God's Turing Test

Many of us consider the "mind" to be the seat of consciousness and intelligence.  It's almost trivial to define "consciousness" or "intelligence", but how do we define the metaphysical concept of our our own minds?

Is my mind or consciousness merely a result of the functions of my physical brain.

OR

Is my mind or consciousness independent of and even capable of controlling the functions of my physical brain.

These are age old questions that countless philosophers have contended with to no avail.  They have led some to even our very existence.  However, in the mid to late 1940s, when electronic computers were nothing more than a theory, Alan Turing was able to sidestep this seemingly futile debate, and present a more pragmatic question for our consideration, namely: 

Could "intelligent machinery" or "artificial intelligence" be like or even rival humans intelligence?

Alan Turing went on to develop the famous "Turing Test", which was designed to make a distinction between artificial intelligence and human intelligence - this terminology haughtily suggests that human intelligence is real intelligence.  

Sometimes the concept of humans versus machines conjures in my mind images from the movie, "The Terminator" movie...

(IMBD: Orion Pictures, 1984) 

Other times it brings to mind the American folklore hero, John Henry, declaring "A man ain’t nothin’ but a man..."

More recently, the Turing test has been reminding me that this whole life we are living is also a test, one designed by God himself, not to prove if we are better or more intelligent than machines, but to determine if we are becoming better than original ourselves.  Yes, God wants us to become better versions of ourselves than when we first begun this life.  He wants us to be transformed by His Holy Spirit, and made into a new creation, to become like Him, to become "godly"!

The lives we are living are like God's own Turing test for us, designed to determine if we are becoming "godly" or remaining "ungodly".

Being "godly" means to become a christian and live / be led by God's Holy Spirit and not by our natural desires, and thus effectively be identified as children of God!

But like the now fallible "Turing Test", be careful not to be fooled by the "imitation game" (which incidentally is what Alan Turing called his test originally).  Several sophisticated computer programs and chat-bots that are not truly "learning and adapting" as "real artificial intelligence" should (misnomer pun intended) have passed the successfully tricked the Turing test.

Many christians have become masters of the "imitation game", even fooling themselves - convinced that they are the real deal, but God will not be fooled, 

God's "Turing test" is infallible, it looks beyond mere actions, and assesses our deepest motives.

Let's make sure we are not only living the life but that we are living it for the right reason - ie. true love for God and not just trying to book a ticket to heaven.

Published by Clive Beckford on the 8th of July, 2020

References

• "This is how we know who the children of God are..." -  1 John 3:10
• "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God...." - Romans 8:14-16
• "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven...."  - Matthew 7:21-23

About The Author
Clive Beckford is the author behind Incomplete Gods! He is a Jamaican technology buff, innovation enthusiast and currently the Innovation Lab Manager at Innovate 10X Limited.  He is a devoted family man and most importantly devoted to Jesus Christ.  His work helps companies across various industries to adopt technology in appropriate and innovative ways.  His work experience gives him the opportunity to interact with people from all walks of life and allows him to openly share his professional knowledge, personal thoughts and spiritual insights - something he loves to do