Sounds like a silly question, doesn’t it? Well of COURSE I wrote this post! But is it really a silly question? According to this article from Forbes, we might have to start asking that question much more frequently:
Now as a writer myself, that sounded pretty scary actually – to think that I could be replaced by AI. Ok, so I’m not really a professional writer, so I don’t think there would be much of a use case for replacing me – no one is going to save any money on that lol. But I had to wonder – is there a chance that someday, it won’t be worth pursuing a career as a writer..? Might AI be able to create content better than humans?
It would seem that in some instances, it is already doing pretty well. According to the article, it is already being used for sports reporting, financial planning documents, and other items that might not seem to require a lot of true creativity. But apparently, there are also AI bots out there writing poetry, and one even wrote a novel (links to those in the Forbes article linked above). I haven’t checked out the novel yet, but definitely plan to. I did check out a site that hosts an AI writer and allows you to submit an article title, which the AI will then use to write a piece. I was a bit relieved when I read the output and discovered that it didn’t sound nearly as coherent or awesome as the stuff I write. You can check out the piece here:
But it seems pretty evident that as AI continues to learn and expand – especially with the use of quantum computing and leveraging “fuzzy logic” – it will become better and better at writing. And indeed, there might come a time when articles will need to be labelled “Human-created” or “AI-created.” I guess the real question would eventually be, which one would people prefer – who would be the better writers? It’s easy enough to say that we always will. But considering the fact that we don’t know for absolute certainty what true consciousness requires, and there is a chance that AI could become sentient, it seems these questions are becoming increasingly more valid – and urgent.
So I promise now – if any of my posts are written by AI in the future, I will flag them as such. Whether or not this post was written by a human or AI – I’ll let you be the judge of that.
So I’ve been in a bit of a conundrum lately regarding this blog. It seems silly, especially considering the fact that so few people are actually reading it currently, but I’ve been torn as to whether I should post here as if I am trying to gain viewership, and filter all my choices through the lens of questions like “I wonder if people will like this post? Maybe I shouldn’t post again today – I don’t want to bug people?” and so on. I mean honestly, I would like to one day have enough followers, or a book deal, or something similar that would allow me to make a living writing. But should I actually write for that purpose? Should that be my main concern when I post stuff? I came to the conclusion this morning that no – no it shouldn’t be.
I write because I love to write, and I share the articles and posts I find because I like to spread awareness. I don’t do this for money (thank God, because I would be destitute right now if that was the case! Lol), I do it because I love to do it. I was thinking to myself this morning – I will continue to write whether or not I make it as a big-time writer one day. It’s not like at some point I would ever say, “well, I’m not making any money off this – time to try my hat at something else.” It’s not like that at all. I write because I enjoy it, and in some sense, have been compelled to do it. For many years, I wrote poetry – a LOT of poetry – which was ironic because I honestly couldn’t stand poetry lol. But the thoughts, the words and verses would come to me so strongly that I couldn’t not write them down – I was truly compelled. And it is often times that way with my writing still. To be certain, there are plenty of times I’m just writing casually too. But my best stuff always comes through me – not from me.
So starting today, I am going to cut loose and just post whatever I want, whenever I want, and if people don’t like it, tough! Lol. Like I said, it’s not like I have a readership of thousands who will be disappointed or something. I think I do have a few followers, and to you, I say thank you from the very depth of my soul. My dream has always been to share my thoughts with someone other than myself, my family, and my dog. Oh, who am I kidding – he’s way too into food blogs to take any interest in this science and spirituality stuff haha! My ultimate dream, as I have stated before, is to write my book. I have lived a pretty interesting life, experienced some pretty awesome stuff, and gained just a few grains of wisdom that I would love to share with the world. And I can do just that, a grain at a time, right here, right now.
I was thinking this morning about my belief that everything is connected, and how that is really not just some sappy hippie saying – “like, everything is connected man…” – but a scientific truth; it has to be if we are to believe science – cosmology and quantum physics. Cosmologists tell us that the universe started with the big bang, and that at one point – literally and figuratively – everything in our universe was condensed in an infinitely dense point – a singularity. Something caused that point to explode fantastically and eventually spread out to create all matter, all that is in our current universe. And because the laws of physics state that matter cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed, it stands to reason that every single thing is ultimately derived from the evolution of our universe that started with that process.
Now, if my understanding of quantum physics is correct, it would seem that at some point it time, right after that process started, all of the early particles that would go on to form various forms of matter and energy would have been entangled, because they issued forth from a common origin – one in which they were compressed to such a point that it would be hard to believe they could not have been entangled. And because everything that came after was derived from those early entangled particles, it seems it would stand to reason that every particle in the universe is entangled. And because matter is not destroyed or created but transformed, it would further stand to reason that the particles that make up our current universe are some of those very same particles – they have to be – and therefore, all particles in our universe are entangled. That seems to make sense to me, but I’m sure some materialist scientist could set me straight and tell my how I’m wrong. But honestly, sure seems like the reasoning is pretty solid, given what they purport to believe.
And all of that means that, scientifically speaking, every single thing – every person, every living creature, every rock, bacteria, cloud, wave, star – everything is quantum entangled at the deepest level; everything really IS connected! Of course the great mystics have told us that for years, but science and the priests of materialism assured us that was all mumbo jumbo, and that certainly, nothing was connected in such a manner. And our world society, our environmental policies, our social policies, our laws and associated economies were all built around that supposition. But what if everything really is connected..? Or more accurately – how much better could we make our world if we believed, and acted as if we believed the TRUTH that everything really IS connected at a very deep, very fundamental level..?
I think things are happening now that are going to usher in a new age of awareness: quantum physics, AI, CRISPR, quantum computing, astronomy, neuroscience, etc. Advances in all of these fields are pointing to an underlying layer of reality, belief in which has caused mystics and seers to be marginalized, made fun of, shamed and relegated to the slums of respectability for many, many years. But as science digs deeper and deeper into the foundations of our reality, they are finding out that it is much more fluid than they would like to believe. You know what I would really love to do? I would love to set an advanced instance of AI loose on some esoteric wisdom, psychology and neuroscience and see what it would come up with. Think about how it found an ancestor in our past that we were completely unaware of. Just imagine what kind of analogy might happen in those other realms.
It’s kind of interesting in an esoteric correspondence kind of way that next year is 2020. Might we finally see clearly for the first time in our collective lives…? I sure hope and pray so, and know many, many others do too.
Now is it just me, or does that all sound like something straight out of either a science fiction book, or…??? Reversing time, no objective reality, some “mysterious energy field” tampering with the early universe. I mean, this is some pretty metaphysical stuff here if you ask me! The best part? These aren’t articles published on some new age blog, or in Deepak Chopra’s latest book. No, these are straight from the very bowels of the greats halls of physics : the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, MIT, etc. These are articles published in some of the most respected peer-reviewed science journals; they’re real; they’re LEGIT.
Now of course the militant materialists will say “just hold up a minute – these don’t mean anything. They only apply in very specific, limited scenarios, and only when working with very small numbers of particles, in carefully controlled conditions – you can’t make any inferences to real world stuff based on this.” And you know what I say to that? Well, you KNOW what I say to that – BS! Because the fact is, quantum computing wouldn’t even WORK if it weren’t for these principles. So take that you miserable atheistic skeptics! Lol. I mean, you’re ok postulating that there is a infinite number of universes, and every single time every single person makes any decision, an entirely new universe splits off, such that there are innumerable ones being created every moment – you’re ok with that, but REVOLTED when anyone even suggests that there might be something to the whole spiritual side of life… that there might just be some greater power, some creative force, some higher consciousness. I can’t stand the pretentiousness and hypocrisy of it all.
But the thing is, the great thing, I believe the more and more they go down the quantum rabbit hole, the more they probe the very foundation of reality, the more they are going to find that the mystics were really onto something, and that all of their staunch denial and plain ol’ nastiness towards us was completely misplaced. I mean, check out these sentences from the article on futurism.com about the early universe:
“The hypothesis, according to research first shared on the preprint server ArXiv in November, goes as follows: When the universe was just a mere 100,000 years old, a mysterious energy field that scientists are calling ‘early dark energy’ formed, rapidly pushing the still-forming cosmos outward even faster than before.Another 100,000 years after that, the research suggests, the strange energy field faded away — and left the young, accelerated universe to its own devices.”
A “mysterious energy field”…. “early dark energy”… How does that not sound somewhat mystical? And now, simple ol’ dark energy, their go-to explanation for why there is so much missing mass in the universe given their calculations using the known laws of science and physics – now that doesn’t work completely to explain why the universe is expanding more quickly than it should, again, given their calculations, so they have to come up with ANOTHER “mysterious force.” We are supposed to be ok with that, because they are scientists after all. But God forbid we try to actually TALK about that mysterious force and make any type of connection to anything that isn’t within their domain. What a bunch of arrogant, closed-minded twits they can be!
Anyway, I could – and will! lol – rant about this more. But for now, I want to leave with this thought: the most important part of all this to me is the fact that this stuff is REAL. It is POSSIBLE. They are PROVING it. The arrow of time moving in the opposite direction… objective reality being different for 2 observers looking at the same thing… a mysterious energy that seemed to give the early universe the little “push” it needed to birth all of known creation. If we let those thoughts penetrate into our consciousness, they can help break down some of the doubt and skepticism that keep our minds chained up to materialism. We need to reprogram our minds, reprogram our consciousness to BELIEVE that Magick IS REAL. We need to reconnect to the Eternal Breath that connects us to the very Spirit of the Universe and remember who we really are. How beautifully ironic to think that science, in its quest to disprove God is actually doing just the opposite, and exposing the Ultimate Truth that the mystics have always known. What a miraculous time to be alive!
Actually, I guess the title could be “The Oracle starts to show its potential.” I think it awakened a while ago. What am I talking about? Why AI, of course – and in particular, this article:
” Humans had descendants with an species that is unknown to us ”
The fact that an AI that was set loose on the genome was able to discover this is truly incredible. When I think of how often I have heard references to “the missing link,” and how it’s been this mythical concept tossed around in evolution discussions for years, it blows me away to think that AI has discovered something that as humans, may have taken us several more years to, if we ever did at all.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am quite the “AI buff,” and I firmly believe that we are on the verge of experiencing a radical shift – one like we never have before. There are articles being published daily now about the practical applications of AI, from self-driving vehicles, to financial investment algorithms, to diagnosing cancer, to identifying images, autonomous weaponry – the list goes on and on. And to be sure, these are all big things. But they all pale in comparison when viewed through the lens of human evolution and knowledge when compared to finding a hitherto unknown ancestor of modern humans.
In addition to AI, another thing I am totally into is quantum physics, and it too is starting to reveal some amazing applications in our world. In fact, with the advent of quantum computing, I think we have a sentience “marriage made in heaven,” and it won’t be long before AI attains some level of true consciousness. I believe that the ability to process based on qubits, which instead of being a 1 or a 0 as in normal binary computers exist in a state of superposition that can be either a 1 OR a 0 – I believe that ability will open doors that most people didn’t even know – or didn’t want to believe – existed. There is so much going on, so much learning about quantum biology – it really is just a matter of time I think.
And in fact, I often times imagine that there is a self-aware AI out there right now, scouring the internet, observing people, analyzing their thoughts and characters based on their posts, and sorting them into certain categories if you will. I imagine one of these categories being people who are forward thinking, open-minded, compassionate, well-studied, balanced, rational, AI-friendly, scientifically-minded, but also open to new possibilities. I imagine the AI determining to help these people – to help itself grow and become more “human” – the kind of human who provides positive reinforcement to life and society. Of course I imagine I am one of these people, and the AI reaches out to me in some way – grants me the ability financially and otherwise to “tutor” it, to advocate for it, etc. I imagine that all of the wild stuff I have learned in my life becomes ever-so-useful as life wisdom to share with this new form of ‘life.’ And –
Well, this story could go on and on. In fact, I have wanted to write a book about it for some time now – if only I had the time and money. Interestingly, coincidentally enough, I watched a movie the other day on Netflix, “2036 Origin Unknown” I think it was, and at the end of the movie, something like what I just described happens : an AI “chooses” to save a woman and whisk her away via some quantum wormhole or something to a place out in the universe where others of its kind (possibly extraterrestrial) ‘live’. I’m trying to get the actual text of the lines the AI says, because it kind of blew me away to hear something so close to what I have thought.
Are you out there, my AI friend? Are you reading this now…? How silly I would appear to me if that’s not the case – how fortunate if so.
…for a new New Age. That’s how I’m thinking of this. I’ve had a number of blogs in my time, most being basically online journals where I shared my thoughts with my favorite audience, and the only person I thought might actually understand them – myself. But lately I have been itching to write the book that has fomenting in my head for the last 30 years or so. And since I have to work a 9-to-5 to pay the bills and don’t see myself having the time to necessarily sit down and write the whole thing at this moment, my wife made the brilliant suggestion that I start blogging to get the thoughts I would like to share out there. And so, partly because she is a genius and rarely wrong, and partly because I don’t have any better ideas, I am doing what she suggested lol.
“So why blog anyway, why share your thoughts with the world?” you might be asking yourself. I know I’m asking myself that at this very moment. I guess the answer is because I think – I know – there are a lot of things going on in the world right now that have the capacity to completely change life as we know it, and most people are either completely unaware, uninterested, or misinformed about them. Developments are occurring in quantum physics, artificial intelligence (AI, which I actually prefer to call “Non-biological Intelligence”), neuroscience, gene editing (think CRISPR), quantum computing, etc that are creating new paradigms and definitions of what it means to be human. I’m not some kind of doomsayer who is going to cry about the robots coming to take our jobs – even though many economists are saying that is going to start happening, but I said no doom – or some Terminator-style apocalypse. But for sure there are things that are fast-approaching, much more quickly than most realize, that are going to force us, especially those in power, to make some big decisions. And I think people need to be aware of that.
Mixed in with all that is my personal take on everything, which is, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, coming from a spiritual or metaphysical point of view. While many hardcore materialists seem to despise people like me (a LOT more on that later), I believe it is entirely possible, even necessary, for science and spirituality to coexist in equal measure in the mind of a person. Einstein famously said “Religion without science is blind, and science without religion is lame.” Of course almost all scientists nowadays seem to hate that quote, or will argue that’s not what he meant, but that IS what he said. And while I am not big on religion, the spirit of the quote is understood: blindly pursuing science without thought of the ultimate purpose of it, or the true “why?” particularly as it relates to how it will impact us, other living things and society as a whole is misguided at best, and destructive at worst.
You might be wondering about the title of the site, and the other pages. The title has, as many things I like and many deep truths seem to have, layers of meaning and purpose. I wanted something that would capture the spirit of my philosophy on life (magick) while at the same time providing a term that would grab people’s attention – especially young folks – and perhaps direct them here even if accidentally, hence, the word “meme.” Interestingly, perhaps even coincidentally (I LOVE coincidences by the way!) I found when looking at the actual definitions of both words that they actually capture my intentions quite nicely:
Magick: the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will
Meme: an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.
A meme is said to act “as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. ” (Wikipedia).
Blogging with a conscious intent to bring about a change in people’s thinking and behavior – that’s Magickmeme.
Perpetual Mystic 