Count me in as among those who cast a leery eye over today's organized religions. What fascinates me are the shared creation stories - the stories found in the first part of the Bible, up through the flood & the rainbow.
Those stories always gave me goosebumps.
Was always, from a kid, intrigued that God swore off destroying mankind - as long as there was seed time & harvest. We've gotten way past seed time & harvest - humans love to manipulate nature & do their best to duplicate God's creative power.
Which leads me to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. My birth faith teaches the very early stories in the Bible are allegories. Humans were allowed to eat from every plant in Eden, including the Tree of Life, but NOT from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. I was taught that eating from that tree represents humans turning away from God as their source of all knowledge, turning to themselves & their own intelligence.
We went from hunter/gatherers to agrarians which lead to the rise of cities states nations & lead us to where we are today. It feels like technology has the reins rather than human intelligence. The list of things we can do that seem in mankind's best interests but are pretty jaw-dropping questionable is endless. Just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we should. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil - not the Tree of Good Ol' Fashioned Common Sense.
Artificial Intelligence is one such jaw dropper. Humans have become more & more expendable. Automation makes us less & less necessary for manufacturing & even thinking. Medical science prolongs our lives, but the lives themselves seem increasingly unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, other than as consumers. Artificial Intelligence is the holy grail of modern technology. Science fiction has long portrayed that quest as a 2-edged sword. Wouldn't it be ironic if we developed the very thing that makes humans superfluous? Because Nature has no use for the superfluous.
Since childhood, have always been intrigued at mankind's fate due to taking knowledge - the self-awareness of good & evil - as our own. Our world is more technologically advanced that most people dreamed possible 100 years ago. But has it advanced our happiness, our sense of fulfillment?
Scientists et al seem focused on what can be done, rather than on what should. Our technological giants often seem to lack any sense of what is good or evil, focused on what can be accomplished, apparently with little to no thought of consequences. On what can be done, rather than should it be done.
We keep pushing the scientific & ethical boundaries of technology -one of these days, technology is going to push back. We won't be expelled from the Garden, but off the planet.
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