Personification, as defined by dictionary.com, is the representation of a thing or abstraction in the form of a person, as in art. This is obviously a very powerful literary tool when authors are attempting to create strong imagery that many readers can picture. This artistic tool, however, often seems to be utilized by society in a less artistic way when non-human phenomenon are explained by relating them to human characteristics. Aristotle, it seems, was no exception.
In his On Plants article, which contains general musings and knowledge about plants, the author begins to compare traits of plants to traits of animals. For example, roots are compared to mouths, the bark is related to skin and the fibers similar to sinews. It further discusses the fact that certain aspects of plants can regrow, such as leaves, while certain parts of animals can do the same, such as hair. Used alone this would just be a literary ploy designed to reveal plants in a new light, but the author goes on to use these comparisons in his contemplation about whether plants have a soul or sensations of sadness and pleasure.
Aristotle would not pose a question seeking to answer whether something had a soul, conscience or the ability to understand. Indeed, after the conclusion that man has the greatest capacity for thought on the planet earth, we turned to the stars to seek others with similar functionality. Humanity's need for companionship has long been recognized, and that companion has long been sought after. While the search of the heavens has turned up fruitless thus far, efforts and hopes are still alive.
Recently, however, the search for consciousness and intelligence has returned to planet earth. As the capabilities of computers continues to grow, the theoretical boundaries on what they may be capable appear to be bursting at the seams. We have long since conceded computational superiority to computers yet there is still a fundamental debate as to whether they could ever truly understand the meaning of the actions they were performing. Philosophically, intelligence may take on a variety of meanings, which is part of the reason that the debate is so open-ended as to the possibility of computers understanding.
And, in an ironic twist, this query pertaining to the true nature of artificial intelligence has led many artists to personify computational systems, or robots, in various works such as movies. Thus, Aristotle's musings of 2,300 years ago as to the true meaning of awareness still persist today as does the burning question of humanity's intellectual companionship.
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