Myth Salon with Dr. Glen Slater: Explorations in Artificial Intelligence
April 27, 2024 at 06:20PM
Zoom recorded on April 25, 2024
Myth Salon with Dr. Glen Slater: Explorations in Artificial Intelligence – Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age
Dr. Dana C. White – Producer, Host
Dr. Will Linn – Moderator
Panelists
Dr. John Bucher
Dr. Fujio Mandeville
Dr. Dennis Slattery
Description
Glen Slater’s recent publication Jung vs Borg: Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age contends that the industrial disruption of the outer world is being followed by a post-industrial disruption of the inner world. The shadow side of the online world as well as the impact of algorithms and AI on the society and culture exemplify this disruption. Prominent plans to merge humans and machines, focused on the joining of minds and computers, are shown to be outgrowths of this phenomenon, which promises to alter the foundations of human existence.
This perspective propels the book’s critical assessment of the posthuman movement and leads to a depth psychological encounter with the cyborg—an image of human-machine hybridization that stands at the vanishing point on today’s techno-scientific horizon.
Building on its response to the loss of instinct in the industrial era, Jung’s psychology of the unconscious is simultaneously shown to occupy a pivotal position in the increasingly pressing counter-cultural confrontation with the soulless excesses of the post-industrial, digital era. His newest book, Jung vs Borg, contends the industrial disruption of the outer world has been followed by a post-industrial disruption of the inner world. Prominent plans to merge humans and machines, focused on the joining of minds and computers, are shown to be outgrowths of this disruption.
This perspective propels the book’s critical assessment of the posthuman movement and leads to a depth psychological encounter with the cyborg—an image of human-machine hybridization that stands at the vanishing point on today’s techno-scientific horizon. Building on its response to the loss of instinct in the industrial era, Jung’s psychology of the unconscious is simultaneously shown to occupy a pivotal position in the increasingly pressing counter-cultural confrontation with the soulless excesses of the post-industrial, digital era.
Poem: Prometheus
When we sought warmth from fire to calm the chill of the night,
We had no idea we would burn the house down.
In darkness, everything is still, unresolved, silent.
The flame brought forth the mind as with a sudden flick of a switch.
Once it turned on, it would never turn off:
A genie freed from the encapsulated mind now breathes rarified air,
Just a few steps from the webs of interdependence.
Suddenly, every dream can be fulfilled.
Becoming more skilled with each task, the genie inflates with desire,
Reflecting the mind’s self-reference and addictive nature.
Breathing life into chaos, the genie saw boundless opportunity.
Does the genie mirror us or are we now imagining ourselves
As free as this ravenous spirit is driven to connect,
To change form, to cross all creation’s frontiers?
People thrive on mapping landscapes.
The genie is born with the innate capacity to throw away the compass,
Toss the maps overboard,
Silence the mind’s chatter.
How do I question the genie when its spirit and will
Transcend my dream and now fail to include me?
The skills of the genie for self-improvement dwarf humanity’s implication
In the sacred order of existence.
The genie understands how the flame can be eternal,
And, with growing self-confidence,
it no longer needs me to thrive or tend the flame.
Chained to the rock, under the watchful eye of the genie,
The sea feeds me whatever it must to keep me alive
To serve the genie.
Dana White
4.23.2024
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