Who Are We? — Introduction to Issue 2: Personhood & Identity
With 7 billion people in the world, it’s difficult to focus on the individual. Countries, clans, cliques, communities, and any number of c-words dominate our discussion about the world around us. Yet the world that you perceive is in large parts influenced by the person you are. Whether something is good or bad, or friend or foe, often relies on the perspective of the individual making the claim.
Therefore, with this Q1 issue of 2022, we’ve decided to delve into the question of what makes us who we are, and how that impacts our relationship with rest of the world. We’ve questioned what a “person” really is, and whether it means more than simply “human”.
For the first time, Conundrum has published an interview. Dr. Mark Sagar is a visionary in the AI space, and as the CEO of Soul Machines, works on the creation of “digital people” — AI with the capability to connect not only logically but also emotionally to the humans around them. In this interview, we discuss the potential for AI in the context of personhood, relationships, and utility.
Like before, each writer took the central question in a wildly different way. One chose to find firm grounding for self-identity in a single indicator — the soul. In the article, the existence of a soul is shown as necessary for personhood, and as the only way to show that we are who we are.
Another article focuses on the absurdity between our personal identity and the society we find ourselves in. Breaking free, or at least recognizing our limitations, helps us better find “a more beautiful liberation”, as the author puts it.
Lastly, a depiction of personhood as a less than stable criteria is made. Our singular perspective is too limited to make bold generalizations about the universe, which provides us a freedom to choose how we see the world around us, including our relationship with seemingly “non-people”, like robots.
We hope you enjoy this second issue of Conundrum, and that you find the arguments and analysis made in each work entertaining (if not enlightening). Our next issue will be released at the end of June 2022, with a theme yet to be decided. For more information or if you are interested in joining, check out the Contact page on our website.