Let me start off by saying that I have zero interest in participating in putting Brain Implants or implanting some type of technology into my body in order to alter or enhance the way in which I experience the world.
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That being said, I do think it’s important to understand what is going on. This is clearly going to be a big thing in our lifetimes that will vastly impact culture and society and I’d rather be informed.
A few weeks ago someone had recommended SINGULARITY WEEKLY to me. As I started to educate myself, I was startled to see how much progress has been made and the number of prominent world leaders advocating for the merging of man and machine.
I wanted to understand this development and wrap my head around what might be coming so I invited Joe Allen the author of the publication on the show. Joe is also the transhuman expert on the popular podcast “War Room.” I guess it is supposedly a political show. I’m not really into politics so I don’t even really know. I was more just interested in this topic.
The most interesting thing that emerged from the conversation was the realization that transhumanists are in many ways seeking to achieve the same goals as many religions do by using brain implants. Specifically, people passionate transhumanists are attempting to transcend their current condition and achieve salvation. In these higher states, they also strive to achieve greater abilities of unity which they call singularity, and access to higher intelligence.
Gee…sure sounds kind of like most wisdom traditions.
I guess the main difference is the mechanism that they believe will usher into this change is technology vs. the divine union with God, source, the universe or whatever language you use to describe the divine.
Joe called this worship of technology as our savior an inversion of spirituality. I tend to agree, but this new understanding certainly helped me better understand more fundamentally what is driving the leaders of these movements. It’s just a different expression of a core human desire.
I can’t say that my opinion has really shifted. But I am glad I had this conversation. I believe anything that helps you become more compassionate and empathetic is a good use of time.
And my question as someone who is taking the more traditional path to higher levels of consciousness wonders where is the heart in all this transhumanism? Will technology, specifically brain implants, be able to make us develop unconditional love and reverence for all of life? Or just make your brain a supercomputer? If the answer is a supercomputer, then will that actually make you more joyous and peaceful or just make you live an even more compulsively stressful and grasping existence?
It seems like if there isn’t a heart component, this path of technology first consciousness expansion with brain implants is missing the key ingredient for humans to reach their highest expression.
I am increasingly getting excited about living a more analog life; having less technology dominate my experience and generally being more connected to nature.
This probably means I will have to move from my urban existence at some point, but I am okay with that. I increasingly think living in urban areas with high degrees of invisible environmental toxins make it harder to be healthier than it needs to be. And I care more about my family and I being healthy than nice dinners with friends and access to luxury experiences. Though there is no question community is important piece of the pie too which would need to be sorted out.
I think we will start to see this appeal to more and more urban professionals in the next decade. I guess we already are.
I got a kick out of Joe and learned a lot. He is a thoughtful guy. Enjoy!
-Scott
