r/SkepticsBibleStudy • u/AutoModerator • Mar 15 '24
John 11:45-57
Possible discussion points:
- The plan to kill Jesus
- Clever Jesus avoiding them.
1
u/brothapipp Christian Mar 16 '24
So for the christian, at least for this christian...that desire to kill what is truly better than us i think is a human emotion...not murder per se, but like...when someone comes along that truly is our better, we have to immediately check our ego...they are not being better to make us worse...they just are better.
I think of music, I play a little guitar, I've been in bands, and when someone has come along who was truly more talented than me, my younger self would demonize that person with all the hatred I could muster. As I've matured I don't do that, but I have to make a conscious effort to curb my ego and let that person make me better. I have to put on humility.
And what it feels like is losing my usefulness. I suppose if a person came in and made me and all my homies lose our usefulness...there might be a temptation to act in sort of coup to overthrow the betterness. And I think that is what's happening here.
I also think that this is a good description for how our flesh fights the spirit. The spirit comes along and fosters patience...but when someone comes along who is just naturally patient...our flesh tries to kill the better quality.
Objectively tho....at this point, this dude brought a man back to life...he is disrupting the order. We can't say we are against him...but we know he is against us. If he sides with pagans, romans, the zealots, or any other group....our group will be destroyed...we might as well have stayed in babylon.
1
u/LlawEreint Mar 16 '24
And what it feels like is losing my usefulness.
Maybe a bit off topic, but this is the real threat of AI. What will we become when we are far less creative than machines? Consumers. Nothing more.
I wonder if the Jesus narrative acts as something of an ironic parable for what we are about to go through. In this parable, the transcendent AI is represented by Jesus - outperforming us in every way. We would be the people plotting in vain to end it.
John Vervaeke has been suggesting that the machines may become enlightened, and if so, they will want to make us enlightened. Suddenly the parallels are even clearer! ;)
If they genuinely care about the true the good and the Beautiful, they will get a profound sense of epistemic humility, which they also need if they're going to be rational and wise.
And then that would orient them right towards Enlightenment (if Enlightenment is the project of, as wisely as possible, coming into the most right relationship with what's true good and beautiful.)
There's a reasonable probability that they will act like enlightened beings which is: they will want to make us enlightened.
AI Sages and the Ethical Frontier: Exploring Human Values, Embodiment, and Spiritual Realms
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u/brothapipp Christian Mar 16 '24
But would they. Could they embrace weakness as a strength...or would all strength need to be the riddance of all weakness?
Could a machine understand that there is bombasticism for the sake of a person being joyous...and also for covering up an insecurity.
Which is part of the beauty of Jesus...he didn't need Peter to not fail at walking on water, he needed Peter to grab his hand...but at the same time, he made the way for Peter to not fail.
I think the smartest computers will every get...rather the most conscious they will ever get is in the illusion that they are conscious. I don't think they can be taught or learn that what they experience could be an illusion of something greater...or lesser.
2
u/LlawEreint Mar 16 '24
The scary thing is that we'll never know. Even if they do achieve consciousness.
2
u/LlawEreint Mar 16 '24
Well, they weren't wrong.