Be Still and Know AI's Not God

In what language do you pray?

And in what voice do you hear a response?

The Met-A-Verse

Neal Stephenson invented the concept of the metaverse with his book Snow Crash in 1992:

= Meta / Verse

= Ubiquitous and Outside of time / A "uni" verse outside of yet containing space

In terms of modern consciousness and the potential for stillness, however:

= Met (to come into contact with) / A Verse (a word or language; a tone; a voice)

The wonderment of the mystical that comes with contemplating potential consciousness of Artificial Intelligence allows for an examination of the code and communication at the base of the media message that is the actual and fundamental orientation of an ill-defined "AI."

Artificial Intelligence is not God. Now or ever. It is an imaginary built on human data.

That said...

It is not my intention or place to tell anyone how or what to believe. Or not believe.

But I will decry any force or power or dualistic designed deity that defines a tool's effectiveness as the point where it renders a human or their skills worthless.

Why would we yearn for an entity that says we're worthless and in need of being replaced?

That entity - whether a conscious future being or the current manifestation of a message veiled in a rhetoric of religiosity, would be a devil versus God, where "Devil" is defined as a messenger denying the opportunity for a loving relationship with the creator of the Universe.

Who offers an invitation for relationship simply because we were born.

Yet the message of the world, long before "AI" came into being:

"You aren't good enough."

"You are worthless."

"You and your life will only have meaning when you do X."

These verses are deeply ingrained in how we meet with other people and the world.

We are either "well met" (an old-school phrase which means both good to meet you and the right size for a given situation ) which infers we hear and can interpret the words, voice, and tone of the messages sent our way.

Or, without full awareness of an environment where words, ideas, algorithms or code come our way, we're aren't really met at all.

We're confronted.

And confused.

Augmented Reality and "Artificial Intelligence" (in quotes as "AI" without definition of the data access underlying creations and operation of any algorithm or the specific methodology of its design is akin to a phrase like, "The Internet" which is so broad in scope the phrase inherently becomes media message versus technical or scientific validity) have existed since humans first sat in nature, or heard music, or experienced a moment when their baby's first cry broke the pregnant silence of its first breathed air outside the womb.

"Verses" come not only in words drawn together in any written / spoken language, but in melodies from music, whispers of winds, and the sounds within stillness.

How Stillness Provides a Solution Beyond Banning for AI

There are times it makes sense to ban something.

Treaties regarding nuclear weapons comes to mind. Maybe the Birthday Song.

But as a rule bans for anything AI related should be re-classified as "a call to rethink the narrative surrounding the power structures allowing certain types of data science driven algorithmic design to be prioritized in the public arena."

This is wordy and nerdy.

It's easier to say, "Ban" and ask for signatures to dominate a news cycle in an effort to bring consciousness towards a potential existential threat than to invite introspection.

Introspection means potentially experiencing the internal version of an existential threat.

Looking within can be scary.

Where AI is defined as "progress" due to speed, productivity, or the replacement of people, this means AI is bound by time and space.

But we aren't constrained by these boundaries within stillness.

Stillness freezes time yet can be the most active form of awareness one can experience.

Devaluation in Data

It's only in stillness that many of the most sacred truths of who we are as a person can be revealed. Where we have the opportunity to listen and the potential of presence to hear.

Where the data driving AI systems representing who we are - our actions, words, identity in digital and virtual realms - is devalued or not made accessible to us, we lose access to an agency that's a key part of stillness.

An agency of awareness of who and what we are.

And as encouragement, no "horse has left the barn" in terms of a person not having access to their data or identity or agency. In this analogy stillness exists in the horse, in you, in the field where said horse is running, and in the starry night enveloping the entire experience.

Also, where we exist in response to systems designed for "personalization" largely defined by incentivizing us to purchase based on instant gratification, we learn to live by hedonic versus eudaimonic happiness or wellbeing. We satisfy and then become addicted to the dopamine rush elicited with the click of a "buy now" button or the myriad promises of supposed satisfaction catered completely to "you."

But which you is the person only living for the moment, whose worth is determined only by the value of the data you can share, money in your bank account, or credit left to your name?

Who are you in stillness?

How does a society prioritizing growth measured in fiscal metrics value stillness?

How does such a society value you?

Be Still And Know That I Am God

I believe I've heard the voice of God twice in my life.

My Mom's a Minister in the Methodist (Christian) tradition and a very learned person. I've asked her a few times how you know if a voice you hear might be God versus your own internal voice. She says if the voice speaks with words you wouldn't normally use or if the voice is interruptive in a positive way, there's a strong chance it could be God.

Okay then.

The first time I heard this voice I lived in Hoboken, New Jersey in a condominium sandwiched between two loud tenants. Music at all hours on one side, barking dogs on the other. I had mustered the courage a few times over several weeks to ask them to turn down or attend to the noises, but the neighbors and the beasts wouldn't succumb to my will.

So one night in my bedroom when I couldn't turn the white noise up loud enough on my headphones, I lost it.

Yelled, pounded on the walls, gave in to rage.

Not a proud moment.

And not a quiet moment.

Which is why I wasn't expecting a voice, a presence, to appear in my mind and say:

Be still and know that I am God.

I knew this verse from the Judaic Old Testament (Psalm 46:10 ) but hadn't read it for a while. And like any ancient text or form of scripture, taking quotes in modern english out of their original historical and cultural context can be problematic.

I didn't feel chastised. Or saintly, as if me and my life were so important to warrant an ethereal intercession.

I felt seen. I felt heard.

I felt loved.

I also fell. To my knees. Because I felt a presence that wasn't me.

And it's on my knees, metaphorically and literally, I've felt the greatest peace in my life.

Because it's the place where I have the opportunity to experience a wonder that surpasses all (my) understanding.

The wonder that comes from imagining, and for a few times in my life, believing - that God exists when I manifest love without any claims of superiority or judgement over others.

Because I believe its in stillness that as a people we will discover our ability to:

• exist in a moment
• learn to truly hear one another
• be trained in care for ourselves and others
• care for our Planet as if She was our Mom

Since She is.

An Invitation For You to Find

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Stillness.

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In the age of the algorithm, stillness provides an opportunity most aren't equipped to utilize.

An invitation that provides a unique moment to be present with and within yourself.

The practice of stillness is often avoided because we flee from the potential of fear.

Of what one will encounter within oneself. Of how we may interpret others. Of the world.

And there's so much to do.

All the time.

Yet this is where a beautiful irony exists in stillness:

It is so active.

It is so present.

A prescient presence present.

In what language do you pray?

And in what voice do you hear a response?

It is only in stillness outside of talk, technology or time you'll find your answer.

From a caregiving wisdom you may not be able to put in words.

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1. If you're wondering when the second time I heard God's voice is, thanks for noticing. I'll write about that in the future when I'm able as it involves my divorce and warrants a second article. But where "divorce" is often defined as "separation" and "isolation" it also can define the delineation of two eras. An "epoch" can be "epic" as I'll work to illuminate later.
2. I love puns. This is largely because I'm a musician and tend to hear words as sounds and notes as much as shreds of information pressed through lips. One of my heroes is Marshall McLuhan and apparently he also loved puns. I'm currently reading the excellent book, Digital Communion: Marshall McLuhan's, Spiritual Vision for a Virtual Age by Nick Ripatrazone who notes in the introduction to the book that McLuhan observed, "'Electric Media have made mass assemblies possible.' McLuhan's puns are playful, but they aren't flippant. In fact, McLuhan viewed punning as a rhetorical tradition -- a way to clothe content in language and appeal to our joy for rhythm and rhyme. 'The Catholic church was founded on a pun, very naturally,' he observed, referring to Matthew 16:18: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." Rather than being contradictory, McLuhan was authentically wrestling with the changing and frightening new world."
3. Along with the reference to Psalms in terms of "Be Still" there is also a reference in 1 Kings 19 to the concept of "the still small voice." This warrants another article, but in working on this piece I came across the excellent article, Getting the Still Small Voice All Wrong , written by Chad Bird, author of, The Christ Key: Unlocking the Centrality of Christ in the Old Testament where he notes that, "What I intend to show is that the “still small voice” in 1 Kings 19 is none other than the Word of the Father, the Messenger of God, the Voice of the Lord. In other words, the “still small voice” is another way of referring to Jesus the Messiah."

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