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Peter Thiel is speaking this month in San Francisco about the antichrist. Nicole Shanahan, ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former vice-presidential running mate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., called the annual Burning Man festival "demonic" last week. These are the most recent developments in the rise of techno-Christianity, a reaction in part to transhumanism and Effective Altruism.

Peter Thiel has also questioned the viability of democracy, which brings us to the "Dark Enlightenment" of Curtis Yarvin and Nick Land that advocates for anti-democratic CEO-kings. Although it was a fringe idea for many years, it has now gained traction with Silicon Valley billionaires like Balaji Srinivasan, who advocate for the "Exit," seasteading, and "network states."

It feels like we live in the strangest times, shaped by powerful people with the worst ideas. Because technology reflects the consciousness of the people creating it, I am deeply concerned about the people creating our technologies, especially artificial intelligence.

In my new YouTube series, I begin trying to understand the philosophical and psychological underpinnings behind the strange ideologies coming out of Silicon Valley, ideologies very much shaping technology innovation today. Inspired by Nietzsche and Iain McGilchrist, I'm calling the imbalanced thinking behind all of this that emphasizes left hemisphere qualities “Apollonian Intelligence" or the "Apollonian Mind."

Peter Thiel on Ross Douthat’s New York Times podcast raving about the antichrist

Thiel’s four-part lecture series about the antichrist https://luma.com/antichrist

Nicole Shanahan’s rant about demonic Burning Man

New Yorker coverage of Curtis Yarvin’s “Dark Enlightenment”

Iain McGilchrist’s wonderful book The Matter with Things

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In this episode I explore the complex relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and wisdom, particularly focusing on discernment. I argue that while AI can hinder discernment by perpetuating biases and misinformation, it also holds some potential for cultivating it through tools that aid meditation and self-reflection. I also emphasize the importance of truth and self-awareness in this "age of AI." Ultimately, I argue that discernment is a uniquely human quality that requires ongoing effort and vigilance, whether aided by AI or not.

This one was a long-time coming so I hope you get as much out of listening as I did writing it!

More on OpenAI's recent decision to remove some of the content guardrails on ChatGPT.

This episode was adapted from a guest post on Michael Spencer's AI Supremacy newsletter.

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Join Chad's newsletter to learn about all new offerings, courses, trainings, and retreats.

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Continuing our deep dive into what it means to be human in the age of AI, and inspired by the physicalist yet transcendent worldviews of the transhumanists, in this episode I start to explore the concept of worldviews, focusing first on physicalism / scientific materialism (the idea that matter / energy is fundamental), and how that particular metaphysics or worldview was based entirely on a series of assumptions that were never empirically proven. We contextualize all of it via the postmodern zombie mythology.

I focus on the unexplained anomalies from quantum physics as how they undermine the physicalist worldview. I then explore the reasons that physicalism is so intractable as a worldview.

All of this is just to set the table for an exploration of #idealism in my next episode (the idea that mind or consciousness is fundamental). Then we can finally turn our attention to transhumanism and human faculties.

You can find a YouTube version of this episode here.

Sam Altman’s “Intelligence Age” post

Quantum measurement explained:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHDMJqJHCQg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kxmR82QMN8

Quantum entanglement explained:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqmIVeheTVU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuvK-od647c

John Vervaeke on being rational and spiritual

John Vervaeke on Zombies

The famous Einstein - Bergson debate of 1922

My video on the hurdles to AGI

Support the show

Want to talk about how Chad can assist you with your own transformation?
Book a free consultation!

Join Chad's newsletter to learn about all new offerings, courses, trainings, and retreats.

Finally, you can support the podcast here.