Wild at Heart and Short on Brains
Spring – Wk 2: A Murder of Drones | Standing in Satan's Shoes | Sexbot in the Closet | Mo Tzu Loves Me, This I Know
A Murder of Drones
Latest article: "Inside The Global Race To Build Killer Robot Armies" — in the Federalist
The temptation to open Pandora’s Box is irresistible. In early March, the U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence completed its two-year inquiry, publishing its findings in a dense 750-page report. Its members unanimously concluded that the United States has a “moral imperative” to pursue the use lethal autonomous weapons, a.k.a. “killer robots.” Otherwise, we risk bringing a rusty knife to a superhuman gunfight.
Citing the threat of China or Russia leading the global artificial intelligence (AI) arms race, the commission’s chairman, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, urged President Biden to reject a proposed international ban on AI-controlled weapons. Schmidt rightly suspects our major rivals won’t abide by such a treaty, warning U.S. leaders, “This is the tough reality we must face.”
If other superpowers are going to unleash demonic drone swarms on the world, the logic goes, the United States should be the first to open the gates of Hell.
Read the rest here
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Standing in Satan's Shoes
If you don't want to be a total jerk all the time, it's important to empathize with others. Even if you think they're evil—or so gross you could puke on their shoes—that doesn't mean they don't feel pain, just like you.
Pop star Lil Nas X made half the world mad the other day, and really, you ought to feel bad for the guy. Conservative pundits tore him a new one. Then Nike freaked out because he sold 666 pairs of limited edition satanic shoes with bling pentagrams and a swoosh logo. Even the governor of South Dakota took time to scold Lil Nas X on Twitter.
As if it isn't hard enough being black and gay and famous.
The trouble started for Lil Nas X with his music video "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)". The kid's only 21, and there he is onscreen, lounging in the Garden of Eden, kissing some three-eyed archon whose head looks like it could spread HIV. The singer gets judged by uptight grey people and winds up depressed because nobody likes him.
After his final judgment, we see Lil Nas X slide down a stripper pole to Hell, where he gives a lapdance to Satan himself. I've heard ex-cons tell some weird stories about the down low, but I never thought I'd see a dude on a stripper pole. I definitely never imagined it would be so boring. Even Satan seemed unimpressed with the performance.
Listening to the lyrics, the music video appears to symbolize gay black dudes on the down low who get outed and ostracized by their puritanical Christian community and then retreat to the shadows to get their kicks. Something like that.
You have to wonder where this Lil Nas X kid grew up. There are so many churches flying rainbow flags these days, it's hard to believe he couldn't find one. There are the Unitarian Universalists, the United Church of Christ, half the Methodist congregations, a whole slew of Lutherans, and a wide range of "nondenominational" churches whose doors are emblazoned with the clever homophone "Open and Affirming."
Then again, that's mostly a white people thing. The black community may get down with black Jesus, but Lil Nas X would be hard pressed to find a black church that's cool with gay Jesus. So instead of going to liberal white people Heaven, the pop star chose to slide down the stripper pole to Hell.
A hardline free will Baptist would say Lil Nas X chose his own fate. If you've ever been to a liberal white people church, you can hardly blame him.
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Sexbot in the Closet
The toughest thing about being a Luddite is that humans were made for technology as much as technology is made for humans. Our neurons are puzzle pieces shaped to match certain simulacra. It's never a perfect fit, but it's good enough for rock n' roll.
That's why you can hand a toddler an iPad and they figure it out right away. The touchscreen is designed to be intuitive. Conversely, you could say the human brain evolved to use a touchscreen.
You see this complimentary relationship in many technologies. Because humans have eyeballs and innate curiosity, the temptation to look into a telescope is more than most of us can bear. That's what got Galileo in so much trouble. The same goes for microscopes and MRI monitors. We were made to probe the unknown, as were our machines.
There are many other examples. Just slide behind the wheel of a well-made car. The driver's seat was crafted with Homo sapiens in mind. Your fat ass fits right in.
Lethal weapons follow the same principle. Guns don't kill people—people kill people—but our fingers have been itching to pull the trigger since the days of Cain.
Same story with the brain. If you compare the LSD molecule to seratonin, you see that this synthetic neurotransmitter was made to slide into the human neuron, just like a puzzle piece. And so on.
A good technology fits human instinct like a glove. That's what makes it so seductive.
The first time I saw a sexbot prototype face-to-face, I knew mankind was fucked. They call her "Miss Sex Machine." I found her in Prague, at the Museum of Sex Machines. The young lady I was there with was unmoved by the thing, but it was all I could do to tear my eyes away.
It's not that I'd ever actually do it. I don't think so, anyway. Even the strongest man might be tempted, but you know, what if someone found out?
Sexbots aren't like dildos. There's a harsh stigma attached to men who sleep with super-hot bots. Women who love vibrators don't have to deal with that. Chicks get together for sex toy parties. Dudes hide their sexbots in the closet, scared to death someone might find her.
Can you imagine discovering one of those buxom monstrosities in your buddy's house? You'd never let him forget it. Nor should you. Sleeping with a fucking doll is pathetic. It's like a horny dog humping a teddy bear, or a rotten-toothed fat kid munching M&M's by the handful while his mom jabs him with insulin.
This product of intelligent design is the ultimate Darwinian dead end. Browse the pics from The Daily Star's tabloid coverage of the sexbot industry. You'll see that silicone succubi are made to kill more unborn children than a Planned Parenthood in Portland, Ore.
Any man with a genetic predisposition toward artificial lovers should freeze his sperm now, because once off-brand sexbots start showing up in bargain basements, his genes won't stand a chance.
Not with those legs.
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Mo Tzu Loves You, This I Know
The Axial Age sages of China, such as Confucius and Mencius, tend to emphasize loyalty and devotion for one's own people—one’s own ruler, one's own countrymen, and one's own kin. Any surplus kindness should radiate out in diminishing quantities from there. If you run out of altruism before you cross the border into foreign lands, well, that's just too bad.
Nobody can love everybody, but that didn't stop one man from trying. This radical egalitarian was Mo Tzu* (or "Master Mo" – the Tattooed Master). His philosophical writings are the first to appear in Chinese literature. For a couple of centuries, the Mohist sects were as highly regarded as the Confucians.
Mo Tzu say:
"It is the business of the benevolent man to try to promote what is beneficial to the world and to eliminate what is harmful."
In the late 5th century BC, the itinerant sage urged China's rulers to embrace jian ai, or "concern for everyone," often translated as "universal love."
On one level, Master Mo argued on the basis of practicality. He asked his selfish detractors if they would rather have their parent cared for by an impartial benefactor. If so, then these doubters actually do believe in "universal love," even if they lack the piety to practice it.
On another level, he taught that impartial kindness is the Will of Heaven, which all rulers should follow, just as common people follow their rulers. Mo Tzu’s logic was simple. Because all people are children of Heaven, and because Heaven loves all children the same, all people should show equal concern for every child of Heaven.
Mo Tzu say:
"The universal-minded ruler...will say, 'I have heard that the truly enlightened ruler must think of his subjects first, and of himself last.'
"Because he views his subjects in this way, he will feed them when they are hungry, clothe them when they are cold, nourish them when they are sick, and bury them when they die."
This dictum preceded the the Gospels by four centuries.
Similar to ancient Judea, Mo Tzu taught at a time in Chinese history when the gap between "haves" and "have nots" was growing wider. Going against the grain, he counseled feudal lords to abandon their luxury and distribute goods with impartiality. He opposed nepotism and personal favoritism of any kind. He and his disciples lived simply, wore plain clothes, and taught weaker communities how to fight.
Master Mo's mission also coincided with the Warring States Period. Despite the brutal spirit of the age, the peacemaker rejected wanton acts of aggression.
Mo Tzu say:
"Universality means that if one is in a large state, he will not attack a small state; and if one is a member of a large family, he will not overthrow a small family. The strong will not oppress the weak, the many will not bully the few, the cunning will not deceive the stupid, and the eminent will not lord it over the humble. ...
"This, then, will bring benefit to Heaven on high, to the spirits in the middle realm, and to man below."
The key to implementing a policy of "universal love" or "concern for everyone" was to convince the rulers to adopt it first. Having accomplished that, the people would naturally follow. Looking at China's subsequent history of oppression, total war, and violent uprisings, it's clear that he couldn't convince either of them.
Maybe it was just a matter of style. For one thing, Mo Tzu and his ragamuffin Mohists argued that music and entertainment were an economic drain on the weary farmer. Therefore, all live performances should be banned. Who wants to live like that?
For another, Master Mo's analogies were really unappealing. In his main treatise on "universal love," he argues that a righteous populace will do anything to please their ruler—including suicidal acts of self-sacrifice—so rulers should exhibit concern for everyone. To illustrate this, he recounts three stories of ancient nobles and their compliant subjects.
Mo Tzu say:
"King Ling of the state of Ching loved slender waists. During his reign, the people of Ching ate no more than one meal a day, until they were too weak to stand up without a cane, or to walk without leaning against the wall. ...
"King Kou-chien of Yueh admired bravery. ... But he was not sure whether [his soldiers] had understood the true meaning of bravery, and so he set fire to his warships and then sounded the drum to advance. The soldiers trampled each other down in their haste to go forward, and countless numbers of them perished in the fire and water. ...
"Duke Wen of Chin liked coarse clothing, and so during his reign the men of the state of Chin wore robes of coarse cloth, wraps of sheepskin, hats of plain silk, and big rough shoes. …
"To reduce one's diet, consign one's body to the flames, or wear coarse clothing are among the most difficult things in the world to do. And yet people will do them because they know their superiors will be pleased. So within the space of a single generation, the ways of the people can be changed."
Two and a half millennia later, Master Mo's program of "universal love" and pathological altruism remains little more than a pipe-dream.
Mo Tzu say:
"I cannot understand how the men of the world can hear about this doctrine of universality and still criticize it!"
It's a funny thing—most dreamers never understand, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. Thank Heaven for the wild ones.
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* Got a problem with the Wade-Giles transliteration? Go eat a bag of pinyin.
- Lao, Chuang, and Mo will always be Tzu to me.
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I like grey hair. No prejudice that way between blonde/brunette/redhead. Level playing field.
Sancte Michaël Archángele, defénde nos in práelio; contra nequitiam et insidias diáboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, súpplices deprecámur: tuque, Princeps militiae caeléstis, Sátanam aliósque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditiónem animárum pervagántur in mundo, divina virtúte in inférnum detrúde. Cor Jesu sacratissium, miserére nobis. In Nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.