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comment by humanodon
humanodon  ·  3942 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Technium Whispering to Itself

Historically speaking, gods were created in the image of man (or the fun-house reflections of aspects of humanity), then people forgot why the gods were invented and so those gods became "fact" until a greater understanding of the world emerged. What if in this instance, human beings are unwittingly creating a real god, or a consciousness or being that will effectively be a god?

In some sense, I think that the one of the many reasons why there are so many dystopian futures in science-fiction is that there is a deep seated suspicion in the collective unconscious that should an all-powerful being exist, that it wouldn't particularly like humanity.

In any event, there is a particular symmetry to the natural world giving rise to a pantheon or even an ineffable creator figure giving rise to the agency and power of humans, who in turn, create a being or class of beings much greater than themselves in a universe increasingly influenced by human hands.





rob05c  ·  3941 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    What if in this instance, human beings are unwittingly creating a real god
Reminds me of the short story Answer, by Fredric Brown.
humanodon  ·  3940 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've never heard of this guy before, but I like that story. Do you know if there's any relationship between this and Asimov's The Last Question or Adam's Hitchhiker series?

rob05c  ·  3940 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I don't know, sorry. That's the only story of Brown's I've read. I appreciate the link to the Asimov story, though. I actually hadn't read that one.