a human programs it. Therefore, it is not self-initiated.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@cryptoID_info @fchollet I'd argue Aristotle/Aquinas defined the soul by its effects rather than a mere boundary:

https://t.co/kP8IkuZqRq
https://t.co/zjFCt9mpnu

Hegelian attempts to find consciousness within biology will fail if the soul is immaterial--as Aristotle asserted.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@bentpurgatory @fchollet What makes it a bad definition? It seems to map cleanly.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@just_steve_h @fchollet For Aristotle, the plant soul included the powers of nutrition, growth, and reproduction. All of these are goals that the plant reaches via self-initiated movement.

https://t.co/TZH0HBqAZX

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@cryptoID_info @fchollet Also, AI makes it even more interesting because you have a quasi-intellect and superpowered animal brain. With world models you add quasi-sense perception.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@cryptoID_info @fchollet Yes. I think this is where things get interesting, and there needs to be new terminology.

I suppose all computers have the ability to move toward and end, although they need to given that "soul."

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@migrainemelissa @fchollet Correct telos, goal, end are synonymous

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

https://t.co/jT8mXzWvCw

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@fchollet Plants are living, but not sentient without sense perception.

Animals are living, yet sentient by virtue of their sense perception.

Humans are living and sentient, but have immaterial powers (intellect and will)--hence, they must be body-soul composites.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@fchollet I think Aristotle has fitting definition for "living." Things are living (i.e., have a soul) when there is self-initiated movement toward an end.

Rocks do not have a self-initiated end; neither does an AI model.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@a16z @OpenRouter There’s also emerging research that is embedding harness capabilities directly into models.

With these advances, how can one create a meaningful software product with an edge that cannot be easily reproduced?

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@a16z @OpenRouter The potential to extend agent harnesses is evident, but the evolution of meaningful software products is less clear.

Moreover, as harnesses get better, the saturation problem proliferates proportionately.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@_ontologic https://t.co/FZvAAyBjys

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@matt_everhard I’ve had the idea for some time to purchase cheap Bible that would have just a single thing that would be highlighted. That way, you have a clear mapping between one theme and one Bible to browse as needed.

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@ryjlocal What’s the source?

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@aran_nayebi The key distinction is that man’s soul is immaterial and can be know by its immaterial effects: intellect and will.

https://t.co/hEJbM3TSr3

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@IBM Musical composition — I think it’s a better transition than plumbing

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

@crwiley1962 Worshipping Weston’s biological spirit

[Michael Mangialardi @humansandagents]

The Industrial Revolution sparked hopes of a universal republic, prosperity, the eradication of hunger, and the devolution of empires.

The AI Revolution seems to spark hopes of a universal "republic," that forfeits physical union for an ideological one.

https://t.co/gr9QRZazuk