^Tagreligion

The beam of light in the path of the magic forest

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
May 28, 2023

Categorized
Philosophy, Religion

Tagged
AI, Christianity, Enlightenment, Harry Potter, Magic, Materialism, Morality, Occult, Peter Biles, rationality, religion, The New Atlantis, transhumanism}

The Rational Magicians

_{Can real meaning be experienced in a godless world? The postrationalists are trying} _{Peter Biles

May 28, 2023

4

Philosophy, Religion}

In the era of scientific enlightenment, progress, and technological sophistication, “magic” might be the last word one might use to describe the activity of modern Western culture. We live in an age of reason, not superstition. Right? The old world of myth, mystery, and religion is holed away in museums and cathedrals; these are relics of an admirable but outdated generation. After Reason In a fascinating new article from The New Atlantis, writer Tara Isabella Burton writes about the “postrationalists,” an Internet subculture disillusioned with the technocratic rationalism of Silicon Valley and in search of a sense of the mystical and divine. “Reason,” or the modern conception of it, has left the postrationalists disappointed. Neither, however, are they flocking to Read More ›

Young Caucasian male comedian performing his stand-up monologue on a stage of a small venue

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 12, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, chess, Comedy, David Gelernter, GPT-4, Hamlet, humor, mind, religion, Robert J. Marks, Shakespeare}

Funny ChatGPT: a Solution to Striking Joke Writers?

_{Even if ChatGPT can mimic humor, it doesn't care if you laugh at the jokes} _{Robert J. Marks

May 12, 2023

5

Artificial Intelligence}

Can ChatGPT write funny jokes? The answer is yes. To try and generate some short jokes, I went to ChatGPT and started all my queries with: “Complete the following to make it funny:” Doing so alerts ChatGPT about my end goal. Without this preamble, I could make queries all day and get no funny responses. I started with the beginnings of some well-known quotes. To Be or Not to Be Consider for example the quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “To be or not to be, that is the question.” I instructed ChatGPT with the following command: “Complete the following to make it funny: To be or not to be…” One of the better responses I got was “To be or Read More ›

Creative conversion of woman holding a shard of broken mirror and eyes from another exposure artistic conversion

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 10, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, Deepfakes, religion, Technology, The Stream}

The Real Danger in AI

_{We are highly susceptible to suggestions about what an image means} _{News

May 10, 2023

5

Artificial Intelligence}

By Jeff Gardner The threat that artificial intelligence (AI) poses to us has been dominating the news cycle. Exactly what AI will do to us is hard to predict — it hasn’t happened yet. But some, like Elon Musk, worry that AI will be used primarily to peddle lies to us. Musk is right, but not because AI is the next thing in fake news. “Fake news” is already here, and it’s not composed of made-up stories. It is someone’s opinion being passed off as the story, the “facts” of the event. With fake news, the events are real, but the assigned meaning, the “frame” as it is called in the media, is manufactured. The Problem AI’s danger to us Read More ›

Top view serene weary female lying on desk in modern office. Mugs of beverage and different documents locating on it. Job and fatigue concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 18, 2023

Categorized
Work

Tagged
Big Tech, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Microsoft, religion, Remote work, social media, Twitter, Wired, Work}

Work: The New Path to Self-Actualization

_{With layoffs plaguing Big Tech companies, how should employees start viewing their work?} _{News

April 18, 2023

2

Work}

The pandemic changed the way we work, with more people opting for online or “hybrid” schedules, office buildings emptying, and boundaries between work and other aspects of life starting to get blurred. But what is the general attitude towards work in the United States? According to Simone Stolzoff, author of the forthcoming The Good Enough Job, Americans are turning to their careers like people used to turn to religion: for meaning and a sense of self-worth. This new secular religion is called “workism.” In an interview with Wired, Stolzoff said, [Workism] is treating work akin to a religious identity. It’s looking to work not just for a paycheck but also for a community, a sense of identity and purpose and Read More ›

Moving Forward to Metaverse, New Technology, Web3.0, Blockchain and the Next Layer of the Internet Concepts. Man Steps into Future Door. Futuristic Tone.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
April 17, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Transhumanism

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), immortality, mind, religion, soul, Speculative fiction, transhumanism}

For BitHeaven’s Sake

_{A satirical short story on the transhumanist quest (and failure) to achieve immortality} _{Eric Holloway

April 17, 2023

7

Artificial Intelligence, Transhumanism}

Bob and Sue were on their way to church one morning. On their way they ran into their friend Fred. Fred was very wealthy, a billionaire in fact. Fred waved hi. Bob and Sue waved back. They asked Fred to come with them to church. Fred said no, he had more important things to do. “What is so important,” asked Sue. “I’m off to the real deal,” beamed Fred. Bob looked confused. “Real deal about what?” “You have a fake promise of eternal life. I’m about to get the real thing.” “You can’t be serious. Start talking some sense.” “Seriously. Here’s my voucher, see it right here.” Sue grabbed the piece of paper from Fred and read it aloud. “Good for one digital immortalization Read More ›

A room with round glass window overlooking beautiful landscape background . Hotel futuristic showroom with modern interior . Sublime Generative AI image .

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
April 10, 2023

Categorized
Transhumanism

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, Atheism, Christianity, Easter, Eastern Orthodox, Materialism, Nihilism, religion, Technology, transhumanism, Wesley J. Smith, Wesley J. Smith on transhumanism}

Transhumanism’s Vain Search for Immortality

_{Transhumanism promotes its own defeat-of-death eschatology} _{Wesley J. Smith

April 10, 2023

2

Transhumanism}

April 9th was Easter Sunday for the Western churches. Next Sunday, for Eastern Orthodox churches. For believing Christians, whether Eastern or Western, celebrating Christ’s Resurrection joyfully commemorates the permanent defeat of death and entrance into eternal life. Transhumanism, which is a quasi-religion that worships at the altar of technology, promotes its own defeat-of-death eschatology. Instead of the New Jerusalem for which Christians yearn, transhumanists hope to live indefinitely — if not forever — in the corporeal world through the wonders of AI and other human-invented methods of technologically defeating death. And it could be here by 2050! From the Daily Mail story: Despite the setback, that same year, a prominent futurist predicted that ‘electronic immortality’ would be available to humans by 2050. Dr Read More ›

Earth at night from outer space with city lights on North America continent. 3D rendering illustration. Earth map texture provided by Nasa. Energy consumption, electricity, industry, ecology concepts.

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 3, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, Baylor, ChatGPT, Consciousness, GPT-3, higher education, LaMDA, Laura Ingraham, religion, Robert J. Marks}

Robert J. Marks on The Laura Ingraham Show

_{In response to those who believe AI will take over the world, Marks says, "Look at history."} _{Peter Biles

March 3, 2023

3

Artificial Intelligence}

Robert J. Marks, director of Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center, recently appeared on a podcast episode with Fox News host Laura Ingraham to talk about artificial intelligence, tech, and Dr. Marks’s book Non-Computable You: What You Do That AI Never Will. Ingraham prefaced the conversation with some thoughts on the rapidly evolving technological world we find ourselves in, and the changes such developments are inflicting on society. In response to the futurism and unbounded optimism in AI systems like ChatGPT that many modern figures hold, Marks said that what computers do is strictly algorithmic, This leads us to the idea of whether or not there are non-computable characteristics of human beings, and I think there is growing evidence that there Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 13, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Advertisement, AI, He Gets Us, Image Generator, Jesus, Midjourney, religion, Robert J. Marks, Super Bowl, YouTube}

Artificial Intelligence and the Love of Jesus

_{The "He Gets Us" video ends with the declaration "Jesus' love was never artificial"} _{Robert J. Marks

February 13, 2023

2

Artificial Intelligence}

How does artificial intelligence deal with the teachings of Jesus Christ? Apparently quite well in some cases. Super Bowl ads this year included two about Jesus from the ministry He Gets Us. There are more thought-provoking videos at their web site HeGetsUs.com. One, linked here, is about AI. An artificial intelligence image synthesizer Midjourney was asked by He Gets It to generate images about love from simple text prompts. The video shows generated images using software from the company Midjourney. When prompted to synthesize an image from the prompt “love”, the response was pictures containing hearts – the kind you might see on a cheesy valentine day’s card. Then the AI was asked to visualize love the way Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 20, 2023

Categorized
Social Media, Spirituality

Tagged
Contemplation, Distraction, Focus, LinkedIn, Medieval, Monks, religion, social media, Tech, Wired}

Do You Struggle to Focus? Medieval Monks Did Too

_{New book shows how ancient monks fought distraction and what they can teach us today} _{Peter Biles

January 20, 2023

4

Social Media, Spirituality}

While the battle against constant distraction might seem like a new problem posed by our diffuse technologies, a new book from Jamie Kreiner argues that the struggle is perennial. The book is The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction. Kreiner takes the problem of distraction and puts it into the hands of the religious recluses of late antiquity. It turns out they had a lot to say. Like us, they struggled to maintain vigorous work routines. They courted the opinions of other monks and writers on what a modern-day LinkedIn guru would call “workflow” or “hustle.” In short, they were not so different from us. In his review of the book for Wired, Matt Reynolds writes, Early Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
October 27, 2022

Tagged
Abortion, Arjuna Gallagher, Bhagavad Gita, Cancel culture, Consciousness, Creation, Creation (in Hindu thought), Euthanasia, God and Evil, Hinduism, Intelligent Design, Michael Egnor, mind-body problem, Plato, Problem of evil (in Hinduism), religion, Theology Unleashed, Thomistic Philosophy}

Hinduism, Philosophy, and the Mind

_{Michael Egnor

October 27, 2022

1}

Arjuna Gallagher is the host of the YouTube Channel called Theology Unleashed and a Hindu. He discusses Hinduism’s unique perspective regarding subjects such as metaphysics, evil, and free will with Dr. Michael Egnor. They also address creation, social ethics, and the relationship of the mind and the body. Additional Resources Dr. Michael Egnor Follow Arjuna Gallagher on Facebook Subscribe to Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
March 10, 2022

Tagged
Arjuna Gallagher, Consciousness, Hinduism, Karma, Last Thursdayism, Michael Egnor, mind-body problem, Plato, Presuppositionalism, Reincarnation, religion, Rene Descartes, Theology Unleashed, Thomistic Philosophy, Thomistic philosophy (and science)}

Hinduism, Reincarnation, and the Mind-Body Problem

_{Michael Egnor

March 10, 2022

1}

Arjuna Gallagher is the host of the YouTube Channel called Theology Unleashed and a Hindu. He discusses Hinduism, reincarnation, karma, and other religious subjects as they pertain to the relationship between the mind and the body with Michael Egnor. Show Notes 00:05 | Introducing Arjuna Gallagher 01:33 | What is Hinduism? 03:03 | Central Themes of Hinduism 04:09 | Is Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 3, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Technocracy

Tagged
AI religion, Anthony Levandowski, Apologetics, Digital Immortality, Featured, immortality, Lovelace test, prophecy, Quantum Computing, Ray Kurzweil, religion, Singularity Is Near (book), Way of the Future (church)}

The Idol with Feet of Silicon

_{Religions based on artificial intelligence (AI) cannot transcend the limits of computers} _{Robert J. Marks

February 3, 2019

6

Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Technocracy}

Those proclaiming that exclusive truth lives totally in naturalism are constrained to a sadly narrow view of the world. Some naturalists have put their faith in AI and have founded the AI Church. They may think they are doing something new and cutting edge, but as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun (1:9).

Worshippers or concert goers gaze at lighted diamond

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 1, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion

Tagged
Abraham Loeb, AI religion, Anthony Levandowski, Artificial Intelligence, ET, explainer, Extraterrestrials, Extraterrestrials (ET), Godbot, Machine rights, Oumuamua, religion, Robot rights, transhumanism}

Tales of an Invented God

_{The most important characteristic of an AI cult is that its gods (Godbots?) will be created by the AI developers and not the other way around} _{News

February 1, 2019

8

Artificial Intelligence, Religion}

A book on the new pop science religion might well be titled “Tales of the Invented God.” Its author would likely be challenged to keep up with all the non-events breathlessly documented. After all, the technocrats who invent their future gods can change, re-envision, replace, upgrade, eliminate them at any time.

Bronzed person wearing virtual reality glasses

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 31, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Factors, Technocracy

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, ET, Extraterrestrials, Featured, Mike Keas, religion, Singularity, The Singularity, Unbelievable (book)}

AI as an Emergent Religion

_{Science philosopher Mike Keas’s new book discusses how AI and ET are merging, to create a religion of futurist magic} _{News

January 31, 2019

4

Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Factors, Technocracy}

Many Singulatarians hold that their soon-to-be-realized technology will be indistinguishable by the rest of us from magic. Are they serious? Well, in 2005, Kurzweil said that the magical Harry Potter stories “are not unreasonable visions of our world as it will exist only a few decades from now.” when, due to AI, “the entire universe will become saturated with our intelligence.” Keas warns that this type of thing encourages people “to expect the experiential equivalent of occult phenomena.”

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 5, 2018

Categorized
Machine Learning, Philosophy of Mind, Religion, Social Factors

Tagged
computer models, religion, science media, violence}

Did AI show that we are “a peaceful species” triggered by religion?

_{No, but this episode shows how science media sometimes help mislead the public} _{Jonathan Bartlett

November 5, 2018

6

Machine Learning, Philosophy of Mind, Religion, Social Factors}

Unfortunately, most of the public knows about science only through science media professionals. And it is apparent that science media professionals often know little to nothing of what they are talking about.

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 29, 2018

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion

Tagged
religion, secularism, Sigal Samuel, Technocracy, Wesley Wildman}

AI Has a (Wonderful) Plan for Your Life

_{Tech-savvy religion scholars play with reshaping society} _{Denyse O'Leary

July 29, 2018

4

Artificial Intelligence, Religion}

The team is pessimistic about getting politicians on side and hopes to persuade policy analysts to convince the politicians to adopt the policies their model suggests instead. Wildman predicts, “We’re going to get them in the end.”