A wonderful demolition of Transhumanist nonsense

[Malone]

Humanity Mk II: why the future of humanity will be just as purposeless as the past

[Justin Isis]

Not to be too much of a self-promoting dick, but I wrote about the future this article describes in my book Welcome to the Arms Race, published last year - in other words a future that is both trans/posthuman and completely atomized, one where the technologies described so optimistically by Harari lead to greater and more jagged social and cultural stratification than even exists at present, rather than some kind of collective liberal human project - in other words, MORE war, MORE murder, MORE religious disputes, etc. In particular, Gray sums up pretty much exactly what was in my mind when I was creating some of the characters:

there are likely to be as many types of super-human and post-human being as there are human groups with the technology to create them.

If such new species appear, they will be created by governments and powerful corporations, and used by any group that can get its hands on them – criminal cartels, terrorist networks, religious cults, and so on. Over time, these new species will be modified and redesigned, first by their human controllers, then by the new species themselves. It won’t be too long ­before some of them slip free from their human creators. One type may come out on top, at least for a while, but there is nothing to suggest this process will end in a godlike being that is supreme over all the rest. Like the evolution of human beings, post-human evolution will be a process of drift, with no direction or endpoint.

No such conception can be found in polytheistic faiths, which see people as essentially disparate in their goals and values. The idea that the human species could act as a conscious agent is a relic of monotheism, one that – like so many people today – Harari is unable to shake off.

I think John Gray would enjoy the book.

[qcrisp]

This is the key passage for me:

Quote

If Harari fails to take these possibilities into account, one reason is that he shrinks from giving up the idea that we can shape our lives. Questioning free will, he writes, is “not just a philosophical exercise. It has practical implications. If organisms indeed lack free will, it implies we could manipulate and even control their desires using drugs, genetic engineering or direct brain stimulation.” This is “the only way to ensure lasting contentment . . . Forget economic growth, social reforms and political revolutions: in order to raise global happiness levels, we need to manipulate human biochemistry.” Yet who are “we”, exactly? An elite of benevolent scientists, perhaps? If choice is an illusion, however, those who do the manipulating will be no freer than those who are being manipulated.

Strange how many people in this area, advocating the same ideas as Harari, can't seem to grasp this very simple point.

As Lewis wrote, the Ancients had propagation; we merely have propaganda.

[Malone]

Yes, the stunning inability of rabid determinists to acknowledge that they, too, are no less programmed than the 'mob' never fails to shock me, and only shows again how very few people take their premises to their logical conclusions. The idea of being part of a controlling elite is just too much, I guess.

[Malone]

As CS Lewis has said, " “For the power of Man to make himself what he pleases means, as we have seen, the power of some men to make other men what they please… At the moment, then, of Man’s victory over Nature, we find the whole human race subjected to some individual men, and those individuals subjected to that in themselves which is purely ‘natural’ – to their irrational impulses...." So Lewis concluded Man's final conquest is the abolition of Man.

[Hidden X]

Heh, can't imagine there being a huge chance of folks who constantly use C. S. Lewis quotes ever even watching a video with "SAM HARRIS" in its title.

[qcrisp]

Quote Originally Posted by Hidden X

Heh, can't imagine there being a huge chance of folks who constantly use C. S. Lewis quotes ever even watching a video with "SAM HARRIS" in its title.

That's a failure of your imagination, I'm afraid.

[qcrisp]

Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Cheev

Quote Originally Posted by Hidden X Heh, can't imagine there being a huge chance of folks who constantly use C. S. Lewis quotes ever even watching a video with "SAM HARRIS" in its title. Maybe Mr. Harris can dedicate his next lecture to followers of C.S. Lewis. He can show up wasted, fall down on his way to the stage and hit his head. Hard. And perhaps he will be sufficiently incoherent that his inane gibberish will resonate with the C.S. Lewis crowd. Sam Harris and Demis Hassabis are merely neuroscientists, not brilliant theologians (joke). They are concerned with truth, not fantasy.

From the following link:

http://www.rationalresponders.com/ri...rational_world

"Authority, as a reason for believing something, means believing it because you are told to believe it by somebody important. "

Reasoning skills, gentlemen, please.

[Comrade Tulayev]

Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Cheev

Quote Originally Posted by Hidden X Heh, can't imagine there being a huge chance of folks who constantly use C. S. Lewis quotes ever even watching a video with "SAM HARRIS" in its title. Maybe Mr. Harris can dedicate his next lecture to followers of C.S. Lewis. He can show up wasted, fall down on his way to the stage and hit his head. Hard. And perhaps he will be sufficiently incoherent that his inane gibberish will resonate with the C.S. Lewis crowd. Sam Harris and Demis Hassabis are merely neuroscientists, not brilliant theologians (joke). They are concerned with truth, not fantasy.

Sorry, but maybe I missing something about criticism of the AI Ted Talk. I found it to be interesting and didn't actually get a sense that Harris was cheer leading any of this along. In fact I got the impression that he was a bit alarmed at the rate and direction of technological advancement as it pertains to AI.

Perhaps someone could clarify the criticism here or the overall point.

Sam Harris displays a consistent open mindedness to his subjects. I admire him – particularly his ability to stay calm and measured in the face of some horrific smear campaigns.