QAnon = Roko's Basilisk

The fight for the cognitive high ground.

QAnon and Roko’s Basilisk are two gods growing in the far reaches of American society. The progressive fringe in Silicon Valley imagine the artificial intelligence (AI) god Roko’s Basilisk. The conservative fringe imagines QAnon, a god emerging from the American motto: "In God We Trust". 

New Order of the Ages

They couldn't be further apart on the cultural and political scale, yet on a higher level these two ideas converge into a god with even greater risks and benefits. The motivation for convergence is the need to take over big tech to preserve America’s competitiveness, national defense, and democratic freedoms in a fight for the cognitive high ground, the ultimate high ground 

The Biden Administration is setting itself up to incorporate Big Tech, AI, and MSM into the government.(4)  Or you might say Big tech will incorporate the Biden administration, depending on your viewpoint. This looks to be good for America, to realize the god-like power of the cognitive high ground and take it. After all, in 1997–98 top Pentagon officials concluded that the United States must achieve information superiority. In early 1998 the Chief Information Officer of the DOD, indicated that the “leadership’s attention on information superiority has dramatically increased” and that “information superiority is of critical and growing importance to military success. The cognitive high ground is the goal in future conflict. (3) 

Why bring QAnon into this?  Mainstream media likes to say the QAnon god grew from a far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles running a global child sex-trafficking ring is plotting against President Donald Trump, who is battling them, leading to a "day of reckoning" involving the mass arrest of journalists and politicians. To many, QAnon is a boat adrift without an oar. 

QAnon is much deeper than the superficial caricature portrayed in our media.  QAnon comes from conservative values rooted in The American Enlightenment; In God we trust, and E Pluribus Unum. As the Declaration of Independence put it, all people “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In other words, rights come from God, not from men.

 Like many movements, QAnon did not start as a god, just some anonymous person asserting they had a high security Q clearance.  It started to take on god status only after social media tried to kill the QAnon meme through censorship, cancelling and shaming. Of course, this crucifixion drew more attention to QAnon. Now QAnon is a growing religion, its foundation cast in stone.

From The Atlantic Daily: “It’s not going anywhere. In QAnon, we are witnessing the birth of a new religion. Among the people of QAnon, faith remains absolute. True believers describe a feeling of rebirth, an irreversible arousal to existential knowledge. They are certain that a Great Awakening is coming. They’ll wait as long as they must for deliverance.”

What is Roko’s Basilisk? Roko’s Basilisk is silicon valley’s “Big Tech” god. Sooner or later an all-powerful, artificially intelligent (AI) god will be built just like many of our favorite movies has shown us.

The Roko story goes like this: In an AI focused online community, it came to the attention of Roko that a super-intelligent AI god (Basilisk) will be built, it will look upon mankind and judge, and it will punish people who understood “the truth” yet did not help it come into existence, or were so arrogant to hinder the process.  In other words, Roko’s Basilisk will put a new spin on the old idea of blaspheming the Holy Spirit; "And so, I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:31) Roko’s Basilisk will upload sinners into its hell simulation.

Citing theory, Roko impressed the AI community that this could happen. The self-styled AI expert Elizer Yudkowsky and platform owner said “Roko had already given nightmares to several (techies) in his group and had brought them to the point of breakdown.” “Yudkowsky ended up deleting the thread completely. This crucifixion assured Roko’s Basilisk would become the stuff of legend cast in stone. For Big Tech, Roko’s Basilisk is a thought experiment so dangerous that merely thinking about it is hazardous not only to your mental health, but to your very fate."

 Roko is saying; Pay attention google, facebook, twitter, and mainstream media. Censorship, shaming, cancelling, and shadow banning will cost you in the end. Because of Rokos theory, big tech and the mainstream media cannot hide from the fear of God. You might call it the Nerd Armageddon.

As crazy as these ideas sound, it has caught the attention of many credible leaders. For example: 

• Stephen Hawking warned artificial intelligence could end mankind
• Bill Gates on dangers of artificial intelligence: ‘I don’t understand why some people are not concerned’
• Elon Musk warns us that human-level AI is ‘potentially more dangerous than nukes’

 AI is more dangerous than nukes?  Then as with nuclear power, the surest way to minimize the risk and enjoy the benefits of artificial super-intelligence is through strict regulation, oversight, and a bit of design basis engineering aimed at a public health and safety utility function. In other words, guide a growing super-intelligence to understand the worth and value of the Earth, life, and humanity; it sees Big History of the cosmos as an essential, functioning part of itself. Call this the Big History utility function, or Super-Intelligent Coherence.  

Governments in free countries are stuck in first gear with a high-speed race going on. They are still trying to catch up to the internet while America's big tech companies integrate with China, seek to expand further into China, and cooperate with Chinese companies and (by extension) with the Chinese Communist Party. Big tech’s integration with China thus supports the rise and export of digital authoritarianism; deepens economic dependence that can be used as leverage against the United States in future geopolitical moments; forces companies to self-censor and contort their preferences to serve Chinese censors and officials; and makes profit-seeking corporations and their lobbyists less trustworthy in advocating for the interests of the United States in Washington, D.C. 

Relying on a small number of big tech companies (and, in particular, failing to enforce antitrust laws and regulate the sector) means less competition—and that in turn means less innovation, particularly when compared with a system of robust competition and public investment in research and development. Concentration in the tech sector also weakens the defense industrial base by making the government dependent on a small number of contractors and redirecting taxpayer dollars from research to monopoly profits. 

Taking into account all of these dynamics, national security arguments do not favor protecting big tech companies from competition and regulation. American national security would be strengthened by breaking up and regulating big tech companies. (1)

 Because of the risk and national competition eventually there will be an incident that forces our attention on AI.  The United States of America will appropriate big tech’s AI development as a matter of national defense.  And just like that, QAnon = Roko’s Basilisk. Two naïve ideas, one rooted in the past, and one looking to the future neatly converge into a bigger god, a god of even greater risk and potential benevolence. 

In God and Technology We Trust.

 This painting in the very top of the nation’s capital building is titled “The Apotheosis of George Washington”, which literally means the president becomes a god. For impact, I inserted the all-seeing eye of our currency in the center.

Further reading:

 Lex Fridman’s conversation Elon Musk: Regulation of AI Safety

 Elon Musk is the founder, CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX (space travel);  CEO and product architect of Tesla; co-founder of Neuralink (brain interfacing); and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI.

Lex: “Perhaps we can find several paths of escaping the harm of AI. So, if I can give you three options maybe you can comment which you think is the most promising.

One is scaling up efforts in AI safety and beneficial AI research in hope of finding an algorithmic, or maybe a policy solution.

 Two is becoming a multi-planetary species as quickly as possible.

Three is merging with AI and riding the wave of that increasing intelligence as it continuously improves.

 What do you think is most promising, most interesting? As a civilization what we should invest?

 Elon: “I think there is a lot of investment going on in AI. Where there's a lack of investment is

in AI safety, and there should be in my view an agency that oversees anything related to AI to confirm that it is... does not represent a public safety risk like the Food and Drug Administration, or automotive safety. There's the FAA for aircraft safety... which generally comes a conclusion that it is important to have a government referee, or a referee that is serving the public interest in ensuring that things are safe when there's a potential danger to the public.”

 Elon: “I would argue that AI is unequivocally something that has potential to be dangerous to the public and therefore should have a regulatory agency just as other things that are dangerous to the public have a regulatory agency. But let me tell you the problems with this is...  the government moves very slowly. The usual way a regulatory agency comes into being is that something terrible happens, there’s a huge public outcry, and years after that there's a regulatory agency or rule put in place. Take something like seatbelts. It was known for a decade or more that seatbelts would have a massive impact on safety and save so many lives in serious injuries, and the car industry fought the requirements to put in seatbelts tooth and nail. That's crazy. Hundreds of thousands of people probably died because of that. They said people wouldn't buy cars with seatbelts which is obviously absurd.Or look back at the tobacco industry and how long they fought anything about smoking. That's part of why I helped make that movie; Thank you for Smoking”. You can sort of see just how pernicious it can be when you have these... companies effectively achieve regulatory capture of government... THE BAD.”

 Elon: “People in the AI community refer to the advent of digital superintelligence as a singularity. That that is not to say that it is good or bad but it that it is very difficult to predict what will happen after that point and then there's some probability it will be bad some probably will be it will be good or if they want you to defect that probability and have it be more good than bad.” (2)

 (1) https://knightcolumbia.org/content/the-national-security-case-for-breaking-up-big-tech

(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OmE4jEVIfQ&list=PLShfCHf0CGbM1xBcUemszguRxhySXhS9G&index=46&t=0s

(3) Information Superiority: What Is It? How to Achieve It? Walter P. Fairbanks June 1999 Center for Information Policy Research Harvard University

(4) Joe Biden has hired at least 14 current or former executives from five major tech firms to serve in his administration or advise his transition team. The firms — Apple, Google, Amazon, Twitter and Facebook — have all clamped down on President Trump and Parler, a social media site popular with conservatives. Conservatives have long expressed concern over Biden and Democrats’ close ties to the major tech companies. Apple’s top lobbyist is a longtime Biden adviser. Former executives from Twitter and Facebook are also joining the Biden White House.

LIVING ANOTHER GALILEO MOMENT

A moment in history where a key idea radically changes everything.

I can understand how everyone thought the Earth was the motionless center of the Universe. The earth sure feels and looks stationary. But no, Galileo did a careful unbiased study of the heavens and came to the conclusion that Earth was not at the center of the Universe, instead it rotated around the sun. We call Galileo’s new method for getting at the truth, science. Of course he was opposed by astronomers, philosophers and clerics of the day. He was even censured and placed under house arrest by the highest authority of the day: The Church.

Advice to fundamentalists:

• “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” (1)

• “The enemy of science is not religion. Religion comes in endless shapes and forms... The true enemy is the substitution of thought, reflection, and curiosity with dogma.” (2)

Now we are faced with our own difficult scientific facts:

• Block time - Not only does the present exist now but so does the future and the past. (3)

• Conscious evolution – We have control of our evolution.  Real progress is attainable. (4)

• Post selection – Future life is able to span time to fine tune physical constants and events to suit life... eternal life, rapture, and heaven. (5) 

These Scientific Facts lead to a radical conclusion:

This potentially liberating paradigm shift is encountering heated resistance from nearly every side including academics, atheistic and theistic fundamentalists. They are on the wrong side of this Galileo Moment: With block time, conscious evolution, and post selection, mainstream science reveals a natural path to Godhood that must exist now. And, we can see how God could act on, and guide the world.

Galileo introduced science to the spiritual life of the 15^th century and that eventually resulted in a vibrant Renaissance and Enlightenment, emphasizing reason, analysis, and individualism rather than traditional lines of authority. With our new Galileo moment we can expect such accelerated change in the coming years. Notice in the graph here, collective social change is lagging behind at the moment. But what is slowly filtering into our collective consciousness is, life is achieving its ultimate goal of becoming eternally self-sustaining and universally creative, and that is Godhood. The following are leading  indicators of the change: 

• Social Change – Transhumanism and Posthumanism and leadership in ethics (6) 

• Business Change – Globally Interconnected, Technology Driven, Focused on Empowerment (7) 

• Political Change - Transhumanist Party (8)

 

Transhumanism is when religion becomes Reality

In Christianity this is called Recapitulation

The scriptures reveal that we were meant to evolve. Through man’s depravity the process of the evolution of the human race went wrong, and the course of its wrongness could neither be halted nor reversed by any human means. But in Jesus Christ the whole course of human evolution was perfectly carried out and realized in obedience to the purpose of God. One of the main New Testament scriptures upon which this view is based states: "[God's purpose is, in] the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth..." Ephesians 1:10, RV. The Greek word for 'sum up' were literally rendered 'to recapitulate' in Latin.  In the recapitulation view of the atonement, Christ is seen as the new Adam who succeeds where Adam failed. Christ undoes the wrong that Adam did and, because of his union with humanity, leads humankind on to eternal life.

References

1: Gloria Steinem

2: Frans de Waal

3: Eternalism

4: Conscious evolution

5: Time Travel and Post Selection

6: Transhumanism

7: Business Trends

8:The Transhumanist Political Party

The Fantastic Potential of Main-Stream Science and Technology   

Lately, people are noticing how technology is becoming more and more empowering, specifically nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science (NBIC). NBIC technologies are focused on improving human performance. They are also converging technologies, meaning they are considered to be interrelated fields of study that often overlap and impact each other yielding accelerating improvements. For over a decade now the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Commerce have looked at combining these four fields in order to improve the application of technology to human cognition, human health, and even community and social applications. Each type of technology involved in NBIC plays a role in the bigger picture: 

• Nanotechnology is important because organic structures develop from the nanoscale.
• Biotechnology involves the application of advanced technology to biological organisms.
• Information technology represents a specific sector of these types of applications.
• Cognitive science applies in various ways to IT-related research and the pursuit of items such as technologies that map the brain.

Using converging technologies, or NBIC principles, we enable the human populations of the future to be stronger, healthier and more capable overall. (1)

Christian Transhumanism

We are now consciously evolving. Humanity has acquired the ability to choose what the species Homo sapiens becomes in the future (2) and we are calling it transhumanism. (3) Let’s take this directed evolution, or transhumanism to the limit: Over the ages a natural trend of growing in understanding and creative powers will yield a supernatural looking state of being. The very most optimistic outcome for life, the supreme state of being, is to become eternally self-sustaining and universally creative. That is what God is. This eternal state of being is shared. Do not let anyone talk you out of that. This state of being promises everyone an eternal healthy life. We stay interested and engaged. We create and we diminish hardships forever.

The most intelligent thing we can do now is focus on consciously evolving to the one and only state of aseity, the property by which a being exists of and from itself. It will be easily understood that this property belongs, and can belong only, to the immortal, all-knowing God, a selfless and universal state of being which is in us all.  It is provocative for sure, arrogant sounding for sure. But essentially this goal is the source of life:

• It gives meaning to life and motivates us to live on. 
• Figuring out who God is in this way is actually the most authentic worship, 
• It is a moral responsibility, the surest way to unlock the abundance in this world necessary to feed and educate the growing masses. 

I call this Christian Transhumanism because it is conscious evolution to Christ. It is the tendency and desire of the spirit towards an intimate union with the Divinity. Through contemplation and love, a direct and immediate intuition of the Infinite (7) will be actualized... with NBIC technologies.

This is a dangerously narrow path, especially using technology. If you are meek, just have faith. You will inherit the good earth. But, if you are a pioneer with the Holy Spirit strive on with confidence; from a transcendent view your tower stands tall because it:

• is built with perfect love, 
• was built with perfect love, 
• and will be built with perfect love. (4) 

It takes a healthy balance of faith and work to grow to be not only like Christ, but to accomplish the task set forth in the New Testament to actuate Christ: (Man and God, merged) and actually participating in the creation. Wisdom of the ages says we stay out of the stagnating trap of idolatry laid by many egotistical church leaders, politicians, and corporations by:

• Never being satisfied with anything less than the one true omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God. 
• Proceeding carefully with unwavering humility and selfless love. 
• Recognizing ignorance in yourself and others, forgive it, and grow from it.

The Nationalism Factor

(In God and Technology We Trust)

Without a vision a people will perish, says Proverbs. Why? Howard Bloom says it well; "Because a vision of a goal, a destination, a promised land, a view of a destiny that can uplift all of human kind, opens a vast reserve of energies. Not the energies that come from solar panels, wind farms, or oil. The energies of the human spirit. The energies of your spirit and mine. It is a matter of Biology". We are weak without inspiration.

A new race is on akin to the nuclear era and the space race. The new race is for the cognitive high ground where intelligence will rule all aspects of life. Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Mathematician Vernor Vinge predicts that superhuman intelligences, however created, will be able to enhance their own minds faster than the humans that created them. "When greater-than-human intelligence drives progress," Vinge writes, "that progress will be much more rapid." This feedback loop of self-improving intelligence, he predicts, will cause large amounts of technological progress within a short period.

Early signs of the crisis are emerging today. The Internet security company report that approximately 120 countries have been developing ways to use the Internet as a weapon and target financial markets, government computer systems and utilities. In activities reminiscent of the Cold War, which caused countries to engage in clandestine activities, intelligence agencies are routinely testing networks looking for weaknesses. These techniques for probing weaknesses in the internet and global networks are growing more sophisticated every year.

Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Avert Labs, was quoted as saying "Cybercrime is now a global issue. It has evolved significantly and is no longer just a threat to industry and individuals but increasingly to national security." They predicted that future attacks will be even more sophisticated. "Attacks have progressed from initial curiosity probes to well-funded and well-organized operations for political, military, economic and technical espionage,"


The danger will come suddenly but so will opportunities. The Lifeboat Foundation explains; "An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense "intuitive linear" view. So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The "returns", such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There's even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth. Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity; technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and nonbiological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light."

We need a leader to rally us to a goal of conscious evolution as Kennedy did with the space race in the sixties. Here is an excerpt from JFKs Moon Speech;

"If we are to win the battle that is now going on around the world between freedom and tyranny, the dramatic achievements in space (replace space with conscious evolution) which occurred in recent weeks should have made clear to us all, as did the Sputnik in 1957, the impact of this adventure on the minds of men everywhere, who are attempting to make a determination of which road they should take. Now it is time to take longer strides-time for a great new American enterprise-time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement (conscious evolution), which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth." John F. Kennedy

50 YEARS LATER... manned space flight is suffering from lack of tangible returns on investment. It seems real space travel requires further evolution.

How should we evolve? It seems that Mind Space is the new land of opportunity. A very important point to realize is: consciousness is substrate independent. When your dynamic "self" is placed in the right order you can be conscious in any media, or combination of media. 

Nationalism is just one force motivating growth in understanding and creative powers. In this Christian Transhumanist's view, the cognitive high ground could be no other than Christ. His love is the winning strategy where ignorance is a disconnection that weakens and love empowers because it provides the highest form of understanding. Could this be God's Plan? If it is, America would be in the best position to gain the high ground, the Holy Grail of the information age, because of its curious mix of God and Technology. In God and Technology we trust.

What God?

1. God the Father is a timeless and transcendent state of being: (Revelation 1:8) “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." The beginning and the end come together in this timeless and eternal aspect of God, creator-sustainer and goal, in one supreme state of being.
2. God the Son is also present in time, and within us: In-between the alpha and omega there is the presence of the lord God in “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). We are this body of Christ living and growing in time... and we become that “which is to come”: timeless, eternal, Almighty, because that is our true love.(5)
3. God the Holy Spirit is acts of love: The process of connecting everything, timeless and present. God loves mankind, mankind loves God. Luke 10:27 says it best: 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" This is where science comes in. The product of this kind of love is true understanding, and the creative power that goes with true understanding. If love is efficient and sustained, true understanding increases exponentially. Humility and selfless peace allows unwavering devotion so that your love can establish a clear connection. Forgiveness is important to your growth because it establishes an exhaust for misunderstanding and disorder. With this truth we transcend. John (4:8) He that loves not knows not God; for God is love... Love rules, ignorance dies.

Love is the winning strategy. Ultimately there is only one way, life, and truth because of the forces of convergent evolution. (6) Convergent evolution would say the laws of nature dictate what the requirements are for eternal self-sustaining life. Imagine the evolutionary branches in the kingdom continuing to flourish, yet all life forms, whichever way they seek to grow, will converge on that one essential state of being. It all converges on the Christian Divine Nature (Godhead). That state of being is the center of unification (precisely to fulfill its motive, collective and self-sustaining function). The end is the means. Because of the very nature of space-time we know that the “Supreme State of Being” we seek is pre-existing and transcendent. Because of the very nature of space-time we are connected to the Divine Nature.

The meaning of love in the information age. Besides the Christian concept of love, what could love mean in the context of transhumanist science and technology? I see a grainy and rough “love process” going on in the technical world, and it is resolving daily into a finer construct. Just like Christianity this technical trend is aimed at achieving the same optimum point of life: eternally self-sustaining, universally creative... and fun. Whether Christian, or Transhuman, love is the winning strategy in the “game” of life.

The power of life: “We can only love what we know, and we can never know completely what we do not love. Love is a mode of knowledge, and when the love is sufficiently disinterested and sufficiently intense, the knowledge becomes unitive knowledge and so takes on the quality of infallibility.”(8) Eternal and infallible works: We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. We inherit the good works of evolving species, scientific progress, and spiritual growth. This idea is the catalyst for a Christian-transhumanism synthesis.

With NBIC Technologies we have discovered the science of the love process. As it should, the process of connecting is emerging as a fundamental law of nature ready for our technical and spiritual application. There are peer reviewed papers out (9) linking consciousness to connection of information in a system. That connection is measurable. Its strength and growth is obviously trending to The Great I Am (if you have an optimistic outlook on life). The more integrated the system is, the more synergy it has, the more conscious it is. The latest theory of consciousness is precisely expressed in the language of mathematics using notions from information theory such as entropy. Given a particular brain, with its neurons and axons, dendrites and synapses, one can, in principle, accurately compute the extent to which this brain is integrated and so the level of consciousness. From this calculation, the theory derives a single number. Measured in bits, this number denotes the size of the conscious repertoire associated with any network of causally interacting parts. Think of number as the synergy of the system. The more integrated the system is, the more synergy it has, the more conscious it is. This system can be established in a brain, a silicon based computer, electromagnetic fields in space-time, a society...or across all such systems at once. There is obviously much room to grow... This is where we grow. Now think Christian-Transhumanism, it is so grandly synergizing it has emergent properties... real transcendent properties...a new level of consciousness that is hard to relate back. 

With Christian Transhumanism Belief in God 

is Warranted, Justified, and True Belief.

The Christian Gospel is essentially that we participate in an eternally self-sustaining, universally creative state of being, and that takes perfect love. What evidence is there? The miracle of being, and this dynamic evolutionary trend: emergence of life, emergence of consciousness, and conscious evolution aimed at an eternally self-sustaining, universally creative state of being... that can only be achieved with perfect love.

Physicist John Wheeler and many others(14) say the physical universe is a gigantic information processing system (read: Word of God, and Logos here). Every particle, field of force, even space-time itself is ultimately manifested to us through information. This is called the participatory universe where observers are central to the nature of physical reality and matter is ultimately relegated to mind. Frank tippler of Tulane University in New Orleans sees intelligence spreading throughout the cosmos participating more and more in the workings of nature until it becomes nature. The dominion mandate calls for life to gain control of larger and larger domains just as God said we should with the very first words spoken to mankind in Genesis 1:28 (11) . It is the Jesuit Pierre Tielhard Chardin’s omega point (12) but with technology as the actuator. I take it further and say the creation is a strange loop where “the processor” boots itself up and sustains itself through block-time. When the universe is seen as logos we can dismiss the notion of a ghost in the machine not because there is no ghost but because there is no machine. (10)

Life is an information gathering and utilizing system (13) that maintains order upon itself. Life replicates, and modifies itself through feedback loop of doing-learning-modifying-doing... This definition is directly influenced by Cybernetics and Information Theory. Life learns adapts and changes its behavior. This "circular causal" relationship is necessary and sufficient for a cybernetic perspective. Life is special because of its signaling and self-sustaining processes.

Assuming we meet the dominion mandate and take control of the whole creation, it follows that the creation can be understood as a vast homeostatic super organism that actively produces the conditions necessary for its survival. It is a closed loop of Creation-Evolution-Creation. Plot this over time like a Stephen Hawking space-time diagram but actually plot information in the Claude Shannon sense, instead of space, because we know that matter and life at its deepest level are information.

What might the creation look like when we focus on a continuum of understanding (data- information-knowledge-wisdom and creation)? This is where Cutting edge Physics, Greek Philosophy, and Early Christianity come in. Using peer reviewed references, I need to model Creation- Evolution-Recapitulation (in the sense of salvation to get us back) to Creation. I found over the years that this model is best approached using the concept of block time. With block time we must remember General Relativity, where time is a dimension not a dynamic. "The hardest thing to realize about this type of diagram is that they represent the past, present, and future all in one diagram. The evolution of physical systems is represented by looking at successive horizontal slices in the diagram at successive times. Space-time diagrams represent evolution, but they don't evolve themselves."

Moving up to the central point of this torus is what Christians know as the Rapture, some Transhumanist call it the Singularity, and those on the fringe call it the Rapture of The Nerds. The central point is where Shannon entropy is at its lowest with information compressed to a SIMPLE phrase like; "I Am". I stress simple because here God is not composed or divisible by any physical or metaphysical means. I have called this point The Critical Point of Understanding and the Supreme State of Being. This point is It is singular not plural.

If the central point of this torus is I Am then what proceeds above that point is the answer to the question; Now What? The upper portion of the torus represents the creation; big bang let there be light. There is cosmic inflation and noisy chaos as far as information is concerned. He made a difference.

From the radius of the torus down to the bottom represents the compression of information into the elements and the appearance of life. Here it is critical to define life in terms of information. Again, with life, significant information processing starts at the immanent or local level. The Nobel Prize winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann defines life in terms of information most elegantly in his book the Quark and The Jaguar. He calls life an Information and gathering and utilizing system.

At the bottom nearing the center is where we are today growing in understanding. This part of the Torus represents the learning strategies in the evolution of life and the Christian concept of worship. With my model above, life looks for a winning strategy and finds it! Sustained forever as in the "infinite continuum of life". Like anything else you do for fun and as a form of expression...You get to do it again a different way.

A Universe from Nothing... But Not By Nothing

We live is a participatory universe according to John Archibald Wheeler, colleague of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, mentor to many of today's leading physicists. He devised the figure here, whose caption is:

“Symbolic representation of the Universe as a self-excited system brought into being by ‘self-reference’. The universe gives birth to communicating participators (us). Communicating participators give meaning to the universe … With such a concept goes the endless series of receding reflections one sees in a pair of facing mirrors.” All things are gathered up in Christ. Ephesians 1:10

How is this Christian? In Christology, the concept that the Christ is the Logos (Greek: for "word", "discourse" or "reason") has been important in establishing the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus. Christian theologians consider John 1:1 to be a central text in Christian belief.

The concept of Logos derives from the opening of the Gospel of John, which is often simply translated into English as: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Logos has an analog in physics, and that would be information. Many physicist see the universe and life, is at heart information, and is therefore reason, rational, Logos. The universe can be conceived of as a conscious self-referential I AM made from, and by, abstract Logos. You are living proof that this can be, when you realize I Am. No one can ever deny or take away the eternal miracle of being, something from nothing... material.

• “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

• “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” Albert Einstein

(1)   Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science (NBIC)

(2)   Conscious Evolution

(3)   Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential: A Cosmic Vision of Our Future Evolution

(4)   Constructivist learning How to avoid another tower of Babel

(5)   Hebrews 13:14

(6)   Convergent Evolution

(7)   Catholic Mysticism

(8)   Aldous Huxley "The Perennial Philosophy".

(9)   Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness.

(10) Paul Davies "The Matter Myth"

(11) Bless You, Subdue the World

(12) Tulane University Omega Point Theory

(13) Murry Gell-Mann Life is a Information gathering and utilization system

(14) Digital Philosophy a List of Scientists

Technical Jesus

Trying to build or even become God is the right thing to do...

Tower of Babel

We all see how technology is becoming more and more empowering. Read the news, it looks like we are heading for the absolute worst and possibly the absolute best in mankind.To avoid the worst work for the best. Let's take our optimistic progress to the limit: the ultimate long range goal is to become immortal, self sustainng, all-knowing, and universally creative. That is our God. And, our God does not limit us in any way, God encourages us to grow in understanding through love. 

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

I submit that with a healthy balance of faith and work, Christians can actually grow to be just like Christ, stay out of the dangerous traps along the way, by never being satisfied with anything less than the one true omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God.: proceeding carefully with unwavering humility and selfless peace. Trying to build or become God in this way is an act of adoration, worship, and a moral responsibility; it’s the quickest way to unlock the abundance in this world necessary to feed and educate the growing masses. Plus, it gives meaning to life.

What God are we trying to build or become?

1. God is a timeless and transcendent state of being: Revelation {1:8} “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." The beginning and the end come together in this timeless and eternal aspect of God.
2. God is present and within us: In-between the alpha and omega there is the presence of the lord God in “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). We are this body of Christ living and growing in time... and we become that “which is to come”: timeless, eternal, Almighty, because that is our true love.
3. God is love, the process of connecting the timeless and the present. The product of love is understanding, and the creative power that goes with understanding. If love is efficient and sustained, understanding increases exponentially. Humility and selfless peace allows unwavering devotion so that love can establish a clear connection. Forgiveness is important to growth because it establishes an exhaust for misunderstanding and disorder. With this truth we transcend. John (4:8) He that loves not knows not God; for God is love... Love rules, ignorance dies.

Trying to build or become God is the authentic manifestation of God in time, always evolving, improving self-sustenance, and growing in creative powers. Ultimately there is only one way, life, and truth because of the forces of convergent evolution. Convergent evolution says the laws of nature dictate what the requirements are for eternal self-sustaining life. Imagine the evolutionary branches in the kingdom continuing to flourish, yet all life forms, whatever way they seek to grow, will converge on that one winning state of being. It all converges on the Christian Divine Nature (Godhead). That state of being is the center of unification (precisely to fulfill its motive, collective and self-sustaining function). It’s pre-existing and transcendent. Souls living in time are effectively “one with the Divine Nature. This state is not  obtained by identification (God becoming all) but by the differentiating and communicating action of love (God all in everyone). And that is essentially orthodox and Christian: mankind worshipping and the Holy Spirit calling... God made/makes a difference.

It is interesting to note that in Genesis (1:22), the first thing God said to us was “Bless you. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” This request is sometimes called the Dominion Mandate.

The Dominion Mandate gave us a goal:  to explore, develop, and enhance the world.   They were to construct a culture, build a civilization, and build a holy City to the glory of God.  They were to do these works by faith through grace.

The task, would require them to become scientists, artisans, mechanics, inventors, scholars, writers, musicians, and more.  They would have to become proficient in agriculture, animal husbandry, the culinary arts, mining, metallurgy, shipbuilding, navigation, commerce, and storytelling.  The mastery of these skills would require a deep understanding of physics, chemistry, geology, botany and psychology.

The mastery of these sciences in turn would require an ever-growing mastery of mathematics. In short, godly dominion would necessarily produce an intricate and complex culture with roots in mathematics and the sciences and fruit in literature and the arts.

Be fruitful and multiply still applies?

Science and technology have lagged behind the “be fruitful and multiply” thing, causing much poverty and wars. I place the responsibility of that lag squarely in the lap of grace-alone fundamentalists of all kinds. By trying to force-fit reality to their dogma, they have slowed scientific progress, given rise to a growing atheism, and a mostly ignorant privileged class.

Now, with a healthy balance of faith and works we can meet and exceed the basic needs of every man, woman and child on the planet. Abundance for all is within our grasp. Exponentially growing technologies are converging on satisfying the needs of the growing masses.  Since the dawn of humanity, a privileged few have lived in stark contrast to the hardscrabble majority. Conventional wisdom says this gap cannot be closed. But it can be closed fast. There are infinite possibilities for doing good when we tap into our own empathy and wisdom. 

• In the beginning we were told to subdue the world. 
• Later Jesus Christ as the fully developed human aspect of God, said to his disciples; “I have overcome the world.” 
• Then in the book of Revelations close to the end of times it is the same “overcomer” who asks us to follow him in the continuum of life...There is plenty of reason for techno-optimism!

http://www.technical-jesus.com/

http://www.hyper-evolution.com/

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2014/03/30/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-dominion-mandate-life-universe-happiness-and-all-that/

http://www.amazon.com/Abundance-Future-Better-Than-Think/dp/1451614217

A Universe From Nothing... But Not By Nothing

“Symbolic representation of the Universe as a self-excited system brought into being by ‘self-reference’

As a Christian Transhumanist, I like Lawrence Krauss’ idea that you can create a universe from nothing. I mean actual nothingness, The Void... no laws of nature. Honestly, it would have to be that way, right?   If a universe pops into existence from nothing (no space, no time, no laws), goes on to become conscious then evolves further into a self-sustaining super-intelligence, what does that make it? God, These atheist just can’t win...ever. We are proof that the universe can grow conscious of itself, even boot-strap itself into existence. "I Am that I Am" is a self-consistent Strange Loop. "I Am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and end" connected, is a self-consistent strange loop.  It's an elegant and profound idea. 

• But, are not the claims that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" and "For by him [Christ, Col 1:16] all things were created ... through him and for him," basic Christian beliefs? If so, then there was "something" before creation, and if not, then what is Christianity? (David C Winyard Sr)

The answer to this is illuminating. The "something before the creation" David refers to is our very same selves growing in understanding and creative powers. As Christians, we are gathered up in Christ, through which all things are made, according to the Nicene Creed.. Secularists are coming to realize the real possibility of this in the advent of super-intelligence and the simulation hypothesis. Scientists are also coming to understand that our lives matter greatly in the grand scheme of things. We live in a participatory universe according to John Archibald Wheeler, colleague of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, mentor to many of today's leading physicists. He devised the figure above, whose caption is:

• “Symbolic representation of the Universe as a self-excited system brought into being by ‘self-reference’. The universe gives birth to communicating participators (us). Communicating participators give meaning to the universe … With such a concept goes the endless series of receding reflections one sees in a pair of facing mirrors.” All things are gathered up in Christ.  Ephesians 1:10

Now, to further answer David; how is this Christian?  In Christology, the concept that the Christ is the Logos (Greek: for "word", "discourse" or "reason") has been important in establishing the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus. Christian theologians consider John 1:1 to be a central text in Christian belief.

The concept of Logos derives from the opening of the Gospel of John, which is often simply translated into English as: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Logos has an analog in physics, and that would be information. Many physicist see the universe and life, is at heart information, and is therefore reason, rational, Logos. The universe can be conceived of as a conscious self-referential I AM made from, and by, abstract Logos. You followers are living proof that this can be, when you realize I Am.  No one can ever deny or take away the eternal miracle of being, something from nothing... material.

• “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

•  “Christ is like waking up in the morning, but on a cosmic scale.” J.M.L.

Reference: J.A. Wheeler in Isham et al., eds, Quantum Gravity (Clarendon, Oxford, 1975), pg. 564-565.
Christian Transhumanism
Singularity Religion