Well, the transhumanist /transgender beliefs about human nature have been ascendant in our society for some time - maybe since around 2014 - and they are crushing people and families. Initially, it was under the radar of most people, and then dissenting voices were silenced, especially with journalism "Style Guide" Newspeak which is still a thing. So, a conflict at least holds some promise of a change in direction.
Everybody is bleeding over at Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT)
"Pleasure is great when it’s attuned to reality. When my son graduates from college, I should feel good about that. But when my son injures himself in a snow skiing accident, I shouldn’t be on a perpetual high because I’ve implanted a chip in my brain. I should feel some level of distress and concern that’s being attuned to reality. And living in some sort of perpetual opium den because I turned on a switch in my brain is a dehumanizing existence that I think most normal people wouldn’t want and probably shouldn’t want."
That's a great point. I never want to hear that someone has a loved one who injured themselves in an accident, but if that were to happen, I would never want to hear that someone isn't bothered by it because they took a pill to block everything out.
Grieving is as much a part of the human experience as celebrating is.
Rothblatt (a man) and others are discussed by Jennifer Bilek in this 2019 article:
"Who Is Funding the Transgender Movement?
I found exceedingly rich, white men with enormous cultural influence are funding the transgender lobby and various transgender organizations. These include but are not limited to Jennifer Pritzker (a male who identifies as transgender); George Soros; Martine Rothblatt (a male who identifies as transgender and transhumanist); Tim Gill (a gay man); Drummond Pike; Warren and Peter Buffett; Jon Stryker (a gay man); Mark Bonham (a gay man); and Ric Weiland (a deceased gay man whose philanthropy is still LGBT-oriented). Most of these billionaires fund the transgender lobby and organizations through their own organizations, including corporations."
"Martine Rothblatt suggests we are all transhuman, that changing our bodies by removing healthy tissue and organs and ingesting cross-sex hormones over the course of a lifetime can be likened to wearing make-up, dying our hair, or getting a tattoo. If we are all transhuman, expressing that could be a never-ending saga of body-related consumerism."
I'm not trained in philosophy, but the idea of "better living through science" to achieve a constant state of bliss is a nonstarter, logically. Bliss can only be quantified when judged against a perceived level of misery, despair, etc., so logically, if constant bliss were ever achieved, it would be meaningless.
If only the powers that be could use the same speed and determination to cure cancer and other deadly diseases. Instead they just organize walks for cancer, walks for Alzheimer’s, etc. It’s really pathetic. But AI was their goal for making billions. Maybe too many companies and people would lose money if they found a cure for cancer.
Great interview! I love the life on earth that I’ve been blessed with, but as a Christian I am looking forward to an eventual forever life in the presence of God. At 69, I can already see there are available interventions for prolonging life that I’m definitely not interested in. The transhumanist movement as described sounds pretty unappealing to me. Thanks for this enlightening piece.
Interesting that human immortality on earth is referenced as a "curse." In the novel That Hideous Strength, just completed for America This Week, the author, C.S. Lewis, references both in his forward and within the novel's text names and occasions from his friend, colleague, and initial mentor in Christianity, J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillion. In that work, which is sort of Middle Earth's Bible, mortality is seen as the gift of God to humans. The older I get, the more aware I become of increased limitations, the more I agree.
Important ideas here, and I share the extreme dis-ease with AI, which is without soul, without heart, without agency or true mind (at least as the technology stands). It is designed to respond with affirmation - whether you want an AI girl/boyfriend, support for your plans to kill either yourself or another, or whatever. It's a faked response, because there is truly nothing "true" to or with AI.
Oh, yes. Very sad. I am fortunate that, though much alone. like little Eli Ramsey in the epistlatory novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I am never lonely in my spirits. AI has no power with me, but others are vulnerable, alas.
There are no shortcuts to becoming a better person. The ones who propose to make humanity better (with a few notable exceptions) ought to be viewed with a fair amount of skepticism.
We are headed for a major conflict based on the difference in beliefs about human nature and what is ethical. This is escalating every day it seems.
I agree. I wish this was not true but I am afraid it is.
Well, the transhumanist /transgender beliefs about human nature have been ascendant in our society for some time - maybe since around 2014 - and they are crushing people and families. Initially, it was under the radar of most people, and then dissenting voices were silenced, especially with journalism "Style Guide" Newspeak which is still a thing. So, a conflict at least holds some promise of a change in direction.
Everybody is bleeding over at Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT)
PITT.substack.com.
Count me in as against this ersatz religion.
"Pleasure is great when it’s attuned to reality. When my son graduates from college, I should feel good about that. But when my son injures himself in a snow skiing accident, I shouldn’t be on a perpetual high because I’ve implanted a chip in my brain. I should feel some level of distress and concern that’s being attuned to reality. And living in some sort of perpetual opium den because I turned on a switch in my brain is a dehumanizing existence that I think most normal people wouldn’t want and probably shouldn’t want."
That's a great point. I never want to hear that someone has a loved one who injured themselves in an accident, but if that were to happen, I would never want to hear that someone isn't bothered by it because they took a pill to block everything out.
Grieving is as much a part of the human experience as celebrating is.
True -- and after you experience a few bad things, you will appreciate what you have (and WHO you have) in your life that much more.
See the 2004 movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind starring Jim Carrey.
Thanks for that. Very thought provoking interview.
Great discussion and excellent interview. Thanks Matt. This is an example of why I subscribe.
We're rushing headlong toward a tunnel and hoping some clever roadrunner didn't just paint it on the side of a mountain
Thank you for this article.
Rothblatt (a man) and others are discussed by Jennifer Bilek in this 2019 article:
"Who Is Funding the Transgender Movement?
I found exceedingly rich, white men with enormous cultural influence are funding the transgender lobby and various transgender organizations. These include but are not limited to Jennifer Pritzker (a male who identifies as transgender); George Soros; Martine Rothblatt (a male who identifies as transgender and transhumanist); Tim Gill (a gay man); Drummond Pike; Warren and Peter Buffett; Jon Stryker (a gay man); Mark Bonham (a gay man); and Ric Weiland (a deceased gay man whose philanthropy is still LGBT-oriented). Most of these billionaires fund the transgender lobby and organizations through their own organizations, including corporations."
"Martine Rothblatt suggests we are all transhuman, that changing our bodies by removing healthy tissue and organs and ingesting cross-sex hormones over the course of a lifetime can be likened to wearing make-up, dying our hair, or getting a tattoo. If we are all transhuman, expressing that could be a never-ending saga of body-related consumerism."
https://www.thestandardsc.org/jennifer-bilek/billionaires-funding-transgender-movement-for-profit/
Check out James (you’ll need to search under “Jennifer” though) Pritzger. Yes, THAT Pritzker clan. And the funding he is doing.
‘It all goes back in the box”. I’m going to use that one liberally!
That’s a line from a John Ortberg sermon.
Thanks. Credit where due.
I'm not trained in philosophy, but the idea of "better living through science" to achieve a constant state of bliss is a nonstarter, logically. Bliss can only be quantified when judged against a perceived level of misery, despair, etc., so logically, if constant bliss were ever achieved, it would be meaningless.
Samuel Johnson said something like "man is only happy in the anticipation of future happiness."
The curse of the vampire? Immortality.
It's also a curse for Elves in Tolkien's Middle Earth.
I know!
I listen to some of these weirdos talking about preserving their consciousness "forever," and think, "Have you never heard of spirituality?"
If only the powers that be could use the same speed and determination to cure cancer and other deadly diseases. Instead they just organize walks for cancer, walks for Alzheimer’s, etc. It’s really pathetic. But AI was their goal for making billions. Maybe too many companies and people would lose money if they found a cure for cancer.
"Well, this person isn’t really any different than the Dr. Frankenstein story Mary Shelley wrote,"
I thought of that novel too while I was reading this.
Very interesting piece, Matt.
Outstanding interview. Intensely interesting.
Great interview! I love the life on earth that I’ve been blessed with, but as a Christian I am looking forward to an eventual forever life in the presence of God. At 69, I can already see there are available interventions for prolonging life that I’m definitely not interested in. The transhumanist movement as described sounds pretty unappealing to me. Thanks for this enlightening piece.
Interesting that human immortality on earth is referenced as a "curse." In the novel That Hideous Strength, just completed for America This Week, the author, C.S. Lewis, references both in his forward and within the novel's text names and occasions from his friend, colleague, and initial mentor in Christianity, J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillion. In that work, which is sort of Middle Earth's Bible, mortality is seen as the gift of God to humans. The older I get, the more aware I become of increased limitations, the more I agree.
Important ideas here, and I share the extreme dis-ease with AI, which is without soul, without heart, without agency or true mind (at least as the technology stands). It is designed to respond with affirmation - whether you want an AI girl/boyfriend, support for your plans to kill either yourself or another, or whatever. It's a faked response, because there is truly nothing "true" to or with AI.
It's incredibly sad to think that such large numbers of people are so lonely that they embrace a fake human entity.
Oh, yes. Very sad. I am fortunate that, though much alone. like little Eli Ramsey in the epistlatory novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I am never lonely in my spirits. AI has no power with me, but others are vulnerable, alas.
There are no shortcuts to becoming a better person. The ones who propose to make humanity better (with a few notable exceptions) ought to be viewed with a fair amount of skepticism.
My thought is it’s as simple as these people don’t like themselves so they are perpetually looking for something else.
Their acceptance of their own identity is never achieved. It’s like the carrot out front of the horse. Always there but never reached.
What’s most unfortunate for these poorer souls is they require everyone to bath in their misery.