Pythagoras, Basil Plants and why AI is not going to take over just yet

For much of the damp summer in England I have nurtured a sad looking basil plant. I was taken in by its perky green leaves and seemingly robust nature at our local supermarket and convinced myself that it would flourish with my nurturing vibes and green fingers. While the basil seems to be hanging in there - it definitely isn’t flourishing. In fact, in plant lingo - it has withered.

 This is very different to the wild basil lining the rocky path of the hike I recently did in Greece. Walking along the same path as the Ancients did in Samos - the smells of basil, sage and rosemary enveloped us and huge basil plants (untouched by any green finger) were everywhere to be found. The path we used for our hike has been walked on for millennia. My companion, who knows the island intimately, confirmed this. As we rambled along, our conversation roamed freely. In our book “The Social Brain: the Psychology of Successful Groups” we show how walking in synchrony not only sparks deeper, more intimate conversations, but also opens up a form of creativity. We have seen again and again this power of walking together and the wonderful endorphins it releases (note: it will take some time for AI to replicate the human to human engagement that releases endorphins).   

 During our walk our minds turned to the capture (and promise) that AI has for us all at the moment. It can be difficult to anchor back into the very human practices that give us joy and meaning.  But in homage to the fact that Pythagoras was born on Samos and put great stock in the number four (he prized the number four as a symbol of stability and structure) - we felt compelled to come up with a list of four things that are unlikely to change even as the singularity approaches:

1. Nature - AI, for all its genius, can’t, as yet, speed up the growth of a tree or create abundant plant life or even revitalise a dying basil plant. Sure it can give tips and hints but the perfection that is nature needs to be experienced in situ. Dr Michael Pocock, a UK Ecologist, has shown in his research that ‘Being in and around nature is good for our wellbeing, and we’ve shown that focused, active engagement with nature is just as important – whether that is ‘mindful moments’ in nature or taking part in citizen science.’
2. Learning - Pythagoras was the first person to call himself a philosopher or ‘lover of wisdom’. It is easy to be seduced that the plugger of learning gaps is AI. But learning is less about knowledge and more about asking  brilliant questions and exploring different world views. Leslie Valiant, a computer scientist who teaches at Harvard, calls our ability to learn over the long term 'educability.' “We need to build capacious and flexible theories about the world—theories that will serve us in new, unanticipated, and strange circumstances—and we do that by gathering diverse kinds of knowledge, often in a slow, additive, serendipitous way, and knitting them together.” (New Yorker, August 2024). 
3. Awe – Looking out across the horizon and looking up to the endless sky can feel awe inspiring. So can listening to moving music, touching a beautifully-made thing, experiencing great architecture. Frustratingly, we limit our worlds to the size of a screen and assume that all that matters is  contained within. We are so tiny in the boundless universe and Dacher Keltner, a professor at the University of Berkeley, believes that  happiness comes down to one thing – finding awe.
4. Sense  of Achievement – I am no athlete but I do like to think of myself as an honest trier. Post hike I felt thrilled with myself. Encouraged to bound over rocks and cross little bridges, I fairly marvelled at my gazelle like agility. Of course this was the endorphins kicking in but no matter – it still made me feel good. At TH all of our learning design builds in stretch and challenge which in turn leads to a sense of achievement. A sense of achievement can come from the most unexpected places but it definitely doesn’t come from doomscrolling or using Chat GPT to write a blog.

With the hype of AI all around us, it is difficult to hold on to what doesn’t change.  But sometimes a gentle reminder of what makes us flourish as humans is enough to reassure us that we are not living in a fully AI world.. yet.

 (a bit of human-written poetry to end)

 in peace
Hung over her sweet Basil evermore,
And moisten'd it with tears unto the core.

 *************

And so she ever fed it with thin tears,
        Whence thick, and green, and beautiful it grew,
So that it smelt more balmy than its peers
        Of Basil-tufts in Florence

John Keats, Isabella and The Pot of Basil

‍

For much of the damp summer in England I have nurtured a sad looking basil plant. I was taken in by its perky green leaves and seemingly robust nature at our local supermarket and convinced myself that it would flourish with my nurturing vibes and green fingers. While the basil seems to be hanging in there - it definitely isn’t flourishing. In fact, in plant lingo - it has withered.

 This is very different to the wild basil lining the rocky path of the hike I recently did in Greece. Walking along the same path as the Ancients did in Samos - the smells of basil, sage and rosemary enveloped us and huge basil plants (untouched by any green finger) were everywhere to be found. The path we used for our hike has been walked on for millennia. My companion, who knows the island intimately, confirmed this. As we rambled along, our conversation roamed freely. In our book “The Social Brain: the Psychology of Successful Groups” we show how walking in synchrony not only sparks deeper, more intimate conversations, but also opens up a form of creativity. We have seen again and again this power of walking together and the wonderful endorphins it releases (note: it will take some time for AI to replicate the human to human engagement that releases endorphins).   

 During our walk our minds turned to the capture (and promise) that AI has for us all at the moment. It can be difficult to anchor back into the very human practices that give us joy and meaning.  But in homage to the fact that Pythagoras was born on Samos and put great stock in the number four (he prized the number four as a symbol of stability and structure) - we felt compelled to come up with a list of four things that are unlikely to change even as the singularity approaches:

1. Nature - AI, for all its genius, can’t, as yet, speed up the growth of a tree or create abundant plant life or even revitalise a dying basil plant. Sure it can give tips and hints but the perfection that is nature needs to be experienced in situ. Dr Michael Pocock, a UK Ecologist, has shown in his research that ‘Being in and around nature is good for our wellbeing, and we’ve shown that focused, active engagement with nature is just as important – whether that is ‘mindful moments’ in nature or taking part in citizen science.’
2. Learning - Pythagoras was the first person to call himself a philosopher or ‘lover of wisdom’. It is easy to be seduced that the plugger of learning gaps is AI. But learning is less about knowledge and more about asking  brilliant questions and exploring different world views. Leslie Valiant, a computer scientist who teaches at Harvard, calls our ability to learn over the long term 'educability.' “We need to build capacious and flexible theories about the world—theories that will serve us in new, unanticipated, and strange circumstances—and we do that by gathering diverse kinds of knowledge, often in a slow, additive, serendipitous way, and knitting them together.” (New Yorker, August 2024). 
3. Awe – Looking out across the horizon and looking up to the endless sky can feel awe inspiring. So can listening to moving music, touching a beautifully-made thing, experiencing great architecture. Frustratingly, we limit our worlds to the size of a screen and assume that all that matters is  contained within. We are so tiny in the boundless universe and Dacher Keltner, a professor at the University of Berkeley, believes that  happiness comes down to one thing – finding awe.
4. Sense  of Achievement – I am no athlete but I do like to think of myself as an honest trier. Post hike I felt thrilled with myself. Encouraged to bound over rocks and cross little bridges, I fairly marvelled at my gazelle like agility. Of course this was the endorphins kicking in but no matter – it still made me feel good. At TH all of our learning design builds in stretch and challenge which in turn leads to a sense of achievement. A sense of achievement can come from the most unexpected places but it definitely doesn’t come from doomscrolling or using Chat GPT to write a blog.

With the hype of AI all around us, it is difficult to hold on to what doesn’t change.  But sometimes a gentle reminder of what makes us flourish as humans is enough to reassure us that we are not living in a fully AI world.. yet.

 (a bit of human-written poetry to end)

 in peace
Hung over her sweet Basil evermore,
And moisten'd it with tears unto the core.

 *************

And so she ever fed it with thin tears,
        Whence thick, and green, and beautiful it grew,
So that it smelt more balmy than its peers
        Of Basil-tufts in Florence

John Keats, Isabella and The Pot of Basil

‍