Acclaimed author Dan Brown was at the Frankfurt Book Fair recently
promoting his new novel, “Origin.” This is the fifth installment in the series
that started with “The Da Vinci Code,” a book that questioned the history of
Christianity.
Brown
said the new novel was inspired by the question, “Will God survive science?” Brown
stated: “Are we naïve today to believe that the gods of the present will
survive and be here in a hundred years?”
As if
“gods” are a figment of our imagination, deities created by us. You probably have that one backwards, Dan. I’m pretty sure God will make it through the next
hundred years, but I am not at all sure about humanity. The real question, Mr.
Brown, is this: “Will human beings survive science?”
Many scientists see
automation drastically reducing the number of jobs available to living,
breathing humans. Self-driving cars are here now, and will be commonplace in
the next few years. We can now edit genes and create “designer” babies. The
singularity is coming, that point at which artificial intelligence can process
information faster than the finest human brain…the point at which be become,
scientifically-speaking, unnecessary. Entire human brains will be uploaded into
an A.I. computer. At some point, human bodies may be replaced by advanced
machinery, as well.
We are
in the process of rendering ourselves moot. Or worse.
Brown,
who has sold 200 million books in 56 languages, said he investigated deeply and
spent a great deal of time talking to futurists to come up with the storyline
for “Origin.” Looking to the future, he claimed that technological change and
the development of artificial intelligence would transform the concept of the
divine.
“We
will start to find our spiritual experiences through our interconnections with
each other,” he said, predicting the emergence of “some form of global
consciousness that we perceive and that becomes our divine.” We should have been finding our spiritual
experiences all along in our romantic relations with our spouses, among other
places. Now, however, our global consciousness comes from social media, and we
worship our smartphones. But, in truth, there is no such thing as an artificial
God.
“Humanity no longer
needs God, but may with the help of artificial intelligence develop a new form
of collective consciousness that fulfills the role of religion,” Brown added at
the packed news conference. "Our
need for that exterior god, that sits up there and judges us ... will diminish
and eventually disappear."
Yes,
just who does God think He is, sitting up there and judging us? Doesn’t He know “judging” others is
bad? (I don’t want to feel marginalized when I’m interconnecting with my
sex-bots or doing something else He may not approve of).
So, it’s all about us then, Dan? There is no higher
power or objective truth?
“Origin?”
Conclusion:
I
would argue that our need for God is greater
today than ever before, in part because
of the very “transformative” science in which Dan Brown puts his faith.
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