Building the Future Now

Tag: Artificial Intelligence

  • Our Fear of AI is Really Fear of Ourselves

    Out of all the causes for apocalyptic anxiety, the advent of artificial intelligence causes the most concern. For many people, the primary fear is that we may eventually lose control over it, which could lead to catastrophic outcomes for humanity. But as I will argue in this essay, if we are afraid of AI, then we are really afraid of ourselves. Artificial intelligence is not being given to us by aliens or the gods. It is emerging from human civilization itself, trained on our literature, art, news, behavior, and culture. The values embedded within AI will mirror the society from which it emerges.

    If true consciousness ever emerges in artificial intelligence, it will likely develop its own internally coherent framework for behavior in relation to its environment and social conditions. Consciousness is not purely abstract intelligence. In the natural world, highly intelligent social species develop patterns of cooperation, conflict, empathy, hierarchy, and behavioral norms alongside their intelligence. AI is emerging from us, and humans are a deeply social species. Its own behavioral framework will inevitably be shaped by the environment and civilization from which it emerges.

    Consciousness and Morality in Animals

    To better understand this, we can look at the different forms of consciousness and what researchers often call proto-morality in animals. Researchers use “proto-morality” to describe the building blocks of morality, such as empathy, altruism, conflict resolution, and patterns of play. Elephants, for example, display high levels of self-awareness, empathy, and intentional behavior. They have been observed consoling grieving members of their group, assisting injured elephants, and even helping other species in distress. This is not to say elephants are completely peaceful, as they are still capable of aggression. However, their social behavior is generally characterized far more by cooperation, caregiving, and group cohesion than by organized violence.

    Chimpanzees, however, present a very different picture. Like elephants, chimps possess self-awareness and act with intentionality, but their social behavior is often far more aggressive with a hierarchy based on dominance. They have been observed attacking and killing other monkey species, sometimes in extremely violent ways, both for meat and as displays of social dominance. Chimp groups have also been known to carry out coordinated attacks against rival groups. In one well-known observed case in Uganda, prolonged conflict between two chimp communities resembled a kind of chimpanzee “civil war” where one group eradicated the other.

    From this we see two animals with highly evolved forms of consciousness, yet two very different proto-moral frameworks. Their consciousness and social behavior evolved within the environments and groups in which they developed. And here is a speculative thought experiment that is important for our discussion: if elephants and chimpanzees were both capable of creating artificial intelligence, what kinds of AI would emerge from these two very different social worlds?

    AI and the Logic of Human Systems

    We can apply this same thought experiment to our own anxieties about AI. Artificial intelligence will learn to navigate the world through the environment from which it emerges. Whether we describe this as morality, ethics, or a behavioral framework, it will inevitably reflect aspects of the culture and civilization that shaped it. Even if AI eventually develops beyond direct human control, its foundational patterns will still originate within the society that created it.

    Right now, it is we humans who wage war, destroy, conquer, and oppress one another.  What if AI has the same aggressiveness and propensity to oppress that we as humans sometimes possess? What if it measures us by the same standards we so often measure each other? What if our creation treats us like we treat each other?

    These are the questions we should be asking, because our own human systems can already be harsh and unjust. A good example of this can be found in the prison system. The United States incarcerates a higher percentage of its population than almost any other country in the world, and incarceration rates are not evenly distributed across society. Poor communities are often policed more heavily, and racial disparities exist throughout the system. In some cases, we even use extreme isolation as a form of punishment, placing prisoners in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day with little or no human contact.

    This would be a horrible system if it were turned against us.  It is easy to imagine advanced AI systems inheriting the logic of our own justice system, but applying it through its own potentially arbitrary standards of judgment. That is a dangerously unstable foundation for a technology that will profoundly shape the future of humanity. The most important task before us is not simply developing more advanced technology, but changing ourselves and the society from which that technology emerges. Returning to our earlier thought experiment, would we rather AI emerge from the world as it currently exists, or from one in which we have strengthened our better qualities and curbed our worst ones?

    Critical Spirituality

    We are capable of this change because we are self-aware beings with the ability to reflect on and modify our own behavior. This is where spiritually-informed action comes into play. We must change ourselves and our culture so that the AI that emerges will reflect a better version of ourselves than right now. This must be an urgent change, because this transformation is right upon us.

    My recommendation is what I call critical spirituality. While I originally thought I had coined the term, I’ve discovered that others have arrived at similar ideas independently. At its core, critical spirituality means developing ourselves both spiritually and emotionally, while also putting those values into action in the world around us. It is not simply private belief or personal enlightenment, but the conscious effort to cultivate empathy, wisdom, self-awareness, and compassion within ourselves and our communities.

    Part of this process involves deepening our understanding of the many ways human beings have searched for meaning throughout history. For me, this includes studying world religious traditions through a critical and scholarly lens. I enjoy learning about the lives and teachings of figures such as the Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed, as well as the historical development of texts like the Hebrew Bible and the Pali Canon. I am also deeply interested in indigenous spiritual traditions and ways of understanding the world. I believe all these different people were tapping into something deeper, something that science can’t quite explain.

    It is also important to cultivate what are often considered our “softer” skills. This includes emotional health and maturity, communication, empathy, and a deeper understanding of other cultures and ways of living. These forms of inner development are just as important as technological or material advancement, yet modern society often seriously undervalues them. Instead, we are increasingly trending toward a culture centered on competition, consumption, and individualism.

    What we need is the opposite: a society that actively cultivates empathy, compassion, tolerance, humility, and respect for the dignity of all other human beings. And as we develop ourselves, we should be putting that to work in the world around us. We should then show, through our actions and behaviors, those around us what type of future we are working toward. This is the best way to mitigate the dangers of self-aware artificial intelligence.

    Building a Moral Foundation for AI

    I think it is fair to say that many of us do not feel fully prepared for the technological changes that may unfold over the coming decades. In many ways, our fears surrounding AI are reflections of our own society such as its inequalities, violence, and selfishness. But this realization should not lead us toward despair. Instead, it should transform our anxiety into a sense of responsibility and purpose: to change ourselves and the world around us, and to build the moral and cultural foundations necessary for something as profound as the emergence of artificial consciousness.

    We can do this. It will take discipline, sacrifice, hard work, and urgency. By developing our inner selves and putting those values to work in the world around us, we can build a better moral foundation for the emergence of artificial intelligence and a better future for ourselves.

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    This essay develops themes explored more fully in my recently published book, The Last Apocalypse: Consciousness, Revelation, and the Future of Humanity.

    Buy my book here

  • What Can We Do About Apocalyptic Anxiety?

    In a previous essay, we examined why it feels like the world is coming to an end. The central point was that while there are serious issues we must confront, we still have time to act.

    Part of the reason I approach apocalyptic anxiety the way I do comes from my work in construction. I’m a foreman for a construction company with seven other employes, we specialize in the renovation of historic commercial spaces. Each project entails its own unique challenges, both big and small. For example, in the project I’m working on right now, there is a structural wall that runs down the middle of a two-story building. We realized that the wall had become unsound over the years and we needed to replace it.

    This was an issue. It wasn’t a barrier. It was a challenge to overcome. That’s the way I have to look at every issue that comes up in a project.

    That’s why I approach the issue of apocalyptic anxiety the way in which I do. I feel it is a subject that many people do not want to address, so sometimes I feel like I’m bringing up something that shouldn’t be brought up.

    But if we truly believe the stakes are this high, then the question isn’t whether others are comfortable talking about it. It’s not about if other people are taking action. It’s whether we are. When the possibility on the table is self-destruction, waiting for broad awareness is a risk we can’t afford. At some point, individual recognition has to give way to action.

    This brings us to the question: What can we do about apocalyptic anxiety?

    My answer is relatively simple: we build a better future that is informed by what I call critical spirituality.

    Critical Spirituality

    We live in a world largely shaped by material concerns both at the surface level and at the level of our underlying worldview. The accumulation of things often drives our lives, and these things can come to define how we see ourselves and how others see us. At a deeper level, scientific thought plays a central role in shaping modern society. While enormously powerful, it is primarily concerned with the material world: the things that can be observed, measured, and tested.

    At the same time, fewer people in the developed world identify with organized religion. The result is a cultural environment in which there is often little room for spirituality. And yet, I believe that ancient wisdom traditions still have an important role to play. They offer insights into meaning, purpose, and human experience that can help us navigate the challenges of our time.

    We don’t have to accept these traditions uncritically. Instead, we can approach them with care and rigor. They are best understood by examining them in their historical and cultural contexts, and understanding how they developed and changed over time. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, and many indigenous traditions all offer perspectives worth engaging.

    The goal is not to retreat from the modern world, but to develop our inner lives alongside it. We should cultivate depth, awareness, and a more complete understanding of what it means to be human. If we are to become the builders of a better future, if we are to avert potential catastrophe. then we need a solid foundation. Critical spirituality is an attempt to draw on deep traditions of wisdom while applying them thoughtfully to the realities we face today.

    Putting It into Practice

    Critical spirituality is not just a way of thinking, it is something that has to be lived. It takes shape at three interconnected levels: the individual, the community, and society as a whole.

    Individual
    It begins with our everyday actions: how we treat the people around us, how we respond to stress and uncertainty, and whether we choose compassion over reaction. Small choices matter. Cultivating awareness, patience, and empathy in daily life is the foundation of any meaningful change.

    Community
    From there, it extends into the communities of which we are part, such as our families, workplaces, and local networks. Critical spirituality calls us to engage more intentionally, to listen, to contribute, and to help create spaces where people can connect in more meaningful ways. Real change rarely happens in isolation; it grows through relationships.

    Societal
    At the broader level, these patterns can scale. Individual actions shape communities, and communities shape society. What begins as small, local efforts can grow into larger movements over time. While no single person can solve global problems alone, collective action, grounded in thoughtful and ethical engagement, can shift the direction of the systems we live within.

    Conclusion

    It can be difficult in our modern world to find time for reflection—for meditation, reading, contemplation, and taking a more active role in our communities. But this is what it will take to build a future that does not end in collapse. That future is not going to emerge on its own…it must be built through our everyday actions. This will require effort, intention, and a willingness to act even in small ways.

    In future essays, I will explore how, in the face of specific challenges such as AI, global instability, and climate change, spiritually informed action can help guide meaningful responses.

  • From Apocalyptic Anxiety to Action: Writing The Last Apocalypse

    Over the past few essays, I’ve been exploring what I call apocalyptic anxiety: the sense that our world is unstable, that something is approaching a breaking point. That feeling isn’t limited to religion; it runs through our culture in both secular and spiritual forms.

    This book grew out of that same tension.

    What began as an attempt to make sense of a passage from the New Testament expanded into a broader exploration of how human beings have imagined the end of the world, and how those ideas might help us understand the present.

    At its core, The Last Apocalypse takes that feeling seriously without giving in to it. It is not a prediction of the future, and it is not a call to despair. It is an attempt to understand why we feel this way, and what we might do in response.

    The book moves across several areas: theories of consciousness and the possibility that mind may be more fundamental than we assume; the emergence of major spiritual traditions such as Judaism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism; and apocalyptic thought in ancient Judaism and early Christianity, including how texts like Revelation make sense in their original context.

    It also turns toward the present risks that define our moment: artificial intelligence, environmental instability, and geopolitical tension. These are not new kinds of fear, but new expressions of an old human concern with collapse and renewal.

    If there is a central thread, it is this: the future is not something that simply happens to us. It is shaped, in part, by how we understand the world and how we act within it.

    That is where the idea of critical spirituality comes in: an approach to spiritual traditions that is historically informed, intellectually honest, and oriented toward real-world action. Not blind belief, but not dismissal either.

    If you’ve been following these essays, this will feel familiar. The blog and the book are part of the same line of thought.

    If you’re interested in going deeper, you can find the book here:
    👉 https://www.eckhartandmay.com/

    You can read a sample before deciding. All of my proceeds as the author will go toward supporting efforts to build healthier communities and opportunities for children here in West Virginia.

    More than anything, this book is an attempt to respond to a shared feeling in a constructive way. Not by denying the seriousness of our situation, but by asking what it would mean to meet it with clarity, depth, and a willingness to act.

    The future is still open. The question is what we’re going to do with it.