The following is simply a comment I first attempted to post in response
to a piece written in the blog
Dialogos of Eide. However it appears that as has happened one time before with another blog the comment was automatically rejected by the anti-spam filter which is now a standard component of Blogger. Although this leaves me somewhat frustrated it indicates to me that the dream of creating artificial intelligence is of yet to be realized if not impossible.
Hi Plato,
As you say in Plato’s conception the guardians would be deemed being so solely on the basis of ‘merit’, which would have this employment of meritocracy to form the bases of both governance and general guidance. However it has always been a question for me what Plato thought ‘merit’ to be, that is as it is now mostly considered in the west or rather as it is thought of in the eastern conception.
I consider this important as I find if the former be the case, than ultimately the lie if revealed would be to find that the components of society have no compassion at all, yet strictly having all as self serving; although indiscernible with only the use of metrics. However if merit is held to be as in the eastern conception, then the lines between self and others blur to the point of having no meaning, in which case compassion born of empathy need not be an act dependant on a lie, yet one necessitated by truth.
The thing being that Plato as revealed in his writings never referenced to anything being known as the “noble lie” and therefore I find it interesting to wonder if he was simply the first ‘’ objectivist or rather did consider quality as being inseparable from good. With all I’ve read of him I’m almost certain it be the last to be true, as otherwise the rest of his teachings would become illogical and if nothing else I find him certainly to be logical.
Best,
Phil
