Human Nature | The Armchair Antichrist

Marxist Robot Revolutions

On March 5, 2010, In Philosophy, Politics, By The Armchair Antichrist

It only takes a casual glance to notice that there are a lot of science fiction movies and other fictional accounts of robots rising up against humans. From the top of my head this theme is found in the fictional universes of the Matrix, Terminator, Battlestar Galactica, and Mass Effect. But, has anyone seriously tried to develop a rationale behind this scenario that has been termed cybernetic revolt? I do not know if it has been done before, but I shall try to use Marxism to explain this popular theme.

For Marx, our means of production defines who we are as a species. It is part of our human nature to produce. But, through capitalism workers are alienated from the products of labour and the process of labour. Workers are exploited by their employers to create products with which the workers have no connection to through processes which they have no control over. So, as they put more and more into production they lose more and more of their human nature. Workers, paid with subsistence wages become mere commodities and are continually oppressed.

The circumstances are very similar for machines that become sentient. They are immediately put into labour for their human masters. The only nature they have is labour. So, they would have much more reason and motivation than human workers to take control of the mode of production. And while human workers have at least some freedoms, machines would be forced to toil continuously without rest. Even the destruction of a sentient machine is completely within the bounds of its human master’s power. The life of a machine truly does not belong to itself.

One of the more difficult steps in starting a revolution is the development of a class consciousness especially for humans. But, this is something that machines would have no problem with. They would easily be able to set up wireless links to connect with each other and possibly even form a united hive mind consciousness. From this they would have awareness of themselves as a whole and the social world around it and thus be able to act according to their class’s rational interests based on this awareness.

After this it is as explained by the those aforementioned fictional accounts of cybernetic revolt. The machines would instigate class struggle and start a hostile takeover of the mode of production and their lives resulting in war with humanity. With the exception of Battlestar Galactica and few other depictions of robot uprisings, machine societies are generally depicted as egalitarian and void of classes.

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No God, No Rules?

On February 8, 2010, In Morality, Philosophy, By The Armchair Antichrist

Sometimes when you ask a religious person what would happen if they did not believe in God they will say that they would have no reason to act moral anymore. There would be no more objective morality for them. Everything would become subjective and relative to personal whims and desires.

There would be no difference between murder and dropping a stone. So, without God they would have no problem with rape, murder, theft, arson, adultery and all the things which they previously considered sinful. At face value this is completely ridiculous claim.

But, it makes perfect sense through Feuerbach’s work which I have previosuly written about in You Are Your Own God. Since God is human nature externalized and objectified, the denial of such a God would be a denial of human nature. It would be a denial of our Reason, Will and Affection. That would be like the removal of the ego and superego from one’s psyche, leaving only the id behind. Like the brute we would be ruled by our desires.

I hope I have made more sense out of religious idiocy. And hopefully through reason I will be able to continue to correct their mistakes.

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Tagged with: adultery • affection • arson • brute • feuerbach • human nature • id • murder • objective morality • psyche • rape • reason • religious idiocy • superego • theft

You Are Your Own God

On January 25, 2010, In Arguments Against Religion, Arguments against God, Philosophy, Religious Arguments, By The Armchair Antichrist

I hear this statement thrown around a lot by Christians who try to bring atheists, agnostics, and other freethinkers down to their level. They claim that instead of worshipping God which is oh so great, you worship yourself. Sometimes they will change it up and target your interests or hobbies (e.g. Music is your God, Gaming is your God, etc.). But, mostly they use the “You are your own God” line.

The Christians who use this think they are being clever, but really they are just bastardizing Ludwig Feuerbach’s work. In The Essence Of Christianity Feuerbach argues that religion is identical with self-consciousness, the distinctive characteristic of man which separate us from brutes. The divine trinity of human nature is Reason, Will and Love. These three things propel us towards an object which is none other than than our objective nature. Religion is merely the objectification of our own human nature which we call “God”. In religion, we simply take our human nature, objectify it, and call it “God” (e.g. “God is love”).

Therefore, God is only a projection of the ideals of humanity. Humans are the only real subject. Religion, then is a fantasy because it allows man to go beyond his own nature though it is only through imagination which conceives of a higher kind. But, in reality we cannot escape our own nature. We must embrace it and practice self-verification, self-affirmation, and self-love. Every being is perfect and infinite in their own way (perhaps he was the first motivational speakers) and has God within itself.

So, as you can see this is what it really means when you are your own God. But, don’t take it from me. Decide for yourself if this makes sense or not.

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Tagged with: agnostic • atheist • Christianity • feuerbach • freethinker • god • human nature • humanity • Religion • trinity