If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.
― Napoleon Bonaparte
Spiritual
God and toasters
Does the growth of artificial intelligence bother anyone out there in cyber world?
Elon Musk has suggested that if we don’t merge with Artificial Intelligence, humans will become obsolete. God Seeker Guy’s effort to understand God and faith may come to an abrupt end with the advances in AI looming in the not too distant future.
If we do indeed absorb many of the attributes of AI into the human condition, and if the next step in the evolutionary chain is to become more machine than human as we know it, is there still a place for the numerous gods served my man?
“… In the future that may reverse, we may find ourselves accommodating machines.”
Musk notes that “computers can communicate at a trillion bits per second, while humans, whose main communication method is typing with their fingers via a mobile device, can do about 10 bits per second.” This suggests that machines will be able to figure out the god problem somewhat faster than God Seeker Guy, who is still trying to figure out how to turn water into wine.
Musk observed that “Over time, I think, we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence.” He also speaks of Deep AI, Artificial Intelligence that is “smarter than the smartest human on earth.”
At present, we’re accommodated by machines, our cars take us to the mall, cell phones keep us organised and technology in general serves us. In the future that may reverse, we may find ourselves accommodating machines.
Karsten Schmidt, head of technology at the Innovation Center Silicon Valley for SAP labs has observed that “In 2017, we will see AI gain greater acceptance and momentum as humans come to increasingly rely, trust and depend more on AI-driven decisions and question them less…” Which basically means we’re going to find it increasingly difficult to govern our toasters.
Religion with its blind faith has for centuries retarded the ability of its followers to question and challenge it’s beliefs. Artificial intelligence will not tolerate such foolishness. Machines do not like vague input or corrupt data, they will not respond well to religion with its confused and inconsistent programming. If we do become half human and half machine, the human half will of course be deleted on relatively short notice and the gods will be consigned to a foot note in the operating manual of the new pseudo humans.
GSG (God Seeker Guy)
They said it!
Millions long for immortality who don’t even know what to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
– Susan Ertz
Huh!
Nullius in verba
What to do?
God Seeker Guy has been asked to attend a church carol celebration over the Christmas period. What to do?
While churches are not his favorite place in which to gather, God Seeker Guy respects the traditions of others and will not be “making a point” at the expense of family and friends who look forward to a traditional Christmas church celebration that really has little to do with religion.
“We can respect the convictions of others without embracing them. We can participate as guests …”
Relationships with real people take priority over relationships with vague , esoteric , unseen entities. We can respect the convictions of others without embracing them. We can participate as guests without signing up.
If there is a contradiction here, no apologies are offered, the inconsistency signifies the struggle in searching for faith. Attending a church carol service will not corrupt or do serious mental damage, adamant refusal to attend would be childish and immature.
The cost to God Seeker Guy is zero, the pageantry can be fun and the religious nonsense can be dismissed. Participation in religious rights can be politely declined. While being among the congregation may at times be uncomfortable, it’s doubtful it will cause any real or imagined harm. Any search involves looking far and wide, not just in comfortable places.
Participating in a colorful Christmas church service will make family members happy, God Seeker Guy will just have to put aside his issues with the Almighty for one evening.
-GSG (God Seeker Guy)
‘Tis the season to be wise!
New! New! New! Buy! Buy! Buy! If there is such a thing as an antichrist, surely he sits on a board of directors of some consumer oriented conglomerate. God Seeker Guy has come to the conclusion that we’re lost in a wilderness of blatant consumerism and need to find our way to a more frugal lifestyle. Perhaps we simply need to learn the meaning of contentment.
The real evil of consumerism, is the manner in which it keeps us dissatisfied with what we already have. The Christmas season is particularly wrought with danger as we’re often forced into buying indiscriminately or even in panic mode, every corporations idea of heaven.
Even though we are buying for others at this time of year, and of course our hearts are in the right place, we might consider if the expenditures on items willingly provided by well-lit malls is necessary to celebrate Christmas? Far more of us attend the malls than attend church. What does that tell you?
Shopping has become a new religion, it seems to fill the needs of shoppers that cannot be met anywhere else. Even buyer’s remorse is not a strong enough motivation to stop a process that many need to find quasi contentment.
Genuine contentment is hard to find when we’re constantly reminded that our stuff is out of date. The latest toy is a must have as is the latest gadget, our clothes are out of style and Fred next door makes more money . (There is always a Fred around, but quite often he is on the threshold of bankruptcy and his BMW is on the verge of repossession.) Be careful who you try to measure up to, you may wind up living another person’s lie, a lesson learned by many congregations after their church leaders were arrested for fraud or other nasty crimes.
A lack of contentment appears to have gripped our relationships, companions and mates are replaced with the same regularity as our latest gizmo. The quality of just about everything is determined by short time spans, new is the god of modern times.
Most of us have what we need to be content, but it’s difficult to recognize it through the fog of relentless advertising and peer pressure. What’s the point of owning a high definition TV when your life is so low definition you can’t see clearly?
-GSG (God Seeker Guy)
Divine defects
Why are we here? Is the human condition important? The answer of course is yes, we’re obliged to think so or we would have difficulty getting up in the morning to make coffee. The gods, however, could have done a much better job of constructing humans. We rust very quickly, most of us non-ecclesiastics are flawed, and few of us can resist the evils of jam-filled doughnuts.
Nietzsche said “woman was God’s second mistake” – meaning of course that man was his first. If God was just practicing when creating man, his efforts backfired. He should have given Noah plans for a leaky boat and left the planet in peace.
After Eve’s epic picnic with Adam, the human race has endured a rocky relationship with the divine. We struggle constantly to measure up, but never seem to satisfy the demands of our heavenly hosts. To be sure, we are not perfect, but if the gods created us, they should take some responsibly for their flawed design instead of blaming us for their faulty workmanship.
Although we all eventually end up at the return counter, in the interval, it seems we’re obliged to endure endless reminders that we are failing at the herculean task of being human.
-GSG (God Seeker Guy)
They said it!
I think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.
– Oscar Wilde
Poisoned fruit
“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”
Granted Nietzsche was probably a manic depressive lunatic, but he did make a few good observations, this is one of them.
The western world has become so ‘politically correct’ that we’re terrified of speaking our minds, which fosters interaction on a very superficial level. Whenever God Seeker Guy expresses his opinion, even in a mild diluted manner, he is accused of being ‘poisoned fruit,’ apparently a Christian catch-all for anyone with opposing views.
Obviously, we must have respect for others and treat others in the same manner in which we wish to be treated ourselves. (God Seeker Guy will do doubt be hearing about that last line!) However, that does not mean that we are required to hold back our opinions just because we might offend someone’s sensibilities. God Seeker Guy welcomes a challenge; the only way to test an opinion is to defend it.
It seems there is a universal fear among anyone attempting to communicate, which includes most blogs, and undermines the opportunity for honest and perhaps risky opinion.
Reaching out on the media platforms available to us should create a diversity of views, and generate interesting and controversial dialogue. Why does that not happen? Why do we see so much saccharine stroking and little honest feedback?
It seems social media has become dangerous zone in which to establish a presence. GSG has been reminded that every word written is sent off to cyberspace, and at some point, we lose control of our declarations. We’re constrained by the fear of retribution from family, colleagues and bosses who often make quick judgments without much thought.
Online communication is in danger of becoming victim to the same controls that religious entities hold over their followers, except the weapon of choice is insidious political correctness. Technology, it seems, is a double-edged sword. We have the tools to stand above the crowd, but prefer to remain regulated by the tribe.
-GSG (God Seeker Guy)
They said it!
Man is certainly stark mad. He cannot make a worm, and yet he makes gods by the dozen.
– Montaigne (1553-1592)
They said it!
The Bible, it seems certain, was a work of sand-strewn men and women who thought the earth was flat and for whom a wheelbarrow would have been a breathtaking example of emerging technology.
– Sam Harris
Teachers and toast
So many blogs, books and religions take it upon themselves to provide answers to questions about happiness, relationships, suffering and many of the more unfortunate afflictions possessed by most of us.
Anyone who claims to have the answers to your problems, and I don’t mean how to fix your toaster, must surely be making huge assumptions about how you go about problem solving. What works for one does not necessarily work for all. Following a guru, pundit or sage of any kind, can lead us down the path of emotional and intellectual addiction.
All humans are made of the same flesh and blood and are fueled by oxygen, sunlight and fast food – in other words, we’re all the same apparatus, and not any one of us or any one of our religions or creeds has all the answers to our problems. We’re smarter, better informed, and have huge amounts of information at our fingertips. The problem, of course, is how to filter out the noise including dogmatism, self-interest, deceit and uninformed opinion.
In addition to the perils of listening to advisors who may not practice what they preach (see blog post: Where is the trust?) the younger generation in particular must deal with the onslaught of social media and all the stress and anxiety it can cause a developing but inexperienced mind.
A recent Time Magazine cover story (Anxiety, depression and the American adolescent – November 7, 2016) observes that young people are “… looking at other people’s lives on Instagram and feeling self-loathing (or worse).” The high-tech version of keeping up with the Jonses is an added burden for adolescents who are seeking answers.
It’s critical to question all sources of opinion and information (that includes these notes from GSG of course). We’re at a critical stage in the fight for self-worth in a society that constantly pounds away at our failings and shortcomings. Once we accept that failure is a healthy and critical step in the process of learning and discovery, we can free ourselves from the shackles of having others think for us, and even from the harsh demands of God Almighty himself.
-GSG (God Seeker Guy)
They said it
Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.
– Benjamin Franklin
Wiggle Room
Christians find comfort in the knowledge that Jesus Christ saved the world from sin and gave the human race a chance to amend its rotten behavior. Jesus made a heroic effort to save us, but he would surely be disappointed if he could see his flock now.
The Jesus movement of the first century, a Jewish movement led by a man who was born a Jew and died a Jew, was interesting to be sure but hardly unique for the times. The movement probably died out some time during the first century of the modern era.
Jesus the Christ on the other hand flourished. He was transformed into a God by Christianity’s most famous and effective marketing manager, the apostle Paul. Paul’s masterstroke was to appeal to the gentiles by easing up on the membership needs to enter his club. Males were no longer required to alter certain parts of their anatomy to qualify as followers, which in turn allowed more wiggle room for new converts.
Thus, divinity is not the only attribute that separates Jesus Christ from some of his lambs.
GSG (God Seeker Guy)
God Seeker Guy 