Rav B. Horovitz's 'Will The Computer Replace The Mind'
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Will the Computer Replace the Mind?by Rav B. Horovitz An adaptation based upon articles by Rav S. D. Sassoon and Rav Arye Kaplan. Science and advanced technology appear to have brought us to the pinnacle of the Biblical mandate to subdue the world (Genesis 1:28). Not only has man conquered the world of outer space, he is achieving domination in the inner space of the nucleus. He is unravelling the mysteries of genetic codes and is engineering new life forms. The computer, and the technology of robotics and artificial intelligence, stand at the frontier of man's efforts to master his world. A computer is capable of doing calculations …show more content…
The influx into the mind of man, human individuality, comes from the mind of the cosmos, from G-d. I can look at the table from six sides, but it is only the mind which holds together the six sides. That also explains why the letter vav (“and”) is the word which connects events, because it is only the mind which connects a past event with the present, and the present with the future. “Six days the Lord created heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and became the Soul” (Exodus 31:17). When one sees a glorious sunset or a majestic landscape one feels in touch with a greater Mind because then the ego shrinks. We realize that our petty concerns are small in comparison with the great harmony we perceive. This is why the Sages have given us a blessing to say for all the wonders of nature, which make us conscious of the transcendental world. Through immersing oneself in the great harmony of life and Divinity which is contained in the Torah, one encounters the spiritual space, where the soul-mind of man resides. In our day, when man so readily likens himself to a machine and
Will the Computer Replace the Mind?by Rav B. Horovitz An adaptation based upon articles by Rav S. D. Sassoon and Rav Arye Kaplan. Science and advanced technology appear to have brought us to the pinnacle of the Biblical mandate to subdue the world (Genesis 1:28). Not only has man conquered the world of outer space, he is achieving domination in the inner space of the nucleus. He is unravelling the mysteries of genetic codes and is engineering new life forms. The computer, and the technology of robotics and artificial intelligence, stand at the frontier of man's efforts to master his world. A computer is capable of doing calculations …show more content…
The influx into the mind of man, human individuality, comes from the mind of the cosmos, from G-d. I can look at the table from six sides, but it is only the mind which holds together the six sides. That also explains why the letter vav (“and”) is the word which connects events, because it is only the mind which connects a past event with the present, and the present with the future. “Six days the Lord created heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and became the Soul” (Exodus 31:17). When one sees a glorious sunset or a majestic landscape one feels in touch with a greater Mind because then the ego shrinks. We realize that our petty concerns are small in comparison with the great harmony we perceive. This is why the Sages have given us a blessing to say for all the wonders of nature, which make us conscious of the transcendental world. Through immersing oneself in the great harmony of life and Divinity which is contained in the Torah, one encounters the spiritual space, where the soul-mind of man resides. In our day, when man so readily likens himself to a machine and