The question was posed in a safe environment. Douthat, one of the Times’ most reliable conservatives, offered Thiel sufficient context to escape with an easy answer. Douthat prefaced his question by saying: “a number of people deeply involved in artificial intelligence see it as a mechanism for transhumanism—for transcendence of our mortal flesh—and either some kind of creation of a successor species or some kind of merger of mind and machine.” He was referencing the movement to radically enhance and evolve humans to achieve immortality. Transhumanist adherents advocate for a range of innovations, from genetic biohacking to uploading our consciousness to a computer to merge with A.I., freezing ourselves through cryonics, and robotically adapting our bodies through expansive bionics that reach the level of cyborgs.
Douthat clearly thought that Thiel would choose human over machine. But Thiel responded with a long hesitation. In a video of the exchange, Douthat—to his credit—is clearly taken aback.
Thiel has long been cagey and ambiguous about his beliefs—likely a strategic play for his career as an investor—but he has clearly been fascinated with transhumanism for a long time. This recent interview, though, seems more direct and dangerous. Thiel seems unwilling to answer the question: Does he eventually want to be a literal, honest-to-god brain in a jar wired to a Macbook Pro?
Yes… That’s been the plan the whole fucking time. I thought we all knew this already?
There is just something about watching the slow, but inevitable collapse of the U.S. and eventually humanity as we know it, due to the very deliberate actions of one billionaire who was born in another country and who has been playing both sides against each other, while all other silicon valley billionaires have just accepted this as inevitable and are holding brainstorming sessions about what they can do following the collapse, rather than just stopping the guy who is orchestrating the whole thing.
Transhumanism is our inevitable fate, but this was all kicked off by a movement thar coerced Americans into believing they had to organize against secular humanism before things got anymore out of hand.
Thank God (can I still say God or do I have to say Thank Thiel?) we didn’t let that happen.
Lemmy as a whole is more seems to attract neo-Luddites but I’m still surprised to see someone so against transhumanism in c/technology.
Not it. People are worried about what their brand of authoritarin capitalism will do with transhumnism.
Whenever you see technoligical skepticism, it’s almost always about its effects on the working class as used by the ruling class of the time. If for example you opened up a new public research agency for AI (like NASA but NAIA) with the short term goal of developing open source AI and the long term promise to reduce the work week for all through AI productivity advancement, I think you’d get broad support.
Today however we hear private execs left front and centre salivating over the layoffs they’d be able to achieve thanks to AI, or over the new profit growth they’re gonna achieve. Most people know they ain’t getting any of that profit and would instead be stuck with the layoffs and inequality, among other negative effects. And history tells us this is a well founded concern.
Transhumanism—if it happens at all—is not happening anytime soon. Like, not for thousands of years if ever.
Listening to people talk about transhumanism today is like seeing people imagine flying cars in the 1950s. “Oh we’ve got this cool technology surely it means this wild extrapolation is right around the corner.”
Give me a break.
There’s a difference between the want for convergence with tech for all, if they want
Vs.
We’re going to transfer your consciousness into a virtual world and use you for biofuel while we, the powerful enjoy the wealth of your sacrifice.
https://lemmy.ca/post/34658048/13290827
It’s called the dark enlightenment.
This article warns from way back in 2017 https://qz.com/1007144/the-neo-fascist-philosophy-that-underpins-both-the-alt-right-and-silicon-valley-technophiles
They also want to use you for biofuel.
No, I’m not fucking kidding. These people are pure evil
“The trouble with the biodiesel solution is that no one would want to live in a city whose public transportation was fueled, even just partly, by the distilled remains of its late underclass. However, it helps us describe the problem we are trying to solve. Our goal, in short, is a humane alternative to genocide.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/183971/jd-vance-weird-terrifying-techno-authoritarian-ideas
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/inside-the-new-right-where-peter-thiel-is-placing-his-biggest-bets
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Yarvin
Why are we not Luigi’ing these people?
I’m surprised to see someone so supportive of Peter Thiel on Lemmy.
I feel like you’re so lovestruck you’ve somehow confused Thiel and his money with the technology he’s attached his name to, but I will loop you in on this hot take and very well kept secret: You can oppose Peter Thiel and the broligarchy trying to control the technology most of them played no role in creating, and not be opposed to technology.
Especially when you realize that the rush to this is bc Thiel just wants to attach his name to a very lackluster final product before anyone else can improve it out make it their own.
I’m not necessarily supportive of Thiel - he does some things that I oppose, and also some things that I think are silly. He’s not a very likeable man overall. I’m supportive of transhumanism. The substance of this article is merely that:
The article doesn’t even say what his reply ultimately was, but the implication is that even considering that a transhuman future would be better is somehow horrifying, and that’s the implication I’m surprised to see supported here.
You can find the video interview. I’ll spoil it for you: He didn’t say he would prefer the human race endure following that very concerning pregnant pause. Rather, he hemmed and hawed.
Thiel isn’t just a transhumanist, he’s an accelerationist, and he has a fuckton of money.
I’m for transhumanism and potentially some kind of ai governance but thiel (and the rest of the slime in the tech industry) are not the people to bring it to us. Everything they touch is tainted by greed and our current direction with ai is a lobotomized tumorous speech center.
Its a bit dated (written in the 90s) and doesn’t address transhumanism but Stark by Ben Elton really gets the vibe of these assholes.
Technology is a great thing that can assist us, when it changes who we are it goes too far.
I love chocolate. I don’t eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nuance is indeed a thing.