309 - Jacob Howland - Technological Cannibalism

I had an amazing discussion with Jacob Howland about the fundamental question of technology. We investigate from both the Biblical and ancient Greek perspectives what technology is and its effects on the human spirit. <br />We discuss the notion of memory and recollection, Plato’s Phaedrus, the Biblical notion of garments of skin, ChatGPT and AI, work and leisure, technology’s effects on human capabilities, paganism and idolatry, intelligence, and “the matrix”, the internet, intuition, and much more.<br /><br />Jacob Howland is the Provost and Director of the Intellectual Foundations Program at UATX, commonly known as the University of Austin.<br />His latest book is Glaucon's Fate: History, Myth, and Character in Plato's Republic (Paul Dry Books, 2018): https://www.amazon.com/Glaucons-Fate-History-Character-Republic/dp/1589881346<br /><br />Jacob Howland’s website: https://www.jacobhowland.com/<br />His articles on Unherd: https://unherd.com/author/jacob-howlandunherd-com/<br /><br />YouTube version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/o468OtytbVQ<br /><br />Timestamps:<br />00:00 - Coming up<br />01:02 - Intro music<br />01:28 - Introduction<br />01:59 - Different narratives about technology<br />04:09 - Technology from the Greek perspective<br />05:01 - Plato's Phaedra - and fixing words<br />08:16 - Egypt<br />09:29 - Suppressing recollection<br />11:13 - The garments of skin<br />15:02 - Work - sorting chaos<br />18:17 - Human capabilities diminishing<br />19:53 - ChatGPT cannibalizes itself<br />22:06 - A pagan god that feeds on humans<br />23:52 - Human batteries<br />26:03 - Intuition - direct access to reality<br />28:49 - What do we mean by intelligence?<br />30:47 - Understand AI as idolatry<br />32:19 - The gold of the golden calf<br />34:53 - The tabernacle<br />35:33 - A body of power<br />37:39 - card: Beasts in Revelation<br />39:16 - Work and leisure<br />47:45 - Monastic life and leisure<br />49:18 - Not anti-technology<br />50:54 - The Henry Adams curve<br />56:56 - The Beast kills the whore<br />1:00:17 - Plato's cave<br />1:01:19 - There is no "solution"<br />1:03:24 - Prometheus’ cycle of desire<br />1:05:58 - The flip side of all of this<br />1:10:15 - Paradise Lost<br />1:11:09 - The need for transcendence<br />1:12:26 - Re-engage at the human scale<br /><br />💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com<br />🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau <br />🗣 Join The Symbolic World Community for discussions about symbolism: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe <br />🔒 BECOME A PATRON <br />Website: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe <br />Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/pageauvideos <br />📱 SOCIAL MEDIA <br />Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld <br />Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan <br />Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau<br />Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ <br />My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.<br />