Artificial Intelligence From the Bible

Pergamum
(Speech Motor Control Network)

Revelation 2:12-17

Note: This interpretation is partially incorrect and subject to change at any time. See the latest news for more info.

Introduction

Pergamum controls speech motor command selection, coordination and learning. It receives signals directly from Sardis, more specifically from the part of Sardis that is involved in auditory processing. Output signals from Pergamum are sent directly to Philadelphia (basal ganglia or motor output assembly) where they are used to effect motor behavior.  Philadelphia, in turn, sends corrective feedback signals to Pergamum.

Interpretation (under revision)

2:12

And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:

The One who has the sharp two-edged sword. This symbol represents special corrective signals coming from the motor output layer (Philadelphia). This is explained further below.

2:13

I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you,  where Satan dwells.

I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. This is one of the ways that the text of Revelation uses to link the letter to Pergamum to the third chapter of the book of Zechariah where we see Satan standing at the right side of Joshua the high priest. It is also quite likely that the Satan reference refers to the fact that opportunities to make mistakes abound in Pergamum.  

And you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith. This refers to expectation and anticipation. This is explained in more details in the book of Zechariah.

Even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you,  where Satan dwells. In my opinion, Antipas is a direct reference to the one of two witnesses (there is one for each hemisphere). My current understanding is that the two witnesses are mechanisms for conflict resolution during internal thinking or reasoning. More on that later.

2:14

But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.

To put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel. To stumble is to take a bad step. This implies that there is walking or motor behavior taking place in Pergamum. Symbolically, to stumble means to send an inappropriate motor signal. As I explain later, Pergamum is engaged in a specific form of motor behavior exclusively: speech production.

To eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. There are two ways (hence the two-edged sword) in which motor command signals can be inappropriate: idolatry and fornication (acts of immorality). These are explained below:

Idolatry

Idolatry literally means serving multiple gods. Consider that a motor action is controlled by more than one motor neuron (in Philadelphia). That is to say, an effector (e.g., a muscle) has more than one way of being activated, anywhere from a gentle nudge to a powerful contraction. This means that every effector has a set of motor neurons for all possible activation levels. A conflict (idolatry) occurs when more than one activation level is used simultaneously. In other words, it make no sense for the motor system to try to activate a muscle both gently and forcefully at the same time. As the teaching goes, one cannot serve two masters.

Fornication

Fornication literally means having sex with more than one husband at a time. The brain is a parallel system which means that every motor neuron in the motor output layer (Philadelphia) will have a huge number of input connections, each with its own specific function and context. The idea is that the motor neuron should never be activated by more than one command signal at a time. If that happens, one or more connections is inappropriate.

As we will see in the interpretation of the Thyatira and Sardis messages, detecting fornication and adultery is also used as a method for focusing attention. That is to say, an intelligent system cannot think of everything at the same time because that would create a lot of conflicts. Only the most salient non-conflicting sequences are kept "awake" at any one time.

2:15

So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

As mentioned previously, the Nicolaitans believed that the church should be divided into a hierarchy, with leaders separate from other church members. This verse is pointing out that Pergamum not only has idol worshipers and fornicators but also Nicolaitans. This tells me that, just as with the church of Ephesus, Pergamum receives two types of signals which can be either masters or slaves (predecessors or successors). The Nicolaitans would maintain a permanent class of masters separate from the slaves. The message of Christianity, however, is that a master must also be a slave. More on this in the interpretation of Zechariah.

2:16

Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly. Conflicting connections are quickly severed, i.e., disconnected.

And I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. This is the double-edged sword, one edge for idol worshipers and the other for fornicators. What this means is that the corrective feedback signals come from the motor layer, i.e., from Philadelphia where motor conflicts are detected. But more specifically, given that mouth obviously symbolizes speech generation, the corrective signals are only associated with speech production. Contrast this with Laodicea which is forbidden to generate speech.

2:17

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.

To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna. This was the portion of manna that God commanded the children of Israel to keep in the temple as a reminder of their time in the wilderness. Normally, no one had access to the temple with the exception of the priests (there is a connection here with Zechariah and Joshua the high priest). As we shall see, the temple is the church of Philadelphia, i.e., the motor output layer. Thus, to eat of the hidden manna, one must enter the temple. This entails that output signals (he who overcomes) from Pergamum go directly to Philadelphia.

I will give him a white stone. This is significant because the book of Zechariah also mentions a stone on which a name is written.

And a new name written on the stone. This implies that the signal had an old name. This is yet another connection with the third chapter of the book of Zechariah which also mentions a stone on which a name is written.

Which no one knows but he that receives it. In the past I had misinterpreted the meaning of this passage. I thought that it referred to an assertion against traditional symbol processing in AI. I now realize that it means just one thing. Unlike the motor signals generated in Thyatira, Pergamum's signals are not used in the training of the cerebellum (Laodicea). It makes sense that speech production should always be under volitional control and not relegated to an automatic mechanism like the cerebellum.

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Next: Thyatira

©2004-2006 Louis Savain