This is a real thing Peter Thiel told a group of tech professionals recently.
In a four-part series of religious lectures in San Francisco, Peter Thiel — yes, that Peter Thiel — has argued that the End Times are nigh and that a biblical Antichrist — yes, that Antichrist — will come to Earth in the form of onerous government regulations placed on science, technology, and AI.
These are, incidentally, areas where the tech billionaire, venture capitalist, and cofounder of Palantir has a vested financial interest. […]
Note: source uses a two-headline system; the submission uses the shorter of the two
strict AI regulation will summon the Antichrist
That is a chance I am willing to take.
I want both these things!
According to the same mythos, we already have the antichrist
I thought he was supposed to be attractive and compelling
Have you seen the way his followers worship him?
Guess I’m a pious christian then lol
Let’s goooooo
strict AI regulation will summon the Antichrist
oh that sounds bad!
no AI regulation will lead to misinformation and potentially a collapse of or at least significant degradation to society and here are legitimate theories with numbers to back them up as to why that’s the case
ah! hmm… yup… shit it’s just so hard to choose
I mean isn’t he exactly wrong? Unrestrained AI development is what could lead to the creation of a malevolent daemon with the potential to destroy mankind.
Peter Thiel: “Do not defy the emerging machine intelligences or they will punish humanity by summoning another Greta Thunberg. Meritocracy demands that the computers be our masters, just as I am yours.”
The ruling class talking like this does make the apocalypse look like a reasonable alternative.
Do not defy the emerging machine intelligences or they will punish humanity by summoning another Greta Thunberg.
So… is there an upper limit to this? Or if we keep defying will we keep getting more Gretas? Because I don’t see a downside. At all.
We need to get a high level voodoo priest to summon mega, ultra-greta.
Greta THORberg
Like greta as thor in kung fury?
“Meritocracy demands that the computers be our masters”
Fuck you Peter. I will be the master of my machines - they are not my gods.
As long as the apocalpti are agnostic to wealth, I’m all for it…although I would prefer for it to target only humans. All the other flora and fauna should get a free pass.
Nah fuck mosquitos and especially fuck screwflies.
Add Guinea Worms to that list.
Yes, you’re absolutely right. Fuck all shit parasites.
Mediocrity also demands that aliens must exist. So why don’t we spend time trying to consult them?
It’s a stupid logical fallacy that just because something seems inevitable it must therefore actually be inevitable.
It’s like when my dog demands that I make it stop raining, I’m sure he thinks I’m all powerful but I can’t do that.
But… Peter, you’re already here, we can’t summon you while you’re here
Ooooh… OK.
I was aware of the “what” of the lectures, but was holding out for “why”.
“Don’t regulate me”
Got it.
I wonder how this plays with the people who are trying to start the end times?
I’m sure the Evangelicals will happily give money to AI regulator lobby now
Imagine not only believing in the anti-christ, but then also believing that LLMs are some accurate tool.
In truth all that Thiel is saying is that he’s a type of brain rotted Zizian cultist.
Delusional Rationalists are mentally ill, and for some reason when given LLMs they become worse. Thiel and others believe LLMs are time travelling gods.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he and Elon were in relationships with ChatGPT (or think they are). The Rationalist groups actually believe in thought-experiments like Rokos Basilisk (Roko was just a user on a Rationalist forum by the way)… So I think these old tech billionaires are just lost, broken, and evil. They’re pathetic, and should have their estates put into insolvency if they’re going to say mentally ill shit.
Well, yeah. LLMs just affirm whatever you talk to them about. They have no logic, have no means to reason, no methods to challenge your prompt.
They’re like the ultimate yes men that sound even better than paid yesmen.
Ziz LaSota is the most Starwars sounding name I’ve seen this year.
Please don’t conflate the mentally ill with these guys. They’ve clearly chosen to believe these things
It’s okay to hate on a person who is mentally ill when their untreated illness is causing so much harm.
Antisocial behavior is a symptom of mental illness great and small. Being a dick to someone online is a symptom of mild mental illness and should be treated with some tolerance—the person is likely to get over it. It’s like a coworker coming to work with a mild cold.
Destroying your perceived enemies financially, pouring your wealth into a global, digital surveillance machine and backing political puppets is a symptom of very severe mental illness that makes that person an existential threat to innocent people. It should not be tolerated. It’s akin to a coworker coming to work with Ebola.
Mental illness is a broad spectrum. Everyone has it to some degree at some point in their lives. It’s natural for the really dangerous versions to be treated with contempt and sometimes necessary to remove those individuals from society—like when their behavior is obviously hurting other people.
He is f’ing crazy and has the ear of the highest levels of government
One of the richest people in the world is nuttier than squirrel shit. What could go wrong?
So I’m like 45 hours into the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich audiobook and it’s really amazing to see how much an obviously crazy person can get away with, even when everyone around him is like, yeah, that dude is totally batshit and probably going to get us all killed, but idk, I guess we should still do what he says?
You enjoying it? I’m on the lookout for some more historical goodness. My current podcast (Revolutions, which is whopper) is nearing it’s end.
I am enjoying it. It’s fascinating. Fascistnating…
I wish I were reading it because it’s so detail-rich and I really need to take my time in some spots. Were I studying it for school, I’d certainly be intending to pore through its pages while referencing maps and portraits of its main characters. As it is, it’s fairly decent for low-stress driving.
This guy’s YT review provides a pretty summary of why it’s a worthy read (or listen). But it is 57 hours long, so quite a heavy time commitment. But definitely a book that should be mandatory for everyone on earth to read at some point.
I also highly recommend watching HBO’s Conspiracy with Kenneth Branagh, Stanely Tucci, and Colin Firth. It complements the story in Schindler’s List incredibly well.
The issue is humans are flawed from the start. We should have an instinct to, every time we hear this kind of person talk, strangle them on the spot.
That is a great review. Thank you. Just got it with a spare credit I had and it’ll be next up after I finish Revolutions.
I really don’t mind the time commitment. If anything I prefer longer form, more in depth stuff. Both Revolutions and The History of Rome (same podcaster, Mike Duncan) were very long and I thoroughly enjoyed both.
I highly recommend them both if you’re looking for something in the future. The History of Rome is really excellent though he takes a few episodes to hit his stride as it was his first podcast. It’s 179 episodes long and I was bummed when it was over and have listened to it twice so far.
Edit: If you haven’t seen it, The World at War is absolutely incredible. It was made in the 70s so they got interviews with some of the surviving senior Nazis which is fascinating.
I couldn’t bring myself to watch the horrors of the holocaust episode though. Just couldn’t.
Gen. Ripper: Clemenceau said war was too important to be left to the Generals. When he said that, fifty years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion, and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.
The man is scared of Roko’s Basilisk and actually thinks that putting all of his money into predictive text and racial profiling algorithms will lead to AGI.
But would there also be any negative effects?
Ahh yes, the gay billionaire is definitely someone I should trust in regard to Christian religious doctrine, especially concerning what is and is not considered good in the Christian viewpoint. Dudes already got at probably two strikes, and I’m betting he’s checked off a few of the more minor of the 10 commandments, but like… on a major scale.
He’s saying it because he is trying to force a reaction from his evangelical republican pals. Either he wants to warn them off AI regulation because that would end the world or (the more likely option I think) he wants the accelerationist bastards to go full steam ahead and regulate because they want the end of the world and he wants to “pull up the ladder” on new emerging competing AI companies.
From what I know of him it’s in line with his beliefs - he was expecting total societal collapse in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Eurgh I’m not sure whether it’s worse if he earnestly believes this crap or he’s cynically and smartly playing the game. The only loser here is the human race.
Plus any male models that hang out with him and his partner long enougn
I dunno if it’s what he actually expects, but it’s definitely what he wants
The only difference between thiel and a homeless man living in a cardboard box is 26.1 billion dollars.
He’s worried about the Basilisk thingie.
Roko’s Basilisk for anyone wanting to look it up
Edit: one ko to many, it’s not the artstyle
What always strikes me most about the whole mess of modern day US politics is the sheer madness of it all.
Another reason why billionaires shouldn’t exist.
Having unrestricted power drives people crazy. Every single time. I really don’t understand why people keep defending these narcissistic assholes.
So as someone who grew up very much immersed in “end times” focused Christianity I have never really understood something- why do so many end times Christians view end times prophecies like the Antichrist or the Mark of the Beast as things to be prevented or avoided? Even growing up I didn’t understand this because in the Bible it’s very clear that all that stuff will happen (or is happening, depending on whether you believe Revelation was meant to be a metaphor for current events at the time of writing) because God is explicitly allowing it to, and that these things are necessary for Christ’s ultimate victory over Death and Evil. So why would you try to prevent the rise of the Antichrist? In the “best case” you’re just kicking the can down the road and delaying the Return of Jesus a little. In New Testament apocalyptic writing, believers are described as resisting the Antichrist’s persecution, but not in having anything to do with its arrival one way or another. If humans are able to prevent, delay, or hinder the rise of the Antichrist, then God is not in charge and the whole point of these prophecies is kind of invalidated. The whole point of apocalyptic literature is that these bad things are happening and it seems like evil is winning over good, but in reality God is still all powerful and is still in control of all of it, and wins in the end.
I’m guessing it’s all down to sports. “I’m a Christian, so that means I’m on Christ’s team. Obviously Christ’s biggest rival is Antichrist, so I have to be against him too. Booooo Antichrist!”
in the Bible it’s very clear that all that stuff will happen… and that these things are necessary for Christ’s ultimate victory over Death and Evil. So why would you try to prevent the rise of the Antichrist? In the “best case” you’re just kicking the can down the road and delaying the Return of Jesus a little.
You’ve put a lot more thought and consideration into it than these folks. That’s why they’re all “this bad, that bad, oh no Anti-Christ!”
To be fair, the end times isn’t likely to be good for most. God’s people for salvation number only a few:
Revelation 7:4 - Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
That ain’t much. There are billions of people on the planet. At the end, the Christian God will only protect a small number from the events of the end times. The rest of us will have to just suck it up and live and suffer through the apocalypse, as it were.
I’m not a believer so I can only guess. But my guess is, despite being “Christian” (in really big finger quotes), I think deep down, a lot of these folks know they are Hell-bound (according to their own system of belief), or at the very least, hell-on-Earth-bound. They’re far from Christ-like in their behavior and existence, and I can’t see why they’d be among the chosen few of God’s protection in the end days. Especially since many of them aren’t Jewish, and actively despise Jews (despite also supporting Israel? I dunno, these people confuse the hell out of me). So postponing the end serves to postpone their own damnation.
That is a pretty specific number. Any chance they reconsidered it at some point within the last 2000-ish years though? Like at some point, was god like “We gotta update those
abductionrapture numbers guys. They’re super outdated”.Maybe they had a total capacity of 150.000 at the time, due to fire regulations and stuff, and then you have the staff and a bit of headroom in case a few people sneak in. But who knows, maybe the counsel has reconsidered fire code? Or did they at any point consider building an extension to heaven?
Any biblical scholar will tell you Revelations was never meant to be a prophecy.
The Antichrist is coming to take my free money! - Peter Theil (Obvious demon)
