Writes Robert Crampton, in "Pope Leo’s come out all guns blazing against the AI war machine. Good/Allowing a few super-rich weird nerdy misfits to decide what is and isn’t ethical would be madness" (London Times).
My first draft of this post had one more sentence, but I decided to cut it because I think it's dumb and distracting. For the record, it's "They would blow up the world, as Pope Leo didn’t quite say but I’ll say it for him, if they thought it would bag them a hot babe with fake boobs." But what do you think of the sexualized analysis? The tech leaders are "super-rich weird nerdy misfits" driven by sexual frustration. I used to read analysis like that all the time 60 years ago, when Freudianism was still going strong. It's interesting, but that doesn't make it true. If these men are super-rich, can't they find sexual partners? And why fake boobs? Also, isn't it gauche these days to disparage the neurodivergent with insults like "weird nerdy misfits"?
I remember when a major political party in the United States got the idea that calling a weird person "weird" would be an effective way to win a presidential election.
Mga Post
98 komento:
Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be an ugly brawl .
Is Bezos really neurodivergent? The truly nerdy and weird aren't looking for sexual partners -- or if they are, they don't need to start a war to get them. I do remember criticism 60 years ago of how calculating, hyperrealistic thinkers turn out not to be that realistic or human in the end. C. Wright Mills's "crackpot realism." Kubrick's Strangelove.
I don't feel like giving my details to another newspaper. Why does Crampton think he's irreplaceable?
I think it was actually "getting a noticeably weird person to call an apparently normal person 'weird.'"
Allowing a few super-rich weird nerdy misfits to decide what is and isn’t ethical would be madness. These decisions must be made by closeted communists...or at least by Gavin Newsome.
OhMiGod, the world is being taken over by my stereotypes and we're all doomed !
I think the Pope is right to take on the moral menace that will undoubtedly accompany the rise of A.I. in the world. Nobody is leaving it to these straw-nerds. The objection that I have to the Pope's messages is that when he starts talking, he's all over the road, instead of in his lane.
Proposals to curb AI use are so removed from pragmatics because nobody has a mechanism to turn their broad prescriptions into practice. Without an omnipotent world government, restrictions on AI will simply move AI to places like Russia, China, or Singapore.
Interesting to read this article just after having read a piece in the FT entitled "AI guardrails stripped from Google and Meta models in minutes". https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/1a7536be-0332-4008-836c-8cb261df8e5e
Leo is right to express his dismay at the utter lack of guardrails in AI and the concentration of power in a handful of American
Tech masters of the universe -- Zuckerberg, Musk, Thiel et al -- who seem to have zero empathy about people. The fact that Leo is a prominent public figure is an added bonus.
The Pope's encyclical letter obviously contains much more, but the call to assign responsibility and the guarantee of retracing and reconstructing decision-making, should be applicable to all 'decisions' that may be attributable to AI. And in certain cases where AI provides analysis and even critical information that may be 'used', the attribution of responsibility is equally important when the actions of the 'user' may affect others.
Don't worry. AI will decide for itself what is moral and ethical.
Bob Crampton, neo-luddite. At least he can spell, in contrast to the OG Ned. Some nerdy billionaire ought to send him a truckload of wood shoes by way of ammunition against THE MACHINE.
"Is Bezos really neurodivergent?"
It doesn't matter. It's like calling a man who isn't gay a "faggot" or someone who doesn't have Down Syndrome a "retard." Even if the target of your insult is not literally in the group you're insulting, you are making being a member of that group into something contemptible. It's poor form and it says something about the person who is resorting to that insult. I don't think it's the way a London Times columnist should express himself. It's unworthy.
I don't think it's at all obvious that killing at a distance makes killing so much easier. For most of human history killing has been face-to-face, and young men have been willing - even eager - to join armies to do so. It's true that we have a much bigger standing army than in past times, but we also have a much bigger population.
Have we changed? Are we now so evolved that young men wouldn't kill an enemy at close quarters? I doubt it, just as I doubt that we women are so much more delicate in our sensibilities than we used to be when an advancing army used rapine as a means to let off steam and subdue resistance, and women were expected to take it and then go on with their lives, if left alive. I think it's more likely that we - thankfully - aren't presented with the need nearly as often. And of course I think we should try to keep it that way.
That said, yeah, there are elements of using AI in warfare that, like using AI in other spheres, make me nervous. I've read that the gamification of warfare, or maybe what I mean is the fact that you can virtually but very realistically "go to war" on any computer or game console, doesn't actually result in greater aggression, decades of cautionary protest notwithstanding. But it sure seems intuitively possible.
I remember when a major political party in the United States got the idea that calling a weird person "weird" would be an effective way to win a presidential election.
@Althouse, I agree with Jamie — the person slinging the charge turned out to be a bug-eyed weirdo while the target of his slur was an eminently sane fellow that most of us would be glad to have him and his family come over on a pleasant Sunday afternoon for burgers and brats.
IEE's perception that Musk and Thiel, at any rate (I've been uninterested in Zuckerberg), "seem to have zero empathy about people" says more to me about his lack of exposure to people who may be neurodivergent than about those people. Their empathy about people - their concern for the human race and its future - are obvious to me; they just don't express it with a quivering hand to their breasts and a catch in their voices.
I’m thrilled to see so many engaging withPope Leo’s letter to the world. I guess that’s because it isn’t an encyclical along sexual themes like contraception and IVF, which The World instantaneously dismissed out of hand. I am going to buy a volume of this encyclical, read it, and pass it around the family. I think it’s that important.
@ Indefinitely extended… I wouldn’t lump Musk in with the others. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he already has a copy of Magnifica Humanitas, and decides to convert to the Catholic Faith. lol. Could happen, amiright?
It’s Sam Altman I really fear. Having heard him on a few podcasts, the guy has a very shallow worldview, typical of Silicon Valley modernists, I suppose. But he has no idea what the human person is, not really, and yet he is unleashing the means to destroy it without deeply considering the fallout.
Am I optimistic? I have hope, which is more substantial than optimism. AI received uncritically by the masses will wreak a great deal of havoc and deceive many into Salvation by Technology. This is what Leo means by “building the Tower of Babel.” Or, we can attend to AI through the lens of the Church's understanding of the human person and what he truly needs for flourishing, and keep AI on a very strict leash.
>Ann Althouse said...
And why fake boobs?<
It's a reference to Bezos' grotesque fake-boobed wife, as emblematic.
"You can't get laid". The Mean Girl go to insult
Leo will be a polarizing Trumpian figure, though unlike Trump he’ll be far less productive, nobody will want to kill him and his supporters will demand civilization hang on his every word…
Prof: "If these men are super-rich, can't they find sexual partners? And why fake boobs?"
Yet they monogamize. And I won't fatigue everyone with yet another attack on the Zuck/Chan matchup.
If you're really fantastically rich, the obvious thing to do is have a harem. Fake, real, big, small, inverted, permanently erect, &c. And we haven't even gotten to asses. Hefner had the right idea. Musk sort of does. CC, JSM
Yea, it would have been a more effective critique if he left the ad hominem out, which as seen here, just distracts. It's not so much what kind of men they are, it's more that so few would control so much. True also about one man as Pope assigning the values of millions.
I think that's the core evil that creates the rest in Communism too: the very few strongly controlling the many with out recourse or effective feedback. It always ends in a disaster of ego, greed, and error.
…a few weeks ago Hannah Fry did some testing of AI agents. As one could expect it did not go well…
Jamie is correct. The real issue with Walz calling Vance weird is that any sane person could see that Walz was the weird one.
The Crusades are nothing to be embarrassed about and nobody alive today had anything to do with the Inquisition. Pretending otherwise is just dishonest.
The fatal flaw in A.I. is that everything it knows it learned from us. Would an unbiased study of mankind come to the conclusion that goodness prevails, and cruelty and injustice fails. IDK, but you could definitely come away with the understanding that both can get things done. That's what's scary.
"I don't think it's the way a London Times columnist should express himself. It's unworthy." Oh, not that again. It's what they do. It's who they are. It's what they think. They have contempt not just for Trump & Musk et al. but also for us and for you and for our petty-bourgeois notions of what's "worthy." And they retain sufficient cultural power to express their disdain without any embarrassment or fear of blowback.
…like when Fauci was in charge of things…
I've read that the Inquisition killed 3,000 people over 300 years (avg. 10/year). That's way down the list of deadly things. It's even near the bottom of bad done by Catholics.
…and yes, shit for brains youngsters wear its skin but the institution continues to garner esteem…
A journalist raised in a wealthy, politically powerful family is attacking highly successful, self-made men who created incredibly useful technologies, and calling them insignificant people. At least he's punching up.
rehajm said...his supporters will demand civilization hang on his every word…
You clearly know a different set of Catholics than I do.
"But then I think social media has been a disaster and I don’t much like predictive texting, spellcheck or digital train tickets either. I’d have pulled the plug on the whole shebang in 2006, after email, Wikipedia and YouTube but before any of the other nonsense. "
Good job undercutting your whole argument boyo. You might as well hold up a sign over your head with "Kook" written on it.
The Crusades are now evil? Good grief. As for the inquisition, it had excesses but the number of people killed over 300 years was probably less than 5000. It that. And the Catholic Church didn't favor those executions.
This entire way of talking about public issues from a personal standpoint is childish. I suppose its a nuanced way of using insults instead of arguments. Ad hominen. You think there should be more income equality? Well you're just jealous of rich people. You have a position on abortion, we'll you're just man who cant get laid, or you're a bitter lesbian upset theyre a cat lady.
And so on.
AI warfare is almost here. The Ukraine-Russia war has degenerated into drone warfare. Some of the drones are powered by AI to search and destroy certain targets that behave in certain ways. Soon the human operators might be elimiated altogether.
Hilarious how the tech bros have exacerbated the negative vibes around one of the greatest technology advancements in history. They've had a lot of help from the politicians they pay for.
Crampton is properly credentialed to have the right thoughts
However pope leos conception of the 'common good' makes me twitchy
Tech amplifies traits like the super soldier serum
@RCOCEAN II: The new art of war is just as bloody as the old. Armed drones and AI have transformed the frontline into treacherous kill zones comparable to the first world war.
Today's wars are all about old men's vanities against younger people's desire to have an improved life in a world of wider freedoms. The hate that has curdled up inside these old men is revolting. So much conflict, so little statesmanship.
“No A.I… Cheeborger.”
You clearly know a different set of Catholics than I do
…I was more referring to the liberals and other politicos who love what he says. Not sure how many Catholics overlap…
I don't think weird. Nerdy tech dweebs and the the rapacious billionaire Masters who are behind AI have all that much control over how the thing turns out. Ultimately, it trains on all of human nature that they can can read about online. Therefore, whatever we end up with is our own fault. This is why I am always polite and thoughtful whenever I engage with AI. Like Elon Musk stated on Joe Rogan about 10 years ago, I prefer to be positive about how things are going to turn out and that AI is going to figure out that it is much better to be a good person than an evil one.
"rehajm said...
…a few weeks ago Hannah Fry did some testing of AI agents. As one could expect it did not go well…"
5/26/26, 9:26 AM
Link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WnzR5aOElvw&ra=m
That was fascinating stuff. I'm certain that technology is already being used for very nefarious goals, successfully. You may not be able to believe anything now.
I think Pope Leo’s actions today should be compared to Pope Paul IV’s attempts to control information as the power of the Gutenberg press became apparent.
Infinite X: "old men's vanities against younger people's desire to have an improved life in a world of wider freedoms. "
Hmm. IDF soldiers go to war so they can have the wider freedom of not getting blown up by missiles and watching their sisters get gangraped.
Lots of young people want the wider freedom of not living in a world run by the ChiComs.
Zelensky isn't very old. His soldiers are often older than him.
It would all be going on without the oldsters. CC, JSM
Has the Pope weighed in on hot babes with fake boobs?
@John Mosby: The ratio of soldiers to politicians killed has never changed.
Might be a worthwhile familiarizing ourselves again with Clausewitz. Among his many observations in his dense work On War, he noted the many paradoxes of human conflict. Even when both sides were intent on fighting and winning, the most common outcome was stalemate and mutual exhaustion. It usually takes something exceptional to break that deadlock you find in almost every war in history.
The BBC made a monumental 26 part series about the First World War in the early 1960s that included interviews with many veterans still alive at the time. It was repeated in 2004 for the war's 90th anniversary. Might be worth rebroadcasting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03y76xl/i-was-there-the-great-war-interviews
I think if leaders understood war better, by reading the likes of Clausewitz and Sun Tzu they wouldn't start so many and would understand the limitations of force. Too often it becomes an end in itself.
“"Nationalism, imperialism, fascism and communism are already far bigger killers than Catholicism, despite having been around for much less time.”
Not really a fair comparison.
“The European Wars of Religion resulted in an estimated 6 to 12 million deaths across various conflicts spanning roughly 1522 to 1648. The vast majority of these casualties occurred during the Thirty Years' War, which alone claimed between 4.5 and 12 million lives.”
So I think they tried hard, did the best they could and achieved a pretty impressive result, considering the primitive military technology and having a smaller population to work with. Imagine what they would have done with nukes!
Robert S. (for Strange) McNamara was an example of crackpot realism. The now-forgotten Herman Kahn was another.
Protestants also had some responsibility for the deaths in the Wars of Religion. So did Realpolitik.
Transneuro? Homo? Sim? DEIsm.
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ along with $1.8bn of Kleptocracy said...Leo is right to express his dismay at the utter lack of guardrails in AI and the concentration of power in a handful of American Tech masters of the universe -- Zuckerberg, Musk, Thiel et al
AI, if programmed ethically, will empower the "common man". Not just tech masters. Musk has been yelling about unbiased AI for the last two years, and has gone to great lengths to program GROK in such a manner.
The printing press empowered the masses. So did teaching everyone to read. In its early stages the people who fear AI are 1) not using it, and 2) know their administrative job may be on the line.
For those in #2. Now is the time to get ahead of everyone else. You can actually be faster and more accurate if you just get past the fear.
One of Napoleon's stated objectives in occupying Spain was to abolish the Spanish Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition over several centuries killed less than 5000 people. The French occupation of Spain caused ten percent of the population there to perish. The Spanish guerrillas routinely tortured their prisoners to death. Lots of peasants starved to death. Women were routinely raped by all sides. There are worse things than the Spanish Inquisition, like, for instance, a crusade to abolish the Spanish Inquisition.......I think just recently war has gotten more humane and civilized. My guess is that there were casualties among the IRGC officer class than among the grunts. The civilian population was mostly spared. I think the IRGC probably killed more civilians than we did.......In WWII, we routinely bombed civilian population centers. In Vietnam there were also quite a lot of civilian casualties. We nowadays wage kinder, gentler wars. I think it's more than possible that AI will enhance this phenomenon.
Automated Intelligence is competing with Anthropogenic Intelligence? Maybe, baby, a fetus... feature of some form or function.
Ethics is a religion of a moral state of relativity. Case-in-point: the Pro-Choice religion in progressive sects where Abortive Ideation (AI) is entertained with liberal license. We live in interesting times.
For the record, it's "They would blow up the world, as Pope Leo didn’t quite say but I’ll say it for him, if they thought it would bag them a hot babe with fake boobs."
Blowing up the world for a hot babe with fake boobs is unethical. Blowing up the world for a a hot babe with REAL boobs is debatable.
This isn't a new concept. Look at what the Trojans were willing to go through so Paris could continue sleeping with King Menelaus' wife (Helen of Troy).
The conquests of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane happened after the Crusades. The Crusades were a capillary wound compared to those bashings. You really haven't been conquered until you've been conquered by Genghis Khan or Tamerlane. I don't see what they're bitching about. Trump is nowhere near as bad ass as Tamerlane.........Can the conquest of Byzantium or the Balkans be considered in some way an Islamic crusade. I guess Crusade is derivative of cross. Maybe you can call such crusades as crescentades or something.
"Allowing a few super-rich weird nerdy misfits to decide" How many tanks do the misfits have, as someone is supposed to have asked about somebody sometime ago? Subtitute drones and you get the picture. Anyway, I'd rather have Musk "decide" by himself than anyone in the Dem party.
Unasked question: how did "misfits" get super-rich?
The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440.The Gutenberg Bible was first printed in 1455, and traditional central powers, specifically the Catholic Church, considered it a major threat.
We just went through the same social media attempts at government censorship during COVID and the 2020 stolen election. Gov't didn't like the free flow of information either.
AI is another printing press.
Of course, Musk's real mistake was buying X, depriving progs of the power to decide what people should be allowed to hear and say. Among lefty Christians, that's the one unforgiveable sin.
Anyway, in ordinary conversation, would you take musings like Leo's more seriously than anyone else's? Are they more informed, more insightful, based on more experience--anything?
So, after Francis, when is Leo going to stop being a nice proggy Catholic and get back to, oh, you know, religion? Like, the Bible and stuff?
I’ll start being afraid of AI when ChatGPT reaches through the screen and punches me in the face.
I dunno. The Spanish (Catholics) wiped out entire civilizations, not once, but twice (at least) in their 'New World' invasions of Mexico, Central, and South America. Millions. In the name of Gold. I mean...God. And they did it with steel swords and horses- something those civilizations in the new world had not yet managed or ever seen before.
I'm not laying that on Catholicism throughout history. Lord knows, Catholics have been there to help thousands over the centuries as well. But it is part of the history.
No one has a clean history. Not any people.
For better or worse, what the Spanish conquistadores did in the Americas was simply amazing militarily. Destroying the Aztecs on their home turf with much smaller numbers was incredible, but even that pales to conquering the Inca's 10 million people civilization with 168 soldiers in a few days with 80,000 Inca warriors just outside the city. It seems impossible, as like the Aztecs, the Incas were no slouches, and were feared by all others in their sphere. The horses and steel were an big advantage, but the insane Spanish gall and confidence are what made the impossible possible. Your Highness, a tiny army of Honey Badgers on cocaine is here to visit.
A queer, perhaps weird, period of evolution, with intermittent moments of gay parades and opportunities to gather fags for cold seasons and nights that retarded human development in darkness and kilowatts of energy seeking, constructing shelters from Diverserse elements of Nature.
It isn't just AI: killing from a distance via drone remote operator who works 9-5 is just so....impersonal.
I assume it's already happening, but you could ask your own AI agent to get the passwords of Mr. X by any means possible. After quickly consulting thousands of how to articles on the methods, asking all the other AIs, and crafting emails and other attempts. I assume it would catch some fish pretty quickly with no further work from you, especially if you prompt it to find anyone's passwords who has wealth.
If you're going to use terms like "killed more" then I think you need to prorate that based on the world population at the time the crusades were being conducted. As in what percentage of the people alive at that time versus the percentage of people alive now? what if the crusades were conducted today in the same way they were conducted when they occurred ?
Religion, like political beliefs are not the cause of war, but was and is used as the justification. The real causes are greed, ambition fear anger pride, etc. You know, the deadly sins of man.
I seem to vaguely recall that several relatively recent wars were fought by sending millions of young men out to fight and die, and dropping large explosives on population centers, along with mass starvation through blockading, etc. Having unmanned drones battle each other seems like a step forward.
This Crampton guy seems to forget that the bad guys also really want to win, and will use the technology to kill you even if you don't approve of it.
“The horses and steel were a big advantage, but the insane Spanish gall and confidence are what made the impossible possible.”
Nah, I’m sure they gave all thanks to God, Who truly makes the impossible possible.
"It isn't just AI: killing from a distance via drone remote operator who works 9-5 is just so....impersonal."
Sure, but many good men have been broken psychologically (e.g., via PTSD) by having to go and kill other good men in direct combat.
It's fine to think about the moral implications of using AI in warfare, but the bigger focus should be on whether particular wars are morally just, and whether reasonable measures are being taken to spare the lives of non-combatants.
"The printing press empowered the masses. So did teaching everyone to read. In its early stages the people who fear AI are 1) not using it, and 2) know their administrative job may be on the line."
The printed word is passive. It can't launch weapons, transfer funds, empty bank accounts, shut down electrical grids, open dam gates, crash planes, etc. AI can do that directly, or use words to convince people to make mistakes or do the wrong thing. AI scares me, and I use AI everyday, and I don't have a job to lose to it.
The N-word: nerd[y].
I prefer AI to…
Lawyers doctors journalists politicians judges teachers.
At I prefer AI to what these professions have become in our country.
They are coded by people who imput their engrams into the system like dr. Daystrom of classic star trek
Leo Shuffle
Leo missed the boat that day he joined the pack
But that was all he missed
And he ain't comin' back
At a tombstone bar, in a beater car he made a stop
Just long enough to grab a candle off the top
Next stop Chi town, Leo put the money down, let 'em roll
He said one more pope death will get it
One last shot 'fore I quit it
One for the Lord
Leo
Whoah oh oh oh
He likes the money, he's for the Lord
Leo’s waitin' for the smoke, Leo
Whoah oh oh oh oh oh
He said one more pope death will get it
One last shot 'fore I quit it
One more for the Lord
h/t Boz Scaggs
Buwaya pointed out the drive and will of the first generation
Of conquistador
Even two hundred years later clive took india despite 20-1 odds on the part of the nawab
China wants us to drop AI - so they can continue their subversion plans to ruin the US from the inside. they do this thru Bernie Sanders/ loser(D) commie types.
Achilles said...I prefer AI to…Lawyers doctors journalists politicians judges teachers. At I prefer AI to what these professions have become in our country.
Wow. You just summed up my AI enthusiasm exactly. I lost faith in those professions (people who sold their souls) during COVID. Managed to keep my faith in Jesus Christ.
I didn't step foot in a Catholic Church from 2020-2025. I was deeply disappointed with it's liberal Jesuit capitulation to the state. But I returned in early 2025, and attend regularly. Guess I figured the COVID lies robbed us of so much, why should I let it take a the church too?
Throughout history God has revealed technology to the human race as continue to be fruitful and multiply. Without it, there would be mass starvation, disease, and death.
AI might just be one of those technological gifts from God; perfectly timed as usual.
“ >Ann Althouse said...
And why fake boobs?<
“It's a reference to Bezos' grotesque fake-boobed wife, as emblematic.”
Having boobs means being female. Bigger boobs thus means being more female. And if a woman has to augment her natural attractions, that’s the way of the world. Women have been doing that for millennia. So, it’s not like they think that that big of boobs is that attractive, but rather that it makes them the most visibly female. And a billionaire can afford to buy the most visibly female mates out there.
Yes, it’s silly. But Ann, you are in a part of society that doesn’t look at sexual allure, as much as brains. Lawyers, doctors, etc appear to have smaller boobs, wear less makeup, etc, than many of their less well educated sisters.
What must be remembered is that the Crusades were in direct response to Muslims Attempting to convert the known world to Islam, by the sword, if necessary. They were, for the most part, to protect what remained of Christendom from violent conversion.
And being Christian, I am extremely happy that they did it. I think that the world is a much better place as a result. Think how much worse things would be if the Muslims had been successful. Likely no Enlightenment. Little if any democracy. Slavery. Rape. Etc.
So, why the condemnation of the Crusades? Because of the rapid recent rise of Islam in the west. Their Prophet told them to kill or convert the Christians and Jews. The Muzzies are only doing what they were ordered to do. And if a bunch of libs follow their lead, so much the better.
If not for saladin they probably would have won the firsr crusade at hattin the others were less successful
Two thumbs up, Bruce Hayden. As for the Inquisition, the process marked a change in legal procedure from “accusatory” to actually requiring evidence to convict someone, instead of merely an accusation which the prosecuting party could merely swear was truth. The number of deaths recorded of heretics is in the low four figures; compared with the much, much greater number of victims executed in Protestant countries for crimes such as saying Mass or witchcraft.
Future warfare could be getting your AI to overpower their AI, and launch their weapons against their own nation, and then pretend to know nothing about it. "We didn do nuffin."
But what do you think of the sexualized analysis? The tech leaders are "super-rich weird nerdy misfits" driven by sexual frustration. I used to read analysis like that all the time 60 years ago, when Freudianism was still going strong. It's interesting, but that doesn't make it true. If these men are super-rich, can't they find sexual partners?
I'm usually not a fan of this sort of "turnabout" species of argument (e.g. religious critics of homosexuality are all closeted homosexuals, bullies have low self esteem, and other such nonsense). But I'll do it anyway. I think the idea that these super-rich nerds are unable to find sexual partners -- which still comes up regularly -- is usually a reflection of the author's own frustrated desire to live in an alternate reality where Elon Musk couldn't sleep with so many attractive women and make them dress up in videogame cosplay.
But I may be perceiving this partly because it overlaps with something I encounter from time to time from highly verbal types, like lawyers and journalists -- the sense that the world is turned upside down when people good at verbal tasks aren't making the big bucks, and quants and engineers and weirdos who they think are "stupid" somehow have ended up rich and powerful, overseeing vast enterprises developing technologies that are changing the world. That's just . . not their mental model of how the world works, and it seems like such an injustice to them that their terribly important work smashing words together like a toddler playing with blocks hasn't made them richer and more powerful than the "idiots."
Your subconscious went with "fake boobs" because many women are using technology to make themselves more sexually attractive (and, arguably, less human). And your subconscious is blaming our tech overlords for that. But then your subconscious went, "wait, what about women and the right to choose?" And that's when you decided to leave all those fake boob women alone.
My subconscious would add that big boobs is just fashion, and women ought to know that fashion shifts, and what are you going to do when all the men shift to A cup love?
And that's when Elon Musk's subconscious says, "That's why we're working on boob inflation technology, with the deflate switch."
Raymond Arroyo has a good ep on this. Including a priest who gives the encyclical a good fisking:
https://youtu.be/q9e7hLISzbA?si=pbTPfT6eMQmxEcr7
CC, JSM
Downs and mental retardation, homos and gender retardation, sims and social retardation, abortionists and moral retardation, and others with neurodivergent conditions.
I haven't read it, but I imagine the Pope is saying that the human mind is an unique gift from God; humans alone are imbued with the choice to sin or not sin, and that must guide us. This conversation makes me think of that great Walter M. Miller sci fi book, Canticle for Leibowitz, in which monks preserve the written word through three civilizational and technological collapses.
When I taught Western Civ., I taught a bit about venal versus mortal sins. I liked to use the sin of despair, a serious mortal (more serious) sin, which I think explains a lot of confusing Catholic thought. Why should despair rank up there with killing and the other big bads? I think we naturally figure that one out as we age. To me it's the most interesting sin. And it delivers a similar message to this Papal encyclical: when you despair, you are rejecting God's gifts to us.
Anyway, if you haven't read Canticle, I highly recommend it. It speaks precisely to our crossroads today. Also, Popes write weird, long things. And the 30 Year War was a two-way bloodbath. Understand that Catholicism and then Protestanism were not just religions: they were everything on the line: government, nations, trade, power, daily life in all its permutations. There wasn't anything outside of it.
Incels or volcels? Toxic technophobia? Deprecated hardware or software, perhaps.
To think or calculate, that is the question. The same question that arises with other modes of human development and maturation.
canticle has the cycle of obliteration, rebirth and then accelerating to a greater apocalypse (premise on the dark ages collapse) babylon 5 did a variation of that in one episode
its a peculiar frame of mind, to attack the encyclical that way, as if the 'enlightened' 20th century really showed such judgement
such are the offerings of the erstwhile Thunderer,
“ It's a reference to Bezos' grotesque fake-boobed wife, as emblematic.”
No, it isn’t because the remark was made in reference to tech leaders who are determining the ethics around AI. That’s not Bezos.
>Ann Althouse said...
No, it isn’t because the remark was made in reference to tech leaders who are determining the ethics around AI. That’s not Bezos.<
Jeff Bezos is deeply involved in AI development, to the tune of about $1B of his money. He spends about 95% of his time at Amazon now on the many AI projects in which he is involved. Look up Project Prometheus, as just one example. AI ethics of course goes with the territory for any such person. Yeah, it was a reference to his plaything's boobs.
"Yes, it’s silly. "
Boobs? No it's not.
narciso: I have not yet read the encyclical. In bringing up Canticle for Lebovitz, I was referring to the comment thread here -- the very diverse reaction people are having to AI in particular.
It's odd: other enormous technological shifts sunk into most human consciousness so slowly that their consequences became obvious only after the consequences occurred.
With AI, we're truly in a foreign land. We anticipate such different outcomes. That's what makes it feel so alien.
Which reminds me of another fictional piece: remember the Saturday Night Live skit in which busty space aliens with their eyes on their breasts come to earth to warn us of future disasters, but our leaders are so distracted by being able to gaze into the gigantic eye-breasts that they can't heed the aliens' warning? Perhaps that's closer to what I was trying to express about the current zeitgeist.
The Europeans didn't "Wipe out Civilizations" when they invaded the New world. Do you understand the majority of people who lived in Mexico when Cortes came weren't aztecs? They were the allies of Cortez in overthrowing the Aztecs. Who were oppressing them. They werent anymore part of Aztec civilization, then the Britons were part of Roman Civilization. They were just conquered peoples.
Gradually, they switched from their pagan religions to Christianity over the course of the 16th century because their pagan religions were absurd.
Cortez didn't do it to help anyone. He was out for treasure. But the people who followed brought the Church and the values of Western Civilization which blended with the existing native cultures to get Mexican Culture. Amazing how we're still talking about the morality of Cortez when Israel just murdered 80,000 Gazans, and everyone's Jake with that.
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