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Some might consider the following presentations to be exaggerations of fact and might even harbor a fear of being compared to the likes of Chicken Little, or The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf if it were to become known that they had even considered these things in a half-way serious light. Therefore I’ve hot linked The World’s Last Night, an essay written by Lewis just beneath this page introduction. While a sensitivity to public perception should be considered, and rest assured, speaking for us at The C.S. Lewis Study Group, it is–and even though it is, we still think that this concern should not deter us from looking at these sorts of issues with an open eye in order to ponder the real possibilities that modern/postmodern technologies could hold in store for us. However, given that, we think that we should keep squarely before our minds the fact that no man knows, nor can know, when and on what day our savior returns. To quote from The World’s Last Night:
“But how can the characters in a play guess the plot? We are not the playwright, we are not the producer, we are not even the audience. We are on the stage . . . But we think thus because we keep on assuming that we know the play. We do not know the play. We do not even know whether we are in Act I or Act V’ We do not know who are the major and who the minor characters.The Author knows”.
With that said, I would like to strongly recommend that you consider what Lewis conveys to us in this essay. As always he stands as a prime example of the kind of balanced perspective and a kind of level headedness that we should all strive for while facing the inevitabilities that our faith both sets before us and insists upon. It is part and parcel of our faith as it establishes itself at the center of our beliefs.
C.S. Lewis
==> The Worlds Last Night <==
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For those who would prefer to take this kind of information in by way of auditory experience, you might want to follow the YouTube below that was posted by Doodle (and if you’re not familiar with this graphic artist that goes by that moniker follow the hot link because you are in for a real treat). You will find an audio reading accompanied by graphic displays. Note: If you enjoy reading along with the narration, as I do, you should be aware that the essay runs from pages 93 to 110 in the downloadable PDF version above. Doodle’s rendition of The Worlds Last Night picks up the reading at page 104, so you would want to proceed from that point in a read along.
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==> A Suggestion <==
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Technocalyps
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The Transhuman
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Part II: Preparing for the Singularity
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To try and come to a theoretical understanding with what many of the issues this series deals with you may want to visit our page that describe a book which explores some of the ideas and aspirations that many of the people who advocate for these kinds of technologies hold dear. If this interests you follow this hotlink to the ==> Techgnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information page.
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PBS’ Nova has produced a very interesting and, what seems to me, a very germane program to this topic titled Rise of the Hackers. This program provides an excellent illustration of just how far some of these kinds of technologies have been developed all the while carrying with them potentially grave consequences for all of us.
The entire program can be viewed via the free listing off of You Tube hot linked just beneath the image below.
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For those interested in what Lewis had to say concerning the drift of technology this is both a very worthwhile and informative.
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To View this Program ==> Click Here.
To learn more about ==> Stuxnet-The First Cyber Guided Missilie
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To resume the thread of thought left dangling at the conclusion of the Technocylps series I thought some of our visitors might find this promotional video to be of interest. Its intent is to garner interest for what they are calling Russia 2045.
Russian media magnate Dmitry Itskov launched the 2045 Initiative in 2011, which imagines a human race no longer the subject of death or other limitations. Dimitry is in a process of bringing together leading thinkers around the vision of a technologically transcendent future. James Herrick writes in Visions of Technological Transcendence: “World renowned spiritual leaders mingle with leading scientists at Initiative gatherings such as those convened in Moscow in 2011 and New York in 2013. The presence of priests and lamas is in keeping with the organization’s “main goals,” which include creating social conditions that promote “the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on five principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.” (p. 3).
==> Transhumaism and the Postmodern Future <==
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Elon Musk & Neural Lace
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In order see where this study is germane to Lewis’s work please go to
Modern Culture and the Death of Human Nature page and then The Abolition of Man.
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God is Dead
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For those who would like to think about these issues a bit further you may want to watch this presentation on some of the predictions that are being promulgated by futurist Ray Kurzweil, the author of the best-selling book The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.
Future 2045 Congress: Towards a New Strategy for Human Evolution / New York City, 2013.
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For those interested you may want to follow the link below to view a presentation with Kurzweil’s thoughts which concerns our potential for achieving a posture of immortality, click ==> Here
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To hear C.S. Lewis on man’s next real step on the “evolutionary path” (if one can call it that?) the You Tube above is the only surviving talk which Lewis gave on the BBC Broadcasts which were eventually transposed into Mere Christianity.
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For those of you who may be interested to learn more about the pros & cons of what Ray Kurzweil is suggesting to us you may want to visit our John Searle–Strong AI & The Chinese Room Argument page which has both audio presentations along with PDF text files that both examines and elaborates on their competing views. John Searle is one of the leading philosophers of mind that has been very influential over the latter part of the last century and into the present. Click on his name above to go to his Wikipedia page.
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