Mythical Drives and Their Consequences

My undergraduate degree is in European History. During those Days of Graduation when I mentioned that was my major, I got scores of comments (some snide) like “Well, what kind of job are you going to get with THAT?” Since I exited college in 1990, the humanities have continued to take a beating. If you don’t earn and add fuel to the capitalist engine, just what are you good for?

Did I just create a straw man and knock him over? Maybe.

But in the ongoing spirit of “Yes, AND . . . “, I want to point out that the humanities (history, classics, religion, etc.) offer some important lessons and insight in the current age of "technologies."

Stories of Existence and the Quest

We have always told stories about our insatiable curiosity for magic, the unknown, and what happens when we unleash or fail to understand powerful forces. Likewise, myth, story, and narrative explore the allure of power and its consequences. As we navigate the hype and fog around artificial intelligence, some understanding of myth is useful.

I recommend this conversation that Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin had with Josh Schrei, host of The Emerald podcast.

Can Myth Teach Us Anything About the Race to Build Artificial Intelligence

The discussion is around how the powers and promise of AI sound religious or mythical.

When pressed about why the drive and urgency to build generative AI is so strong, some of its creators give three reasons:

1. determinism
2. the inevitable replacement of biological life with digital life, and
3. that’s a good thing.

These AI architects have a desire to interact with the most intelligent thing they’ve ever met- no matter the end result.

Does that sound religious to you? No? Substitute the word “eternal” for “digital.”

And what's the role for humans in this inevitable process? Consider this quote from Elon Musk:

It seemed to me some time ago that you could sort of think of humanity as a biological boot loader for digital super intelligence.

Now, to be clear, it's thrilling to start a fire and see what happens. Curiosity to explore the unknown is a powerful fuel, and a necessary part of existence.

Intelligence is not Everything That is Not the Case

But this narrative that intelligence is an end to and of itself, and that humanity is a necessary "means" to that end, leaves out some players and misunderstands the game. Intelligence by itself is certainly not wisdom.

As the kids say, (My children required me to add here as a disclaimer that they are not those "kids" and that in fact it's just me using a term that has been played), if AI, is a "game changer", then are we to understand that the game takes us out of the game?

Similarly, are we so solipsistic and myopic to see the game as this small?

Forces We Can't Control

Our myths and narratives ask where any quest for the unknown (the mystery, the Grail, the treasure) fits into the larger human story, and present some cautionary lessons. Once we unleash things, it’s hard to put them back. The race for power, knowledge, and glory blinds us to its "externalities."

Consider The Sorcerer's Apprentice (like so many stories, we've scrubbed the horror and real lessons out of this one so that our only recollection is that a cartoon mouse was part of it). Or Prometheus. Or Icarus.

These stories remind us that we're still subject to forces beyond our ken, especially when we deign to think of ourselves as above or beyond them.

This obsession with technology really sounds like a denial of humanity and the natural world of which humanity is an integral part. The story of Bryan Johnson reads like parody.

The Meme King of Longevity Now Wants to Sell You Olive Oil

Awareness of Nature's Indifference

When our primary (or sole) interactions and successes are digital, I guess it's not surprising that framework becomes spiritual. As well as the belief that technology can replace or obviate other forces.

After all, when the advance of science de-animated parts of our belief systems, we had to animate elsewhere. (Spirituals Gonna Spiritual). For actually cogent ideas on this topic, please read God Human Animal Machine:

I am pretty lucky I get to experience nature's power and indifference from time to time (and live to tell about it). We conduct controlled burns on our family's tree farm. In order to contain a fire (hence the term "controlled"), a number of preconditions/conditions have to be in place: particular temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity; creating a number of "breaks" that will stop a fire's spread; real-time monitoring and attention.

In the rare occasions when a fire jumps a break, the initial feeling is one of a complete lack of control. You recall that this familiar and useful force is capable of destroying everything in its path.

The Woo Mind Virus

Don't get me wrong: I am excited about the potential of AI, in the same way I have been curious to try technology tools my entire adult life. And I know what you're thinking: he's writing that "woo-woo" stuff about myths and stories, the same way he does about mediation. I, on the other hand, live only in the world of facts.

Uh-huh, tell me more about the rationalism of The Singularity. As Schrei pointed out on the podcast, and as described above, AI is chock full of belief and ideology. By contrast, the lessons of mythical tales and stories have survived for thousands of years because they tell some truths about the human condition.

Once again, I am not suggesting the binary either/or, but hoping to point out the arrogance of pretending an inevitability approach is responsible. By all means let's move forward, but do whatever we can not to lose sight of the important stuff, so we can keep ourselves out of (another) wildfire.