Why "AI" is qualitatively worse than the internet/ social media/ smartphones

People apparently have difficulty understanding (or explaining to themselves) just why post-November 2022 "AI" is qualitatively worse than the previously-existing computer-media phenomena - such as the internet, social media and smartphones. 

The answer is quite simple: upfront and no secret. 

As usual; probably because evil must be invited into the heart in order to damage the soul; the agents of strategic evil always tell us what they intend for us, before they try to do it. 

In this case, "They" have told us explicitly that the purpose of "AI" is to replace human thinking, judgment, creativity - and loving-relationships. 

Again: "AI" is intended to replace humans in the realms of:

1. Thinking

2. Judgment

3. Creativity

4. Loving-relationships

In other words, the explicit intent of "AI" is to replace human beings in their most distinctive and spiritually-highest aspects. 

And that is what people are agreeing-to, when they defend and promote the "AI" project. 

The fact (and I regard it as a simple and sure fact) that "AI" cannot replace human beings in these aspects is almost irrelevant to the purpose of "AI"; because the purpose does not depend upon "AI" actually being able to do these things; but only on convincing human beings that "AI" can do these thing. 

In sum; the reason for the tera-dollar investment and subsidy of "AI"; the mandatory top-down societal transformations, the colossal pro-"AI" career and status incentivization of the intellectual, technical, and managerial class...

Is simply that people will believe that "AI" can replace human thinking/ judgment/ creativity/ loving-relationships.  

The endemic condition of AI-dolatry can therefore be defined the belief that "AI" can replace human thinking/ judgment/ creativity/ loving-relationships. 

Because if you believe that "AI" can replace human thinking/ judgment/ creativity/ loving-relationships; then you will almost-inevitably (sooner or later) conclude that "AI" should replace human thinking/ judgment/ creativity/ loving-relationships.

The "should" follows the "can", because "AI" is (and has been grossly subsidized, at our expense, so as to be) quicker, easier, and more reliable than human beings. 

In other words; if we believe "AI" can do X as well as (or better) than humans, then it follows that "AI" should do X.  

To conclude: It is the belief about "AI" that does the spiritual harm to human beings. 

We have been told explicitly what "AI" is intended to do, and there is a trillions-dollars international program tasked with implementing this...

Thus, those who justify and advocate "AI" just-are agreeing-with, justifying and advocating; the actual and on-going totalitarian strategy of replacing human beings in their most distinctive and highest aspects. 

This is the side the AI-dolators have chosen, in the spiritual war of this-world. 

And who could deny that the global totalitarian "AI" project and strategy has (so far) been overwhelmingly successful in convincing great swathes of people (especially in the managerial, technical, and intellectual classes) that "AI" can (and therefore, implicitly, should) replace human thinking/ judgment/ creativity/ loving-relationships? 

In three short years; AI-dolatry has become not just statistically normal; not just a functional requisite for tens of millions; not just ubiquitous and unavoidable on and around the internet and social media; not just socially-rewarded...

But AI-dolatry has become positively-valued. 

Given the provenance, intent, and effects of "AI"; we have here an explanation for the observation of a unique and qualitatively-enhanced nature of personal spiritual corruption; directly resulting from the high and increasing prevalence of AI-dolatry. 

Evil? Don't let it into the heart. If evil is already inside, then label it as evil

The problem with the most prevalent forms of mainstream, normal evil - such as the Litmus Test issues - is that they are invited into the heart; and once inside the heart they are regarded as good. 

There are many incentives - immediate and long-term, psychological and social-material - for supporting the net-evil totalitarian strategies that I call Litmus Test issues; there are many rewards for support, and many sanctions against failure to support. 

And when we inhabit a decades-old and pervasive-intrusive totalitarian ideology; almost all of public discourse is inhabited by one or another (or several - of all!) of the strategies of evil; such that it becomes all but impossible to survive and thrive without going-along-with one or many of the strategies of evil. 

Such is the nature of the human condition in a world where evil is dominant; and where that dominance of evil reaches down into the detailed workings of (almost-) every significant nation, institutions, organization, corporation - and nowadays penetrates even into friendship groups, clubs, hobbies, and the family itself. 

How can we inhabit such an evil world, without ourselves taking the side of evil in the spiritual war of this world? 

The (Christian) answer is very simple, I believe; because it "simply" involves that we recognize evil, and inwardly reject that evil. 

This recognition-rejection sounds easy, and it can be easy (a child can do it) - but in practice is apparently so difficult as to be not just impossible but incomprehensible. 

One difficulty is that "we are all sinners", as the phrase puts it; that is to say, we all practice evil. This is unavoidable not just because this is an evil-dominated world, but because we ourselves can only sometimes and partially desire and live-in-harmony-with divine creation. 

For much of our lives we cannot resist thinking, wanting, and doing evil.  

Therefore, to recognize and reject evil entails that we recognize and reject many aspects of our-selves, and those whom we most love...

And also that we recognize and accept that this situation will not (because it cannot) change: for all of mortal life on earth, we are and shall-be stuck-with our own and other people's deficiencies and wickedness. 

If the above is a broadly correct account of human life on earth; and if evil ought to be dealt-with by recognition and inner rejection; then we can see that it is a Big Problem - perhaps the biggest of all current spiritual problems - when people invite evil into their hearts and call it good. 

Instead, we should strive not to invite evil into our hearts. 

But when, inevitably, we do invite evil into our hearts - when we (inevitably) find ourselves supporting some evil strategy... then we must resist doubling-down on our sin, and calling that evil good. 

We must, especially, resist defending intentional strategic evil; or promoting it on the grounds that is a lesser evil than something else; or on the grounds that - like all evil, everywhere, ever - the strategic-evil contains some good, or potentially good, aspects. 

No - instead we must do that which is simple: recognize and reject. 

And when - and it is a case of "when" not "if" because everybody is a sinner, all will fail and fall; and fail frequently... daily, hourly - we are compelled, or cannot resist, going-along-with or even publicly-supporting some evil strategy...

Then inwardly, in the privacy of our souls, we need to make a clear act of recognition and rejection. 

Don't invite evil; and when we have already invited it into our hears; ensure that the evil does not become a familiar, habitual, acceptable, friend and companion. 

Ensure instead that the evil we have already invited, accepted, and already supported in our hearts; then gets acknowledged and labelled in accordance with its true nature: as an evil we inwardly reject. 

Is there any positive value to debating "AI"?

I have long been sceptical about the benefits of arguing; because the result of any significant argument is settled in advance by fundamental (metaphysical) assumptions concerning the nature of that reality under discussions. 

Unless the metaphysical assumptions can first be acknowledged, then the argument will necessarily be futile or counter-productive - at least in the short-term.

(Sometimes an argument may have a delayed beneficial effect - that can happen.) 

But since "AI" is the current major project of the global totalitarian leadership, which they devised, launched (on November 30th 2022), and have implemented internationally and coercively (at a cost (probably) of tera-billions of dollars and vast quantities of energy) - then an argument on the subject can hardly fail to be revelatory of the nature of personal assumptions. 

And, thereby - by observing somebody's quality and strength of attitude towards the actuality of "AI"; we can sometimes discover which side that person has chosen to fight-upon, in the spiritual war of this world.

And I mean the actual side that person is actually on - regardless of his self-identification and self-image; because the vast majority of those who believe they oppose the mainstream of Leftist are in fact actively in service to that agenda of this-worldly ideologically-hedonic materialism.

This can be valuable; because "AI" is one of those Litmus Test issues; which evidently has a strong tendency either to reveal, or indeed actively to shape, a person's entire ideology. 

I have myself observed, in multiple instances, the way that a failure to understand and inwardly-reject the net-evil of the globalist "AI" project; crystallizes an individual into assumptions, attitudes, behaviours etc. that sustain the totalitarian Establishment project.  

In a spiritual sense, what is happening is that external evil can only enter our hearts, souls, inner selves... by invitation. 

But, when we do invite evil into our heart - and especially when we publicly apologize for, defend, and even promote evil...

Then this is a capitulation that (un-repented) Will Have (and demonstrably does have) rapidly adverse consequences.

We then Just Are a servant of evil, in the spiritual war; and it does not matter that we may suppose or advertise ourselves to be based, or Christian, or whatever.  

Insofar as it is helpful for our own spiritual quest to identify such people, and not to be misled by their surface protestations; then debating "AI" has value.

It can hep us learn something important about another person.  

But argument does not help, or very seldom - and may actually hinder - any intent of persuading such people to abandon their support of an obviously-evil mass project.

NOTE ADDED: As usual, the problem with this latest strategy of evil is that it is so pervasive, so lavishly funded, and so multiply-incentivized; that people who are (whatever their protestations) fundamentally this-worldly and action-orientated, cannot help but get on-board with it. "AI" advocacy, including pseudo-debate that accepts the fundamental assumptions offers (at least in the short term) many opportunities for enhanced status, influence, and a sliver of the money. Because the totalitarian System is almost ubiquitous, it can effectively be resisted "only" spiritually (not materially) and by individual persons (not organizations or institutions), and in their souls (not in socio-politics)... I put scare quotes around "only" because this is the issue at stake. The Issue wrt "AI" (as with other Litmus tests) is about whether or not the spiritual, the individual and the soul are genuinely to be primary in our own personal spiritual lives; whether or not we inwardly affiliate with God, Divine Creation and following Jesus Christ. What I personally find so dismaying is that So Many public-Christians will willingly (indeed eagerly) subordinate their inner commitments to external pressures and propaganda.   

High- and Low-level functionality; Totalitarian control versus Chaos

If I am correct that the ruling class are divided between - on the one side - totalitarian bureaucrats with the aim of omni-surveillance and micro-control - mostly based on the motivation of power. Such people enjoy manipulating people into doing Their will...

And - on the other side - Agents of Chaos; whose agenda is destructive; and whose main motivation is resentment, hatred, and spite. 

They most enjoy immiserating, tormenting and killing people - and any affected purpose is a sufficient excuse for this activity. 

But these two kinds of evil are always mixed, in practice; and I think the way evil works at the geopolitical and national scale is that the two categories are defined by overall and strategic motivation at the high-level. 

And perhaps necessarily, each kind of evil at the strategic level tends to be "balanced" (and made short-term more effective) by the other kind of evil at the lower level. 

So, the totalitarian bureaucrat agenda is essentially ideological at the highest level - and that ideology is Leftist - with its various justificatory sub-strands such as socialism, feminism, antiracism, climate, healthism etc.  t strikes me that there is a kind of division between these groups. 

Consequently, bureaucratic totalitarianism at a high-level almost sabotages itself by destroying functionality at the lower level. 

This is the well known phenomenon whereby top-down imposed Leftist ideology destroys its own functionality in all kinds of institutions, corporations, organizations; because the low-level people are increasingly "doing ideology" instead of running the organization. 

This is why strongly totalitarian leftist organizations so often descend into chaos, and fail to yield their ideological intentions: and we get schools and colleges that do not teach; police indifferent to the law; media "entertainment" that does not entertain; scientists that hide truth and never discover anything useful etc. etc. 

Normal modern Western life...  

In other words there is a conflict between high-level totalitarianism, and always increasing low level-dysfunctionality - and indeed chaos.

The Agents of Chaos have almost the opposite problem; because in order to pursue the high-level chaos, they need to support functionality at the lower levels. 

So, in pursuit of global and national chaos; the AoCs tend to restore some degree of functionality at a low level - thereby creating a non-chaotic, indeed somewhat anti-chaotic, counter-current. 

In order to disrupt agriculture or international trade, or to induce wars; the AoCs may need to build-up manufacturing functionality, or improved military and intel capability; and they may need to deploy genuinely effective propaganda - these, at least in the short-medium term.

Thus, there is a conflict between high-level chaos, and the immediate low-level need for functional power to cause this chaos.

My analysis is not meant to be reassuring. Evil is not defeating itself by these conflicts. 

Instead, the internal contradictions and counter-currents just lead to more evil, of more kinds, in different aspects and places - and make this evil so multiple in nature as to be impossible to defeat by opposition!

As always, we are brought around to the truth that opposing evil is futile or counter-productive; and evil can be overcome only by Good...

(Remembering that there is, and can-be, no real and effective Good; without a personal and loving creator-God. While noting knowledge of such a God is necessary but not sufficient, for truly Good intentions.) 

My traditional anti- "New Year" post!

A message for all my loyal readers:

Pinch Punch First of the Month! 

(No returns.)

It's really no big deal in the scheme of things, a symptom rather than a cause - and I still (sometimes) wish people a Happy New Year* after the numbers click-over (and our 1:1 definition of New Year is plain numerological thinking, a discipline so beloved of the totalitarian Establishment)...

But it has become traditional for me to write a curmudgeonly post about the fake/ incoherent/ demonic practice of calling January 1 New Year.

Here 'Tis, yet again, and with some new added malice...

In our heads, for our-selves, we ought to have some other date for the new year. 

If we accept that a year is essentially astronomical, then the new year arrives after the winter solstice (whatever date we happen to assign to that, usually 21 December, having artificially made periodic adjustments with extra Leap Years)...

But, bearing in mind that through most of history the solstice could not be known more accurately than to a span of several days - we ought not to make a fetish of the precise astronomical instant. 

Solstice is (for the natural Man) more of a "season" than a day. 

If you are a Catholic Christian, you probably should consider celebrating Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation - currently March 25th in the UK - as your inner New Year...

As was done in England until 1752 (which was, by no coincidence, the time and place when modernity began to ascend to dominance).  

In essence, today really-is the New Year - only because They regard it as a New Year for the purposes of their demonic strategies.

In this bureaucratic world, where the elimination of human belief-in and contact-with the spirit and the divine is primary - the wholly artificial, simultaneously anti-scientific and atheistic date of Jan 1 does the desired job very well. 

Just bear that in mind. 

*In particular, from having lived for many years in Scotland among Scots; I have to make allowances for that more-deeply mind-controlled race than we English, and their post-religious pseudo-patriotic infatuation with Hogmanay!