342 - Paul Kingsnorth - Becoming Gods Without God

In this conversation with Paul Kingsnorth, we discuss his main takeaways from his Substack series on The Machine, technology, artificial intelligence and silicon valley, civilization, principalities, the act of creation and desiring to be God, yet also creating the space for our annihilation. We also touch on environmentalism, storytelling, and art, including Tolkien and The Matrix. Enjoy.<br /><br />Original YouTube version: https://youtu.be/BCIRA9wRkIA<br />His Substack: https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/<br /><br />Join me and Richard Rohlin for the Symbolic World course on Dante's Inferno: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=comments&amp;redir_token=QUFFLUhqbHhEaW9mQTI4OE10VFF5SUgzdzhJYVpJS0c0UXxBQ3Jtc0trc3BvVzUzSmw2c2VFX052MFBYNUFZeGs1cTVuei15WjRrNWxMUkJnR2hCdE5VeUNFbzI1WEtYT3NlRXFENlJYQUs2d3F5eGx3SWJIYVkzNC11enh2Vkg1YjNmcXQ0T0gxM1luejBzbjRQellNRDFJRQ&amp;q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesymbolicworld.com%2Fcourses-pages%2Fdantes-inferno" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses-pages/dantes-inferno</a><br /><br />Previous conversations with Paul Kingsnorth:<br />- Civilization and Control: https://youtu.be/QetAHfg7w8s?si=mVSI0fOTFiroIwTb <br />- Environmentalism, the Tower of Babbel, and the Disintegration of Culture: https://youtu.be/uqDWGdJJx1Y?si=At5HMZaDohzgAFvm<br /><br />Timestamps:<br />00:00 - Coming up<br />01:01 - Intro music<br />01:26 - Introduction<br />02:11 - What are your main insights?<br />07:19 - Can this serve God?<br />10:53 - Become dependent on tools<br />13:05 - The god of economy<br />14:44 - The short history of progress<br />16:05 - No conspiracy needed<br />19:35 - A desire to supplant us<br />22:12 - Theosis<br />24:27 - Making vs giving birth<br />27:02 - Creation myths<br />28:09 - The environmental narrative<br />35:54 - How has your perception on story changed?<br />39:33 - Changing Paul's writing<br />41:47 - Language and AI in Writing<br />45:32 - The Influence of art<br />53:19 - Tolkien and a simple ending<br />56:54 - New stories<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: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe <br /><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 /><br />Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ <br />My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson.