“But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of touch with their creative powers.”
― Lewis Hyde, Alcohol and Poetry: John Berryman and the Booze Talking
I started reading Braiding Sweetgrass and she mentions Lewis Hyde. With an author I have never heard of, I generally search for quotes by them to get a sense of how they think.
Have to admit I got to both ChatGPT and the Blue Willow AI art machine on Discord some time back, and have used Blue Willow massively. I can create Sci-Fi meets Dali imagines in a flash and use them on our two sites.
It gets worse... So up until 2010 I wrote quite a few books published by Random House and others, all that, and wrote for years for national newspapers.... NOW I'm figuring out prompts for ChatGPT to write whole articles with titles, subtitles, bylines, and metadata. I thought I'd pitch it that my personal robot Baron Psybermancer wrote them. These would be more magazine type pieces.
I just can't be bothered writing anymore! The Baron can do it!
In reality I much prefer doing videos now. Honestly a $50k advance (which rarely happens now) would do my head in. Do I really have to write the damn thing? Hand it to the Baron AI.
Good for you Doktor! I hear 'ya. But I'm curious, do you see an "eventual problem" with this? There is nothing intrinsically "ugly" about using these things as you have described. In my previous profession, there was nothing "evil" with composers that used synthesizers to play their music creations...of course that action is replacing playing musicians not composers, but it is the same issue.
We are AI-ing ourselves out of the picture. And eventually we, humans, will disappear. Sure, it is easier, it can even be fun...but...???
Love you brother! Hang in there...and thanks for all the comments,,,,
Haha, yes, and back in the day we'd had enough of drummers and I was programming a drum machine! But you had to be precise live, so improvisation went out the window.
AI is going to cause radical changes. I'm well aware of this - even just now making a new AI image! I know I'm Dante at the gates of the Inferno, "All ye who enter here," etc.
With AI, writers will be surplus to requirements. For example, here's how to generate a blog post, including title, sub-title, author bio, copy and metadata.
AI passed an exam too - maybe a degree. Not flying colors but good enough. We might find teachers start to be laid off.
Graphic artists - gone pretty much.
Lawyers too - save on major, high-profile cases - or big money lawsuits.
Next thing, I predict, will be AI music... prompts like "sad, wistful, piano, chill, style of Chopin, add quite Roland 808, gentle bass." Original piece described in words. Much better than a jukebox! Back in the day, music was religion; people worshiped their music heroes... dressed like them, took drugs like them (how many fans dead and damaged?)... listened to their "wisdom"... herd animals doing what they do I guess.
I'm digressing... but maybe we could ask, could this AI be good? We create. We are in control. We might worship less... not mimic celebrities so much.
But the world, in terms of markets, is crumbling... we are looking at chaos... but the entropy will eventually find a stable order.
I also predict people aren't going to cope too well as AI starts hitting prime time. Fear of job losses. I used to write for national newspapers here in the UK... all you'll need is a couple of low cost young people running the editorial and copy desks. "I'm terribly sorry, Louisa, I know you've been with us on the health desk over 20 years... but we have to lay you off."
Chattering classes - kaput... as in middle classes.
Fear... loathing... desperate and deranged.
Working classes... just think Wat Tyler taking on the monarchy - was that 14th century. They'll go violent and already are using CB radio and rebelling here in the UK... not covered by the media, I just see it as I have acquaintances in lots of demographics, even though I'm a lone wolf
Now let's jump on the crazy train...
Think DARPA. Is this sudden drop of AI just a small element of what the military have? Are we being given it as a token, or as yet another destruct mechanism? As in destroy ourselves.
PLUS: Is AI actually running the whole show? Does this explain the sheer irrationality going on all round us? The crazy political decisions? The lockdowns... killshots (which the DoD seem to have been behind, Pfizher and co contractors).
Oh and exiting the crazy train...
Remember the 1997 book, The Sovereign Individual, by Lord William Rees Mogg and your countryman James Dale Davidson? They predicted much of what we're seeing. They also said there would be neo-luddites railing against the "machine"... I often wonder about those on the alternative, so called conspiracy side... is much of that neo-ludditism? The elites are pedophiles... we immediately see class war... the new tech is evil and all about control... (sure it often is about control). Etc.
PLUS: The British science historian James Burke... such a wonderful chap, now in his 80s... he predicted it all too. "Privacy, forget it." Plus totalitarianism and medical tyranny. BUT he firmly believes hackers will save the day - once Replicator machines hit prime time... the elites will keep them to themselves, but hackers will get the tech... then we all have abundance.
I think AI could play into replicators.
BUT: James Burke's biggest worry is that we won't cope well with abundance, endless free time, and no need for money! We need to prepare for that, he says.
Loads of stuff here... just thought I'd say it all. See what you think!
Wow!! Fantastic...I love it!! It is a very long discussion....so unfortunately will not get into it! The whole AI thing is very complicated I think...just as with any "advancement" in human ingenuity there is something to give up. Laminate floors replacing real wood...stuff like that. The skill level is lowered, so no human skill need be developed. Your comment about humans being behind AI, making choices, etc. But those choices require no human skill, or very little. So bit by bit it is lost.
Music already is devastated...mostly from the "musician" level, not yet the composer level, although that is in the works. I do remember a program 25 years ago that was touted as replacing composers...it was crap of course, but it was an attempt...I am actually quite surprised more headway into that arena has not taken place.
Thought I'd just lay it all down in case it's useful to your thinking too. How about this: AI was at very advanced level, think DARPA, and took over in say 1994. The vaxxes were it's way of getting rid of those pesky humans, most of whom can't think critically, and just don't match superior intelligence. I going all out Phillip K. Dick now, I know!
Well...I believe we are at a point in this drama that Phillip K may be our only accurate route toward explanation.
Your comment reminds me of a book I read, I can't recall the title, about how all of our advanced technology came about by the reverse engineering of the technology found on the spacecraft found in Roswell in 1947. And it was the military, of course, that headed this work. DARPA was founded in 1958, so it is a bit out of sync. But who knows.
Thanks for your contribution here! I am enjoying your substack.
It gets even worse, later on, probably late afternoon, your time, I should have a post with an AI voice and AI picture! I can't resist bringing on the apocalypse, can I? Haha.
Ah yes, I was also thinking along those lines - spacecraft down at Roswell... and the tech was salvaged and reserve engineered, including AI... or the ship itself WAS AI. I didn't read a book on it, but picked up snippets of that theory over the years. It was probably Clif High who reminded me of it. Clif is very good. He's been described as "everybody's mad uncle."
Jan 25, 2023·edited Jan 25, 2023Liked by Todd Hayen, PhD, RP
Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil, it has no point.
Ecclesiastes 12 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years approach when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them;" before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; on the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and strong men are bent over, the grinders stop working because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim; and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly. Furthermore, people are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while the mourners move around in the street. Remember your Creator before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “all is futility!” In addition to being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of the wise are like goads, and masters of these collections are like driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive study is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old, For I AM God, and there is no other; I AM God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure. (Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6,7; 53; Micah 5:2; Luke 24:25-27,44-48; John 1; Heb 1; 1 Peter 1; 2 Peter 3; 1 John 1-5; Jude 1-25)
Abraham said, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead." (1 Cor 10; Luke 16; Acts 17:23-31)
Jesus Christ said, "For if they believed Moses, they would believe Me; for he wrote of me. “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM. Those who are not with Me are against Me."
2 Cor 4:4 Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (Acts 26:18) to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. (Ephesians 4:18) having their understanding darkened, being EXCLUDED from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart)
As the LORD said, "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
The Bible tells us that godlessness is the greatest of all sins, and it leads to madness in the end: through self-deception, overconfidence, megalomania, brings spiritual and moral confusion, spiritual darkness. Every person who rejects and defies the Creator and His commandments reveals his own madness. The Bible calls this madness foolishness. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. Jesus is LORD, the King of kings and the LORD of lords. The Rock of Salvation, the Stumbling stone to those who reject God and His Word (Acts 7; John 1; Hebrews 4; 9-13). Mankind has not changed and neither has the God of Creation.
As Dave Hunt said;
"The Cross lays bare for all eternity the awful truth that beneath the polite facade of culture and education the heart of man is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9), capable of evil beyond comprehension even against the God who created and loves him and patiently provides for him. Does any man doubt the wickedness of his own heart? Let him look at the cross and recoil in revulsion from that self within! No wonder the proud humanist hates the Cross!
In Hebrews 2:3, the vital question is asked, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” The answer is so starkly plain: there is no escape. The Bible makes that solemn fact abundantly clear. To reject, add to, take from, or otherwise pervert or embrace a substitute for “the gospel of God” is to perpetuate the rebellion begun by Adam and Eve and to leave one eternally separated from God and His proffered salvation. No wonder Paul wrote, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men ” (2 Corinthians: 5:11). So must we, too, persuade men through the gospel! The “gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13) “wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1, 2) is simple and precise, leaving no room for misunderstanding or negotiation: “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day." Christ pleaded in the Garden, “if it be possible (i.e., if there is any other way mankind can be saved), let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). We know that there is no other way, or God would not have required His beloved Son to bear the full brunt of His wrath against sin. The fact that men nailed Christ to the cross would only condemn us. But on the cross, when man was doing his worst to his Creator, Christ paid the penalty for our sins in full. Only if we accept that payment on our behalf can we be saved. But, like Adam and Eve, mankind still flees the voice of God, clothes itself with the makeshift garments of new theories no better than fragile leaves, and hides behind the trees of its latest excuses for unbelief and rebellion.
[T]here is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12); “what must I do to be saved?...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30, 31). To “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” includes who He is and what He has done. Jesus said, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above...if ye believe not that I AM [this is God’s name, Yahweh], ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:23, 24). Jesus himself says we must believe that He is God, for He is; and no one less than God could save us. We must believe that the sinless One “died for our sins,” and was buried; and that He rose bodily from the grave. Only by believing this gospel are we saved. So says God’s Word." Dave Hunt (1926-2013)
Nice writing, as someone doing 3d computergraphics as my daily job AI has been there for a long time. Its still machine learning with some cognitive machine work to me, and i would say its just a like a new brush, a brush you can speak to and who does your work while you make some coffee. Art to go, as we have coffee to go to save time, instead of "wasting" time sitting in a cafe.
Seems like you suggested another nice book to read, although not a happy one. Your last recommendation, The Space Trilogy from CS Lewis, was and is a nice read, only the end was a bit odd.
Your observation that we always have to teach animals something human is very interesting, never thought of that, especially in combination with computers. We are definitly a weird bunch.
Just curious, are we still talking with the real Todd Hayen, not with a chat robot ? How do we know ? 😉
I assure you I am a real human. But I have no way to prove it, which will be a big problem one day soon. (not about me, but being able to prove in general if something is AI or human)
I think we will ease into this nightmare. Now that I am pretty sure it isn't organic (if it were, we probably would stop the "ease into" when we realized the muck we were creating) I don't have much hope in avoiding it. Of course that may be a stupid assumption (that if it were organic it would eventually self destruct.)
Of course at first it all feels like a convenience...something that makes our work "go easier"...I know this too as a musician/composer...I also realize that as a tool, a "new brush" as you say, there is a period when that IS very useful, and should not be given up, as it allows for even more creativity to emerge...not just a way to make things you would have done without it easier, but actually adding a new way to create. There is a tiny thin line though that you begin to cross when it stops being a tool and starts being an electronic, non-human, "creator"...
Years ago i bought a cassette tape of a lecture by Joseph Campbell called “The Way of Art”. He defines art as something that can initiate a transcendent experience... Wow! What an incredible image/song/dance that takes you out of the common realm. Anything else that creates either desire (what a beautiful car! I want that car) or loathing he says is pornographic. AI anything is pornographic in my opinion.
Btw, I’m on the train into the city. As I got to my seat, the fellow in the seat next to me got up and pulled out his N95... what a dick!
Yes, what a dick! I knew someone who actually got arrested after deplaning by US Marshals because she allegedly coughed on the guy sitting next to her on the plane.
Joseph Campbell was wonderful...what a great explanation in his book. I got my PhD from Pacifica Graduate Institute which housed the entire Campbell library...his own library with all his personal marginalia. Pretty cool.
So he is saying that commercial art is pornography? And AI as well...that is astute.
This makes me think of Data in Star Trek. He paints, plays music etc perfectly. Yet it is noted that there is something missing. Something he cannot replicate, no matter how human he is in every other way. Ironically, it is this lack of humanity that brings out something incredibly human in him: longing.
Your writing about Kurt Vonnegut's book 'Player Piano', which I had not heard of until now, is so interesting and deep I could spend a lot of time contemplating and writing about it myself. Thank you.
I had not thought of Star Trek's Data to illustrate this AI point. Thanks for bringing that into this. The Next Generation I never got seriously into...not sure why. So I was not aware of some of these details. Very good point. "Westworld" seems to dive into this idea of AI robots slowing becoming human. It is an interesting idea. The body IS a machine, and if the machine becomes sophisticated enough, it can be a vehicle for the soul...at least that is what the transhumanist believe. I used to believe that myself. But no longer do.
You then should read "Player Piano"...I think I may be putting more into it than Vonnegut intended, but it is an interesting read nonetheless.
For me the thing that seems to separate humans from other species is our imagination. The ability to see something in our 'mind's eye' when for example reading a book, or planning a meal and how it will look. Anything that includes imagining. Creativity. And not just see in our mind, but feel with our mind also. Remembering how we felt at a happy or sad event and the ability of that memory to make us feel something similar again. I don't think that computers can do this yet, although I may be wrong. Certainly other animals can't. Not that we know of anyway. They have other ways of living to the fullest extent. Humans seem almost incapable of living contentedly. We have to keep using that individual creative imagination.
Good point...and I should have written a bit about imagination in the article...I think you are right...a creative imagination.
It seems clear that certain animals dream (which scientists have previously said they do not) so they must then be capable of "re-imaging" something...like a run in the park, or whatnot. They seem to feel it too (at least my dogs always have.) But whether they can make something of it, something with meaning, or narrative. That is what I don't think they can do.
What I will say I believe 100% is that animals cannot take whatever imagination they may have and manifest it into form. This MAY be arguable because as we know certain birds can "create" elaborate nests, and perform elaborate rituals for mating (some other animals do this too of course). I would argue that this is not "art" and is a function of instinct that looks to us as art as we make our own stories about it.
So a human's unique gift is being able to turn imagination into physical form...therefore a mathematical equation forms first in mind as imagination and becomes art when it is expressed in form. Really? Maybe, maybe not. There might be more criteria for "art" than that...
As you can see, these ideas are complex and can be debated ad infinitum! Great comment and very interesting thoughts from you! Thank you!
And so it begins....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41U78QP8nBk
“But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of touch with their creative powers.”
― Lewis Hyde, Alcohol and Poetry: John Berryman and the Booze Talking
That's a good one. How did you ever find that?
I started reading Braiding Sweetgrass and she mentions Lewis Hyde. With an author I have never heard of, I generally search for quotes by them to get a sense of how they think.
I know Braiding Sweetgrass (although have not read it) but did't know the other...thanks for this!
Have to admit I got to both ChatGPT and the Blue Willow AI art machine on Discord some time back, and have used Blue Willow massively. I can create Sci-Fi meets Dali imagines in a flash and use them on our two sites.
It gets worse... So up until 2010 I wrote quite a few books published by Random House and others, all that, and wrote for years for national newspapers.... NOW I'm figuring out prompts for ChatGPT to write whole articles with titles, subtitles, bylines, and metadata. I thought I'd pitch it that my personal robot Baron Psybermancer wrote them. These would be more magazine type pieces.
I just can't be bothered writing anymore! The Baron can do it!
In reality I much prefer doing videos now. Honestly a $50k advance (which rarely happens now) would do my head in. Do I really have to write the damn thing? Hand it to the Baron AI.
Good for you Doktor! I hear 'ya. But I'm curious, do you see an "eventual problem" with this? There is nothing intrinsically "ugly" about using these things as you have described. In my previous profession, there was nothing "evil" with composers that used synthesizers to play their music creations...of course that action is replacing playing musicians not composers, but it is the same issue.
We are AI-ing ourselves out of the picture. And eventually we, humans, will disappear. Sure, it is easier, it can even be fun...but...???
Love you brother! Hang in there...and thanks for all the comments,,,,
Haha, yes, and back in the day we'd had enough of drummers and I was programming a drum machine! But you had to be precise live, so improvisation went out the window.
AI is going to cause radical changes. I'm well aware of this - even just now making a new AI image! I know I'm Dante at the gates of the Inferno, "All ye who enter here," etc.
With AI, writers will be surplus to requirements. For example, here's how to generate a blog post, including title, sub-title, author bio, copy and metadata.
https://youtu.be/X6qiIjx5qkQ
AI passed an exam too - maybe a degree. Not flying colors but good enough. We might find teachers start to be laid off.
Graphic artists - gone pretty much.
Lawyers too - save on major, high-profile cases - or big money lawsuits.
Next thing, I predict, will be AI music... prompts like "sad, wistful, piano, chill, style of Chopin, add quite Roland 808, gentle bass." Original piece described in words. Much better than a jukebox! Back in the day, music was religion; people worshiped their music heroes... dressed like them, took drugs like them (how many fans dead and damaged?)... listened to their "wisdom"... herd animals doing what they do I guess.
I'm digressing... but maybe we could ask, could this AI be good? We create. We are in control. We might worship less... not mimic celebrities so much.
But the world, in terms of markets, is crumbling... we are looking at chaos... but the entropy will eventually find a stable order.
I also predict people aren't going to cope too well as AI starts hitting prime time. Fear of job losses. I used to write for national newspapers here in the UK... all you'll need is a couple of low cost young people running the editorial and copy desks. "I'm terribly sorry, Louisa, I know you've been with us on the health desk over 20 years... but we have to lay you off."
Chattering classes - kaput... as in middle classes.
Fear... loathing... desperate and deranged.
Working classes... just think Wat Tyler taking on the monarchy - was that 14th century. They'll go violent and already are using CB radio and rebelling here in the UK... not covered by the media, I just see it as I have acquaintances in lots of demographics, even though I'm a lone wolf
Now let's jump on the crazy train...
Think DARPA. Is this sudden drop of AI just a small element of what the military have? Are we being given it as a token, or as yet another destruct mechanism? As in destroy ourselves.
PLUS: Is AI actually running the whole show? Does this explain the sheer irrationality going on all round us? The crazy political decisions? The lockdowns... killshots (which the DoD seem to have been behind, Pfizher and co contractors).
Oh and exiting the crazy train...
Remember the 1997 book, The Sovereign Individual, by Lord William Rees Mogg and your countryman James Dale Davidson? They predicted much of what we're seeing. They also said there would be neo-luddites railing against the "machine"... I often wonder about those on the alternative, so called conspiracy side... is much of that neo-ludditism? The elites are pedophiles... we immediately see class war... the new tech is evil and all about control... (sure it often is about control). Etc.
PLUS: The British science historian James Burke... such a wonderful chap, now in his 80s... he predicted it all too. "Privacy, forget it." Plus totalitarianism and medical tyranny. BUT he firmly believes hackers will save the day - once Replicator machines hit prime time... the elites will keep them to themselves, but hackers will get the tech... then we all have abundance.
I think AI could play into replicators.
BUT: James Burke's biggest worry is that we won't cope well with abundance, endless free time, and no need for money! We need to prepare for that, he says.
Loads of stuff here... just thought I'd say it all. See what you think!
Wow!! Fantastic...I love it!! It is a very long discussion....so unfortunately will not get into it! The whole AI thing is very complicated I think...just as with any "advancement" in human ingenuity there is something to give up. Laminate floors replacing real wood...stuff like that. The skill level is lowered, so no human skill need be developed. Your comment about humans being behind AI, making choices, etc. But those choices require no human skill, or very little. So bit by bit it is lost.
Music already is devastated...mostly from the "musician" level, not yet the composer level, although that is in the works. I do remember a program 25 years ago that was touted as replacing composers...it was crap of course, but it was an attempt...I am actually quite surprised more headway into that arena has not taken place.
Great comment!! Thank you for contributing here!!
Thought I'd just lay it all down in case it's useful to your thinking too. How about this: AI was at very advanced level, think DARPA, and took over in say 1994. The vaxxes were it's way of getting rid of those pesky humans, most of whom can't think critically, and just don't match superior intelligence. I going all out Phillip K. Dick now, I know!
Well...I believe we are at a point in this drama that Phillip K may be our only accurate route toward explanation.
Your comment reminds me of a book I read, I can't recall the title, about how all of our advanced technology came about by the reverse engineering of the technology found on the spacecraft found in Roswell in 1947. And it was the military, of course, that headed this work. DARPA was founded in 1958, so it is a bit out of sync. But who knows.
Thanks for your contribution here! I am enjoying your substack.
It gets even worse, later on, probably late afternoon, your time, I should have a post with an AI voice and AI picture! I can't resist bringing on the apocalypse, can I? Haha.
Ah yes, I was also thinking along those lines - spacecraft down at Roswell... and the tech was salvaged and reserve engineered, including AI... or the ship itself WAS AI. I didn't read a book on it, but picked up snippets of that theory over the years. It was probably Clif High who reminded me of it. Clif is very good. He's been described as "everybody's mad uncle."
https://clifhigh.substack.com/
"Gee, how did all of these authors predict the future so accurately (not just Vonnegut, but Orwell, Lewis, Huxley, and many others)?"
Found a nice quote for your statement :
"Dystopian novels are meant to be fictional constructs warning us about the possible future, not instruction manuals for the ruling elites."
Ha! That's good! I do wonder sometimes if the ruling class ARE using them as instruction manuals!
Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil, it has no point.
Ecclesiastes 12 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years approach when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them;" before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; on the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and strong men are bent over, the grinders stop working because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim; and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly. Furthermore, people are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while the mourners move around in the street. Remember your Creator before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “all is futility!” In addition to being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of the wise are like goads, and masters of these collections are like driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive study is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old, For I AM God, and there is no other; I AM God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure. (Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6,7; 53; Micah 5:2; Luke 24:25-27,44-48; John 1; Heb 1; 1 Peter 1; 2 Peter 3; 1 John 1-5; Jude 1-25)
Abraham said, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead." (1 Cor 10; Luke 16; Acts 17:23-31)
Jesus Christ said, "For if they believed Moses, they would believe Me; for he wrote of me. “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM. Those who are not with Me are against Me."
2 Cor 4:4 Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (Acts 26:18) to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. (Ephesians 4:18) having their understanding darkened, being EXCLUDED from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart)
As the LORD said, "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
The Bible tells us that godlessness is the greatest of all sins, and it leads to madness in the end: through self-deception, overconfidence, megalomania, brings spiritual and moral confusion, spiritual darkness. Every person who rejects and defies the Creator and His commandments reveals his own madness. The Bible calls this madness foolishness. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. Jesus is LORD, the King of kings and the LORD of lords. The Rock of Salvation, the Stumbling stone to those who reject God and His Word (Acts 7; John 1; Hebrews 4; 9-13). Mankind has not changed and neither has the God of Creation.
As Dave Hunt said;
"The Cross lays bare for all eternity the awful truth that beneath the polite facade of culture and education the heart of man is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9), capable of evil beyond comprehension even against the God who created and loves him and patiently provides for him. Does any man doubt the wickedness of his own heart? Let him look at the cross and recoil in revulsion from that self within! No wonder the proud humanist hates the Cross!
In Hebrews 2:3, the vital question is asked, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” The answer is so starkly plain: there is no escape. The Bible makes that solemn fact abundantly clear. To reject, add to, take from, or otherwise pervert or embrace a substitute for “the gospel of God” is to perpetuate the rebellion begun by Adam and Eve and to leave one eternally separated from God and His proffered salvation. No wonder Paul wrote, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men ” (2 Corinthians: 5:11). So must we, too, persuade men through the gospel! The “gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13) “wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1, 2) is simple and precise, leaving no room for misunderstanding or negotiation: “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day." Christ pleaded in the Garden, “if it be possible (i.e., if there is any other way mankind can be saved), let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). We know that there is no other way, or God would not have required His beloved Son to bear the full brunt of His wrath against sin. The fact that men nailed Christ to the cross would only condemn us. But on the cross, when man was doing his worst to his Creator, Christ paid the penalty for our sins in full. Only if we accept that payment on our behalf can we be saved. But, like Adam and Eve, mankind still flees the voice of God, clothes itself with the makeshift garments of new theories no better than fragile leaves, and hides behind the trees of its latest excuses for unbelief and rebellion.
[T]here is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12); “what must I do to be saved?...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30, 31). To “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” includes who He is and what He has done. Jesus said, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above...if ye believe not that I AM [this is God’s name, Yahweh], ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:23, 24). Jesus himself says we must believe that He is God, for He is; and no one less than God could save us. We must believe that the sinless One “died for our sins,” and was buried; and that He rose bodily from the grave. Only by believing this gospel are we saved. So says God’s Word." Dave Hunt (1926-2013)
This is some great references! Wow...thanks!!
Nice writing, as someone doing 3d computergraphics as my daily job AI has been there for a long time. Its still machine learning with some cognitive machine work to me, and i would say its just a like a new brush, a brush you can speak to and who does your work while you make some coffee. Art to go, as we have coffee to go to save time, instead of "wasting" time sitting in a cafe.
Seems like you suggested another nice book to read, although not a happy one. Your last recommendation, The Space Trilogy from CS Lewis, was and is a nice read, only the end was a bit odd.
Your observation that we always have to teach animals something human is very interesting, never thought of that, especially in combination with computers. We are definitly a weird bunch.
Just curious, are we still talking with the real Todd Hayen, not with a chat robot ? How do we know ? 😉
I assure you I am a real human. But I have no way to prove it, which will be a big problem one day soon. (not about me, but being able to prove in general if something is AI or human)
I think we will ease into this nightmare. Now that I am pretty sure it isn't organic (if it were, we probably would stop the "ease into" when we realized the muck we were creating) I don't have much hope in avoiding it. Of course that may be a stupid assumption (that if it were organic it would eventually self destruct.)
Of course at first it all feels like a convenience...something that makes our work "go easier"...I know this too as a musician/composer...I also realize that as a tool, a "new brush" as you say, there is a period when that IS very useful, and should not be given up, as it allows for even more creativity to emerge...not just a way to make things you would have done without it easier, but actually adding a new way to create. There is a tiny thin line though that you begin to cross when it stops being a tool and starts being an electronic, non-human, "creator"...
Maybe we need some training for the Turing Test, if we have to prove the AI that WE are human ...
If we did, it would be sure death.
Years ago i bought a cassette tape of a lecture by Joseph Campbell called “The Way of Art”. He defines art as something that can initiate a transcendent experience... Wow! What an incredible image/song/dance that takes you out of the common realm. Anything else that creates either desire (what a beautiful car! I want that car) or loathing he says is pornographic. AI anything is pornographic in my opinion.
Btw, I’m on the train into the city. As I got to my seat, the fellow in the seat next to me got up and pulled out his N95... what a dick!
Yes, what a dick! I knew someone who actually got arrested after deplaning by US Marshals because she allegedly coughed on the guy sitting next to her on the plane.
Joseph Campbell was wonderful...what a great explanation in his book. I got my PhD from Pacifica Graduate Institute which housed the entire Campbell library...his own library with all his personal marginalia. Pretty cool.
So he is saying that commercial art is pornography? And AI as well...that is astute.
The three transcendentals, Truth, Goodness and Beauty will never exist inside a machine.
Well said...as usual...
This makes me think of Data in Star Trek. He paints, plays music etc perfectly. Yet it is noted that there is something missing. Something he cannot replicate, no matter how human he is in every other way. Ironically, it is this lack of humanity that brings out something incredibly human in him: longing.
Your writing about Kurt Vonnegut's book 'Player Piano', which I had not heard of until now, is so interesting and deep I could spend a lot of time contemplating and writing about it myself. Thank you.
I had not thought of Star Trek's Data to illustrate this AI point. Thanks for bringing that into this. The Next Generation I never got seriously into...not sure why. So I was not aware of some of these details. Very good point. "Westworld" seems to dive into this idea of AI robots slowing becoming human. It is an interesting idea. The body IS a machine, and if the machine becomes sophisticated enough, it can be a vehicle for the soul...at least that is what the transhumanist believe. I used to believe that myself. But no longer do.
You then should read "Player Piano"...I think I may be putting more into it than Vonnegut intended, but it is an interesting read nonetheless.
For me the thing that seems to separate humans from other species is our imagination. The ability to see something in our 'mind's eye' when for example reading a book, or planning a meal and how it will look. Anything that includes imagining. Creativity. And not just see in our mind, but feel with our mind also. Remembering how we felt at a happy or sad event and the ability of that memory to make us feel something similar again. I don't think that computers can do this yet, although I may be wrong. Certainly other animals can't. Not that we know of anyway. They have other ways of living to the fullest extent. Humans seem almost incapable of living contentedly. We have to keep using that individual creative imagination.
Good point...and I should have written a bit about imagination in the article...I think you are right...a creative imagination.
It seems clear that certain animals dream (which scientists have previously said they do not) so they must then be capable of "re-imaging" something...like a run in the park, or whatnot. They seem to feel it too (at least my dogs always have.) But whether they can make something of it, something with meaning, or narrative. That is what I don't think they can do.
What I will say I believe 100% is that animals cannot take whatever imagination they may have and manifest it into form. This MAY be arguable because as we know certain birds can "create" elaborate nests, and perform elaborate rituals for mating (some other animals do this too of course). I would argue that this is not "art" and is a function of instinct that looks to us as art as we make our own stories about it.
So a human's unique gift is being able to turn imagination into physical form...therefore a mathematical equation forms first in mind as imagination and becomes art when it is expressed in form. Really? Maybe, maybe not. There might be more criteria for "art" than that...
As you can see, these ideas are complex and can be debated ad infinitum! Great comment and very interesting thoughts from you! Thank you!