There is no doubt that the description we have received (of living in the world)  is a valuable possession, similar to the rigid stake that is tied to a tender sapling to strengthen and guide it. It allows us to grow up as normal people, within a society that is molded to that rigidity. To achieve it, we had to learn how to ‘skim’ – that is, how to make selective readings from the enormous volume of data that arrives to our senses. But once those readings are converted into ‘reality’, the rigidity of our attention works as an anchor, because it prevents us from becoming aware of our incredible possibilities. ~ Carlos Castaneda, Encounters with the Nagual

I’ve been thinking lately about artificial intelligence and how our species is rapidly evolving into the arena of exactly that. Most people are “skimmers”, merely touching the surface of a subject in order to accumulate meaning and knowledge. Yes, as you know this is nothing more than self-importance, nothing more than accumulating knowledge to claim to know things without really knowing anything.

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