131. Posthumanism Is the End of Us – James Tunney

Apologies for a technical mishap at the 19:12 mark. I had to switch to a suboptimal camera and mic. But James looks and sounds fine the whole time, which is the most important thing. Writer, artist and thinker James Tunney is in the classical sense erudite. I have had very few guests, if any, who so effortlessly covers every historical, philosophical and spiritual aspect of the evolution of mankind. He seamlessly wanders from one discipline to the next, and it all comes across as perfectly natural. Which it should be to all of us, of course. The division of reality into different disciplines is an unnatural thing. A core theme in my interview with James is the choice we have to make in our time: Rediscover our spiritual consciousness or renege our humanness by falling for the siren song of posthumanism and artificial intelligence. Here are some focal points in our conversation: The diluted definitions of mythology and philosophy. There is no hard problem of consciousness. Psychology is the leftovers from the spiritual world. The collective Judas of today’s world are those who give away the essence of who they are, what makes them human, to governments and other authority figures. Human evolution is cyclical “if you want it to be”. History doesn’t repeat itself, but it mimics itself. Development is a spiral. There is a connection between ancient cultures in the Mediterranean and the Celtic and Nordic areas. The fall of humanity: Our focus on materialism. In an indigenous culture it is easier to connect to the divine. As we have become more technological, it has become more difficult. Our job is to find our way back to who we are. The rainbow manifests between light and darkness. Can advanced technology and spirituality exist side by side? “It’s not impossible, but we’re not on that trajectory.” You can benefit from high technology if you also have spiritual development. “Otherwise your society will collapse.” Most of the AI developers are hostile to perennial wisdom. Many say ‘we are creating God’. The powers now attempt to once and for all take control of the populace. This time via the nervous system  “Churchill said already in 1943: The next empire will be the empire of the mind.” “AI is not merely a tool. It's an entire system. It comes from the military-industrial complex.” The nation state has been toppled over because that is part of the agenda of the new world order. (James and I have different views on the virtues of keeping the nation state.) Migration: Which part is natural and organic, and which part is forced migration for nefarious purposes? “Dislocation and disorientation makes it easier to impose a top-down agenda.” Are more or fewer people thinking for themselves? (James and I are not entirely in agreement about that.) Now is the time to choose ways. “Absent an inclusion of genuine spiritual consciousness in our framework, it’s a disaster.” “We will have to leave some things behind.” So, dear viewer and listener, buckle up, hit the play button and go with the flow… James website