I'm curious about whether the overarching aim of Castaneda's work has any relevance when considering the imminent merging of artificial intelligence with the human mind and body, as well as its integration into society at large.
Presently, with the advent of ChatGPT and other language/visual models accessible to the public, their impact is evident on both personal and economic spheres. There is widespread fear-mongering that jobs will become obsolete and entire sectors, such as the film industry, might face upheaval in the foreseeable future.
Looking ahead, the prospect of genuine artificial general intelligence (AGI) is likely to make a significant entrance, coupled with the potential integration of brain chip implants that could boost the cognitive functions of an ordinary person. The implications of this technology could be profound—vastly enhancing learning capabilities or even enabling bodily control, such as granting mobility to someone who is paralyzed or aiding individuals in regulating their autonomic bodily functions.
In the face of such advancements, one must question whether the concepts of sorcery maintain any significance. Do sorcerers possess any understanding of AI and its capabilities? It's also worth pondering if sorcery will have a role alongside AI and brain implant technologies in the future.
The more I consider the theories and potential outcomes, it appears that reaching the pinnacle of sorcery might be an exercise in futility, given the lengthy process involved. The extraordinary reality-altering abilities described in Castaneda's work might be deemed irrelevant; much of it doesn't seem practical for everyday life without dedicating hours each day to attaining 'silent knowledge'. Accessing this knowledge swiftly enough to be of tangible use poses another challenge.
Indeed, even Castaneda's sorcerers, with their extraordinary abilities, are portrayed with human imperfections. They lack omniscience, do not possess universal linguistic fluency, nor do they exhibit the heightened intelligence or astronomical IQs that could potentially be offered by brain implants and artificial intelligence.
The question arises: Can sorcery genuinely rival the capabilities that a fully integrated AI/brain implant system might provide? Advanced enough technology could arguably emulate all aspects traditionally ascribed to sorcery, potentially rendering the mystical experience less extraordinary in the face of technological advancement.
11 Comments
And so it begins!
Yawn 🥱.
TBH I think you have this backwards:
"I'm curious about whether the overarching aim of Castaneda's work has any relevance when considering the imminent merging of artificial intelligence with the human mind and body, as well as its integration into society at large."
The real question is whether AI tech has any relevance to human evolution, or mankind's rekindling of long dormant emanations.
AI, at best, could be a handy tool for humans, but it is never going to replace the real technology behind the manipulation of the fabric of reality.
Your position reeks of human arrogance; it has too much reliance on your idea of technology.
In the real dystopian world envisioned by libertarians, and their ilk, only those who can 'pay' will play or benefit from AI, whereas, the work and technology presented in this subreddit is free! But you have to do the work, because AI is not going to 'cut' it.
Yep! I've watched Ghost in the Shell, and it never appealed to me. I find a dystopia more likely than a utopia given the current position in the river of shit.
AI works like a mirror to the inner dialogue and will finally just confirm the mirror of self-reflection. So, it's a dead end.
My guess is you really haven't grasped the total possibilities that can be achieved by learning to condition yourself back to the origin, by redistributing your energy to your original self, before the nasty effects of socialization and the agricultural mindset.
We are luminous beings with inconceivable energy and almost infinite possibilities of perception. It's absolutely mind-blowing. Our tragedy is that we are collectively trapped in this position of the AP, the point of reason.
And you are reducing it to still be a normal human being, trapped in the physical world of everyday life, the tonal, but now the difference is that you have a chip on your brain. So you can watch ads while you sleep?
There is really no comparison, and on the science fiction movies the common man always show the future as cybernetic and everybody interconnected to a worldwide network of communication, like a mind-controlled internet or the matrix, but this actually is going backwards. It is not liberating, it's being enslaved to a man created system.
From my research there is no other system that can come even close to the knowledge of the Sorcerers of Ancient Mexico. Just a few hints in this and that religion, but they never go beyond green zone and there's much, much more to explore.
Hilarious. The only reason you feel stupid enough to need AI to think for you is because we forgot how to move with actual intelligence and sincere awareness.
At some point humans tipped a very intricate emotional and survival balance, by deciding it was more ideal to dominate others, other tribes, in order to steal food. Women. Land. Power. Etc.
Likely because we lost our glowing coat of awareness, and trauma began and spread. Encouraging more of the same behavior in kind. When your awareness is full and complete, you aren't so needy and pathetic that you must steal from other humans in order to survive or reproduce.
And then we wanted to stop being so horrible, so we made laws, religion, cities, agriculture, in order to "control ourselves".
It was around that time or perhaps before that, that the wind betrayed us. Because we also forgot how to even breath properly, and feel the union between all life on the planet, as the planet... leaving us to survive alone, without the devices of the planet. Wedging the divide in the human mind even more that we arent animals and dont feel belonging on this planet. Encouraging us to be agoraphobic towards nature and fly to cities and large groups of humans like moths to the flame. Making the shit even worse as people basically turned each other into freaks who care nothing but to "do better" and dominate absolutely whatever they believe gets them what they want. Not realizing we hate and want to kill each other because we can't see and explore the totality of each other, and the very thing causing that to be resides in the very human being your heart is trying to attain.
So rather than get that, the most beautiful and really, the full exploration of the truth all around us, we spend all our time getting-
More resources. More power. More technology. More "intelligence". More "control". More facades of awareness. More distractions and pleasures. More bullshit. And more belonging in society. Which is really just manipulation to forcibly get along, with the threat of violence or rejection or flat out having a belief system down someone's throat, making them feel wrong or inferior without it...
It was during the beginning stages of this process humans also stopped fucking like their cherished hearts demanded, but like barbarians, animalistic and greedy. Sloppy. Foolishly. Producing way too many kids conceived under barbaric conditions, and requiring the need to dominate others in order to keep your own alive.
When your glowing coat of awareness is wrapped around your whole body and playing with reality, survival is so easy and automatic, you barely, if at all, even need to think about it. Not least of which because the forces that be, join you on your path. And also because your mind isn't working against itself, wasting energy, and not thinking correctly in general. A handful of thoughts are needed to do a massive set of tasks, rather than sitting there thinking of and worrying about every tiny little detail, because you're not actually aware of what's around you.
But the simple truth of this isn't going to stop other disgusting and horrible humans, like yourself and 99.9% of everyone, from overtaking the entire plane with their shitty conglomeration of civilizations, forcing everyone to adopt their way of life, stripping the planet of resources, and then having the utter gall to behave with superiority as they tell us MAGIC is boring or useless, and that a fucking artifical intelligence is more useful...
Yeah. If you want to delve even deeper into the historical maladaption (likely due to actual predators that slurp away that glowing coat by infiltrating our thoughts and intentions) that made being a human being 100× worse, be my guest.
The rest of us are going to get everything we ever wanted and live forever.
Yes, that is a funny, accurate way of putting it.
And when you realize OF COURSE thats what I want! What makes me believe I don't want that? Or cant get it?
A weary mind, controlled for decades, incapable of thinking about itself or touching others without corruption and other bad words we haven't created yet in order to pinpoint the hurt. Misplacing energy and reprimanding sincere intent. Unfortunately sincere Intent has to be controlled in society, or it'll turn upside down and not matter anymore. And people are very attached to their "lives".
Because we cant see, or don't let ourselves see, or conveniently displace, the totality around us. We fuck it up. Or more accurately, forget it's even there, forget that that's all there is to even give us the capacity to forget. And act on bullshit instead, simply shit that doesn't belong because it isnt true. Causing pains so great from becoming and seeing as something we dont want, we for some reason fool ourselves into STAYING there, even tho it hurts ourselves and everyone around us, when we see for even a moment, all for the guarantee of meager satisfaction filtered through the shit fabric of socialization and self deceit. When the actual way to feel better is to simply exist how we are, ALL that we want. Not how we "learned to be" LITERALLY, IN ORDER TO STOP OURSELVES.
Rather than be innocent and weak and stupid and unbelievably hell bent on being alone until we feel like we belong. Like we actually are due to circumstances. We tend to hate that, the uncomfortable truths, push them away, the sickness inspired by what happened to us. And deceive and try to be better than each other, try to get ourselves right. Work with what we have. Try to attain for ourself. Look for the feeling and movement of our complete energy in random acts, because we think we "see" just how badly we were fucked out of always having it, when we try to simply exist as everything we are, and feel as though we can't. Shit in both hands why hold onto either??? Not making the bodily decision to simply live that story, regardless of consequences, regardless of how thoroughly anybody hurts or succumbs to bullshit, is the same as choosing to die. The obvious, impentrable and simple answer, that works, is to live fully, and feel the hurt keeping you from what you want, and use your will to get it, so that you feel complete and good again. Like a child trying to fucking walk. Why would it do anything else. It has to get to the door to go play "I must walk!". Failure hurts. Not having it hurts. Because we want it, and can have it. It has to hurt. If it didn't fucking hurt, we wouldn't do anything, what we want would mean NOTHING.
But screw all that! Its too hard and sad, to be able to see how fucked up and hopeless everyone is. Lets just "try" to live a good life and "try" to get everything we want. So we not only get special mostly bullshit privileges, from being fit into the social structure. But dont have to see one another, including how those others genuinely see US, how they hurt us, want us, reside inside and all around us.. Because again its too hard and too sad to deal with everyones bullshit, while its constantly cleverly keeping everyone from the river of wonder that actually keeps us together, making the pain worth it, even desired, because we know where that pain comes from. A life wrapped in and guaranteed by the whole universe. A mystical creation we can't understand because we don't want to. Simple devices so whole and accurate it's the definition of perfect.
In those simple pure moments of genuine connection. A story and interaction that actually makes sense takes place. The beings taking up existence on this planet actually exploring and knowing each other and creation, with any and all of their devices and connections. So wholehearted you can die happy, and look forward to belonging in peace.
Not going insane and making an artificial intelligence to solve that problem that's solved as easily as breathing, when you just accept power and the full desires of the heart, with the will to fight and die for it. Facing any pain with eternity.
"Just keep stopping that river!! We won't be able to think like this anymore!"
Get outaaaa hereeee
That story is crushed for a reason. It's too effective at healing people's lives. It's "too good to be true", that you can simply exist how you are, live a genuine connection and story as that, doing exactly what you want when you want, and be peaceably accepted and comforted by not only the rest of humanity, but all of creation. And the far deeper and truer aspect of it, knowing what EVERYONE ELSE WANTS too, and feeling it, moving towards it. Like this reality was meant for itself or something??? How could that be? I feel so god damn alone and weak!!!
We're scared of each other. We had bad actors killing and raping with bad intent. And blamed humanity for it. Not realizing they got so hateful because they couldn't do that, and that those who did, wanted to kill themselves for it.
Talk about a bait and switch and a really fucked up, sad, humiliating, damaging situation.
We desperately want to see each other and desperately don't.
And I have to sit here and think about it. Because people apparently want to argue about what's genuinely true and desired when it's right in front their fuckingggg eyes.
I could talk about this for hours. Until people stop fucking arguing about it, because they see how right and true what im saying is and how ironically useless it is to say anything, when we can't even fucking see each other.
Pathetic. But by and large primarily just incredibly sad. But when the actual reality is entertained, rather than what keeps us from it, all I can do is be happy and want to laugh. Until I realize there are people who don't feel like that. And I want to know why. So that their happiness can be in my heart.
Its too bad people assume me doing something so awe inspiring makes me want to feel superior. No as soon as I do I want to kill myself. Because it ruins the entire thing and I get nothing but my own shit. But I have to accept that other shitty people are going to project that onto me. Even tho neither of us want to be alone in striving for reality. Theres this messy bullshit making me want to see and feel myself and register it as more important than others. That's my greatest defeat. Something I started smoking to try and burn out of me. It's too bad I got hateful at being hated for it.
Shit in both hands why hold onto either?
Now I really just want to stop talking lol. Not going to solve this problem of how awareness eats itself alive until it wants to die.
Maybe that's why there's predation in the universe. The alternative is to see how everything is the same. And come together to build a miraculous story. But I can't even think of it. I'm too used to decaying.
Seems like unnecessary limitation. Instead of harnessing the power of all of reality and how consciousness works at the fundamental level you would have a little chip giving the encyclopedias and internet for doing random shit in the human society and random poorly discerned sensory modalities.
Will the AI be able to teleport or remote view?
Or just AI-powered dildos for you (like Steely Dan).
> Do sorcerers possess any understanding of AI and its capabilities?
I'm working on a $20 AI chip that can run 4 ChatGPTs at the same time.
Don't know if I'll get to finish it. My company has aged to retirement.
But, of course sorcerers understand AI!
You need 4 AIs in a single product so that you have a chat AI, vision AI, hearing AI, and speech synthesis AI.
It's custom hardware with 16GB of memory, which is why it can execute 4 in real time.
By the way, sorcery gives you access to all of time and space, and to anything any human has ever, or will ever known.
It's right there playing in a video in the air, which you can literally walk off into, even if the video is playing the past.
It blows away anything VR can do, because you go off into it in your physical body.
I do that nightly, so don't doubt it!
Maybe look around a bit so you realize what you asked and where you are?
There's cartoons in the wiki. To show how you can have access to all of time and space.
Carlos was famous for being able to answer any question, even on very technical things he had no way of understanding.
He just read the answer from the air, where it clearly materialized for him.
He even read stacks of books which were placed on his stomach before he took a nap.
After the nap, he knew everything in the books.