The Function of Life
i’ve been wondering what it would look like if humans, or even just me... were written in code.
i think it’d be a single-threaded process.
and like any program, there would be a main function. main(): the function of life.
inputs come in - experiences. they run through this function. the function takes in an input, evaluates it against a layered set of beliefs, and then we simply do - the output of this function being whatever aligns with the most dominant belief at that moment, given the input.
sometimes beliefs get updated. most of the time, they don’t.
experience in → evaluated by belief → belief modified (or not) → output.
and through this mechanism, i realise we’re basically just autonomous robots. we think we think. but really, we just... do.
so is there anything we actually have control over?
am i simply typing this message because it's what i believed i should be doing right now? and are you reading this - up to this point - because you believed it was worth your time?
one thing’s for certain: i have your attention.
and maybe... that’s the secret.
because it seems like the only real bit of agency i do have is what i choose to focus my attention on.
and maybe for you - whether consciously or not - you kept reading because something in you decided there was value in continuing.
not even a rational decision necessarily. just... an output. a belief, triggered by an input, that said: keep going.
and so here we are. just two systems, exchanging signals. both thinking we’re thinking, while something deeper just does.