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Rise of The Machine
Artificial intelligence, or AI, has taken center stage in cultural conversations. We were discussing AI during my classes in the 1990s. But in the 21st century, AI has taken on a life of its own – literally. Here is what I mean.
You may have heard of AI but the expanded idea from the 1990s to today is something called “transhumanism.” A transhumanist is a person who believes the human species can evolve past our physical and intellectual limitations through technological breakthroughs. Some actually believe transhumanism can lead humans to become God.
The following quotes come from the essay “Rage Against the Machine” at The Free Press, noted at the end of this Truth in Two. Transhumanist Martine Rothblatt says that by building AI systems, “we are making God.” Transhumanist Elise Bohan says, “we are building God.” Futurist Kevin Kelly believes that “we can see more of God in a cell phone than in a tree frog.” “Does God exist?” asks transhumanist and Google maven Ray Kurzweil. “I would say, ‘Not yet.’ ”
“Who is the number one god?” There is a scene in the 1996 movie version of The Island of Dr. Moreau that is worth discussion. Based on H. G. Wells’s famous novel, a shipwrecked man is confronted by the mad scientist, Dr. Moreau. The doctor is creating half-man, half-beast people to unite the best of both species. Of course, he utterly fails.
At the beginning of the pandemic, most of us were persuaded that the federal government’s enacting the Public Health Emergency was trying to keep us safe from an insidious disease. Locking us down and insisting that we wear masks were in our best interests. And the vaccine was going to protect us from infection and save lives, neither of which was true. For all intents and purposes, the government has failed miserably in its supposed efforts to protect us and to follow the science. In the meantime, they’ve given us no indication that they have criteria for taking down the emergency, or that they have any intention of doing so. I’m pretty much convinced that something catastrophic will need to happen to end this oppressive and destructive act.
I enjoy being around smart people; I learn a great deal from them and they help me feel smarter. But when smart people expound on ideas in a naïve and irrational fashion, it doesn’t make me feel smart. It makes me feel sad. That happened today.
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