Hey Mark, Thanks for posting this. I wonder how you found my old wordpress site. It's hard to find. My new site is moralapex.wordpress.com I wrote a draft for a book two years ago, and it's posted in blog form on both wordpress sites. I decided that I wanted to continue researching. 1) I don't think I described consciousness in the best way in that book, and I wanted to do more research 2) I don't want theology to be the main focus of the book, as it was in that one. I'm looking to come up with more serious arguments. I only want to introduce the reader to the various works that already exist because they all have a very similar trajectory. (Hegel, Teilhard De Chardin, Kurzweil, Sri Aurobindo, Henriques) 3) I want to do more research to come up with how different types of memes are selected in order to make general predictions. On Wed, Jul 25, 2018 at 5:58 AM, Mark Stahlman <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > ToKers: > > Apparently Jamie has written a long essay (or short book) with this title, > with this at the core of the Introduction -- > > "We will introduce the main antagonist of this book, Peter Wessel Zapffe > and his philosophy of despair and then attempt to overcome Zapffe’s despair > through the hopeful ideas in Transhumanism and other related visions of > hope. One of the main goals of this book is to overcome the pessimistic > views of Peter Zapffe, exposited in his essay The Last Messiah. > > "Zapffe is my favorite philosopher for showing me the dark enlightenment > that explained so much of how I’ve always felt the world to be, but must be > defeated for their to be a hopeful future for both humanity and myself. My > main counter against Zapffe’s philosophy of despair is the optimistic > philosophy of Transhumanism . . . > > "From the views of various hard scientists, philosophers, theologians and > mystics, I will offer a glimmer of hope that the world is accelerating > towards a future that will be both the salvation of all sentient life, as > well as the redemption of all the suffering and injustice in the past. > > "I will argue that while Zapffe is correct in saying that the world is > objectively tragic, he forgot to admit that the world is also objectively > heroic, and that the ongoing, everyday heroism of life in this universe is > intrinsically meaningful and that love will be our ultimate salvation and > redemption as our civilization grows increasingly powerful and capable of > both immense destruction and creation." > > And this as the book's acknowledgements -- > > "Much of this paper is informed by Dr. Gregg Henriques’ Tree of Knowledge > System and the Theoretical Unification of Psychology (TOK), which includes > Behavioral Investment Theory (BIT) to describe the evolution of mind and > the Justification Hypothesis (JH) to describe the evolution of culture. > > "Dr. Gregg Henriques has formulated a brilliant unification of psychology > based on the central insights of Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner. Not only > than that it offers a grand, sweeping narrative of the evolution of > consciousness that puts academic Psychology in it’s place. Henriques’ > unification of Psychology helped me to understand basic Psychology better, > like Freud, and I have a Psychology BA! Henriques’ unification of > Psychology gives us direction in how culture will continue, or should > continue to evolve beyond today’s pinnacle of evolution: The Institution of > Science. His model fits analogously well with other ideas such as > Transhumanism and the Technological Singularity. Hid Justification > Hypothesis also enlightens us to realize that our minds are still going > through a rapid process of memetic evolution by selection for fitness in an > epistemic or belief environment. > > "Peter Zapffe and Albert Camus opened my eyes to existential horror and > the philosophical problem of whether or not to end consciousness. Zapffe > really showed me a depth of horror that I will never forget, and since much > of that horror is based on the human condition, created from the blind > forces of natural selection, I thank Zapffe for deepening my understanding > and empathy for humanity’s collective pain. > > "Zapffe will turn out to be wrong in his solution to the salvation of > consciousness. He had never learned of Transhumanism and it probably > wouldn’t have made sense in his time. Even today with the apparent > acceleration of technology and machine learning, sadly few more, but novel > seekers, are drawn to transhumanism. It will have to take game-changing > technologies like Telepathy, Mind-uploading, Anti-aging tech, mind > uploading, teletransportation, Intelligence Augmentation and sentient > Artificial Intelligence for Transhumanism to become a real player in the > world. Most people would happily distract themselves from these ideas that > contradict their simple basis of meaning in life that gets them through the > day. > > "Having a mental illness myself, I can say that Ernest Becker’s The Birth > and Death of Meaning, gave me a great deal of hope that people with my > condition would find redemption in a near future that better understands > mental illness from a sociological point of view. So far, the > understanding of mental illness is tragically lacking in most people. The > mentally ill have a great deal to teach us along the way to Transhumanism, > like “how the brain works so we can make it persist longer in higher states > of well-being”. With regards to Cultural Evolution, Henriques’ ideas can be > closely connected to Becker’s ideas to come up with some novel insights. > According to Becker, culture evolves through a cascade of Birth and Death > of Meaning as the meaning in old fictions goes extinct and new meanings are > discovered to help us endure and go on. His other works, such as The Denial > of Death and “Terror Management Theory” are hair-raisingly similar to > Zapffe’s Philosophy of Despair and techniques of repression. > > "I thank Ray Kurzweil for sparking in me the hope that has been the fire > that keeps me going. His vision of the future is extraordinary and it comes > with extraordinary evidence. Some people have called it “gold mixed with > shit”, and while I don’t think Kurzweil will be right about everything, I > sure hope he is, and I’m increasingly confident that he will end up right > as the months go by, and new technologies of near magic powers emerge on a > regular basis. > > "Also, special thanks to the community of Transhumanists and their hard > work waking the public up to the rapid transformation that humanity is > about to enter, aided by exponentially growing Artificial Intelligence. > > "A special thanks also goes out to Josiah Royce for offering the first > concept of God that doesn’t contradict all that I know and even includes me > as an instance of the “All within All” which seems like a more perfect God > than other representations given by ignorant fundamentalists. > > "Lastly, I must thank the following thinkers whose views, however > imperfect, have converged on concepts of Identity and “The Absolute” in > ways I would have never imagined given my philosophical trajectory in life. > I will list those thinker and their basic ideas that converge around > Transhumanism and an open view of Individuality in which we are all > evolving to increasingly internalize the world around us and the inner > lives of other people as we, in tern are internalized bu others. The > ultimate goal is somewhere around the ideas of Josiah Royce’s Absolute > Self, Teilhard De Chardin’s Omega Point, and Ray Kurzweil’s Technological > Singularity and “Awakened Universe”, any many more similarities to consider. > > "1. Discovering that each of us is a momentary instance of the Universe or > “Absolute” representing itself while being represented by itself in a > continual stream of consciousness opens up my identity to heavenly > possibilities: > > "a. It also increasingly reveals that while there’s such thing as basic > human dignity for our suffering and alienation, human identities are > ultimately unjustified for how we represent ourselves as autonomous, > individuated agents “inside” a foreign natural environment, and > conceptually separate from one another and the Absolute. > > "a. Each of us is little more than the experience within the “specious > present” while the universe represents a bit of itself and is in turn > represented in part by the other instance of the universe I just reflected. > > "a. There is no evidence of a persisting self that survives the passage of > time; I am no longer who I was yesterday because the universe slowly took > apart that “me” and put “me” back together in a new one today. > > "b. In each moment, during our day-to-day experience, it’s probably no > different than being tele-transported or uploaded into our very next bodily > instance, leaving the old person to pass into memory, and that we might as > well be teleporting or uploading very slowly from instant to instant, as > our material and Psychological substrate always changes. > > "a. What is the basis of who and what we are besides the experience we > endure and behaviors we cause in the present moment? > > "a. That everything’s existence is defined by its relation to everything > else. We are made out of each other. We create each other and are in turn > created by each other. > > "a. That I contain within myself an imperfect model of myself and the > natural world, both of which have possibly forever to improve upon, all > while I exist both in the natural world and on the minds of people who know > me gives credence to Josiah Royce’s Absolute Self. > > "1. Discovering that each of us is a continual present instance of the > “All in All” will be the transformation of our identities that defines the > transhumanist movement and leads to our salvation. The following ideas > support this, and there are too many similarities for thereto be a > coincidence between them. It is to the following that I give thanks for > providing me a worldview I can endure and keep expanding on > > > "a. Hegel’s concept of dialectical progress towards the Absolute > b. Gregg Henriquez’ concept of cultural evolution through the > justification hypothesis > c. Ernest Becker’s The Birth and Death of Meaning; culture as progressing > as sources of meaning die out and new ones come to take their place. > d. Alfred North Whitehead’s concept of God and “Process Philosophy” > e. Josiah Royce’s “Absolute Self” as England containing perfect maps of > England > f. Sri Aurobindo’s “Gnostic Being” evolving towards the Supermind > g. Teilhard De Chardin’s Internet-like Noosphere and Singularity-like > Omega Point as “All in All” > h. Ray Kurzweil’s Technological Singularity and “the Awakened Universe” > i. Open and Empty Individualistic concepts of Identity > j. Identity in thought-experiments of teleportation and mind-uploading > k. Identity in Psychology and Neuroscience and heroic cases of damaged > neural functioning. > l. Identity in Mysticism Buddhism, Hinduism, etc." > > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__transhu > manities.wordpress.com_acknowledgements_&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpn > zycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP- > UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=tN2dnCDEieGQaPEoIeI-45QNjudsqV > KttBRIvydoQ2I&s=8QLqtgV0paDxEIQURce7hxVcI-LwfTfAQLLQRhCWAps&e= > > Mark > > P.S. Peter Zapffe's 1933 essay "The Last Messiah" (echoing Max Weber's > 1917 observation about the world being "dis-enchanted," which McLuhan would > describe as an *effect* of ELECTRIC media technology, with some > Spenglerian/Nietzschean gloom thrown in), can be found here -- > > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__transhu > manities.wordpress.com_2017_04_09_the-2Dlast-2Dmessiah- > 2Dby-2Dpeter-2Dzapffe_&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4 > uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgj > O2gOz4-A&m=tN2dnCDEieGQaPEoIeI-45QNjudsqVKttBRIvydoQ2I&s=RQs > Mim5c6qUn9BK8Dn72mc-PyzrYZGsRXCGW7vVvY9E&e= > > It ends this way -- > > "If we continue these considerations to the bitter end, then the > conclusion is not in doubt. As long as humankind recklessly proceeds in the > fateful delusion of being biologically fated for triumph, nothing essential > will change. As its numbers mount and the spiritual atmosphere thickens, > the techniques of protection must assume an increasingly brutal character. > > "And humans will persist in dreaming of salvation and affirmation and a > new Messiah. Yet when many saviours have been nailed to trees and stoned on > the city squares, then the last Messiah shall come. > > "Then will appear the man who, as the first of all, has dared strip his > soul naked and submit it alive to the outmost thought of the lineage, the > very idea of doom. A man who has fathomed life and its cosmic ground, and > whose pain is the Earth’s collective pain. With what furious screams shall > not mobs of all nations cry out for his thousandfold death, when like a > cloth his voice encloses the globe, and the strange message has resounded > for the first and last time: > > “– The life of the worlds is a roaring river, but Earth’s is a pond and a > backwater. > > – The sign of doom is written on your brows – how long will ye kick > against the pin-pricks? > > – But there is one conquest and one crown, one redemption and one solution. > > – Know yourselves – be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye.” > > "And when he has spoken, they will pour themselves over him, led by the > pacifier makers and the midwives, and bury him in their fingernails. > > "He is the last Messiah. As son from father, he stems from the archer by > the waterhole. > > Peter Wessel Zapffe, 1933 > > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wiki > pedia.org_wiki_Peter-5FWessel-5FZapffe&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzy > cBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP- > UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=tN2dnCDEieGQaPEoIeI-45QNjudsqV > KttBRIvydoQ2I&s=dDdNPyD0JuhFRqXactZQpM2MjeuoKFI3IN0Bc1xzGLQ&e= > > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wiki > pedia.org_wiki_The-5FLast-5FMessiah&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBC > gmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP- > UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=tN2dnCDEieGQaPEoIeI-45QNjudsqV > KttBRIvydoQ2I&s=3fBOsu3FGuTaHgNRoxiSDMgQmoW8slaGp8hGMy3NIuU&e= > > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: > write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > or click the following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1