The Soul of the Marionette: A Short Inquiry into Human Freedom by John Gray. This time around John has unleashed his pessimism at AI and Robotics. Being a student myself, such high dose of skepticism is highest level of education one can attain. Thank you John.Alone among other animals, humans seek meaning in their lives by killing and dying for the sake of nonsense. Chief among these absurdities, in modern times, is the idea of a new humanity.
A degree of privacy may survive as a luxury good. Encrypting part of their lives, the rich may contrive for themselves a freedom that many people possessed without such effort in the past. For the rest, loss of privacy is the price of individualism. Anyone can achieve momentary fame, but for nearly everyone today fifteen minutes of anonymity has become an impossible dream.
Accepting the fact that unknowing makes possible an inner freedom very different from that pursued by Gnostics. If you have this negative capability, you will not want a higher form of consciousness your ordinary mind will give you all you need. Rather than trying to impose sense on your life, you will be content to let meaning come and go. Instead of becoming an unflattering puppet, you will make your way in the stumbling human world. Uber-marionettes do not have to wait until they can fly before they can be free. Not looking to ascent into the heavens, they can find freedom in falling into earth.
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