Leibniz endeavored to provide an account of inference and judgment involving the mechanical play of symbols and very little else. The checklists that result are the first of humanity's intellectual artifacts. They express, they explain, and so they ratify a power of the mind. And, of course, they are artifacts in the process of becoming algorithms.
Interpretation
The quote discusses how Leibniz's work laid the groundwork for understanding human thought and the development of algorithms.
David Berlinski reflects on Leibniz's contributions to the fields of inference and judgment, highlighting how his mechanical approach to symbols paved the way for the creation of checklists, which are considered early intellectual artifacts of humanity. These artifacts illustrate not only the power of reasoning but also signal the evolution of these artifacts into modern algorithms, showcasing a profound link between human cognition and technological advancement.
In practice
In a philosophy class discussing the evolution of human thought and technology.
One of the peculiar sins of the twentieth century which we've developed to a very high level is the sin of credulity. It has been said that when human beings stop believing in God they believe in nothing. The truth is much worse: they believe in anything.
Oh, breathe not his name! let it sleep in the shade, Where cold and unhonour'd his relics are laid
God is not distant: he is 'Emmanuel,' God-with-us. He is no stranger: he has a face, the face of Jesus.
Things that happen every day are, frankly, what we in the news business aren't good at covering because there is no one day in which they are news.
So it is a good idea to start simple, I think, and be very careful. There is a spiritual opening in the Kosmos. Let us be careful of how we fill it. The simplest is: Spirit or Emptiness is unqualifiable, but it is not inert and unyielding, for it gives rise to manifestation itself: new forms emerge, and that creativity is ultimate. Emptiness, creativity, holons.
In a liquid modern life there are no permanent bonds, and any that we take up for a time must be tied loosely so that they can be untied again, as quickly and as effortlessly as possible, when circumstances change - as they surely will in our liquid modern society, over and over again.
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