Not my tomorrow: reclaiming the future from the technofascists

A Buddhist critique of tech run amuck: AI, TESCREAL, and the lie that a bunch of nazis in Silicon Valley get to tell us what the future is.

https://lokanta.github.io/#not-my-tomorrow

Place Time AEDT UTC
Sydney (Australia – New South Wales) Sunday, 2 March 2025 at 7:00:00 am AEDT UTC+11 hours
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2025-03-01T20:00:00Z in your local time

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Dear Venerable,

I’m not a fan of AI either, but I’m still new to these parts and I find your attitude towards it and tech a little cryptic. I’ve always thought of you as one of the more tech advancing monastics; granted, that was limited to and inferred from your digitalization of the canon, and your Friday night talks series, etc… I’d like to engage you more, but I don’t want to waste your time or mine. Would you mind giving us a brief rundown of your views on tech in general, including specifically what you don’t like about AI–and adding, if I’ve interpreted this post accurately, what your beef with transhumanism is?

sincerely and respectfully,
landis

Hi @landis,
There are many threads and essays by Bhante detailing what you are asking. If you just search for the terms AI, you should see multi-part threads on it.
:pray:

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Search for AI-1 through AI-16 under the Essays category. Those should answer your question on what Bhante thinks of AI.

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Thanks @trusolo and @WoodsyLadyM. I honestly don’t know why I didn’t think of that first. :flushed:

Edit: ok…I did the searches…a summary still might be helpul. :smile:

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Dear Venerable,
That was exactly the kind of thing I had in mind. Would it be fair to say that this is a synopsis of The Synopsis (Stochastic Parrots)? Also, are you familiar with Douglas Rushkoff’s books? His most recent is Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commandments for a Digital Age. Before that, Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of Tech Billionaires and Team Human.

Yeah, that really hits the nail on the head. But it’s not just Tech Billionaires. The whole aristocracy seems to have forgotten that being human is a team sport.

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MN108

I think you will find that monastics who adopt new technologies often do it carefully and evaluate its advantages and disadvantages. Not all technologies are the same.

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Sorry, I’m not quite sure what you mean.

No, but I’ll check him out, thanks.

And sometimes we learn things and change our minds.

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Interesting! are any of these meetings streamed or recorded for people to watch at home?

Dear sujato,

SN 22.59 teaches us that no one is in control of anything. Which is why in MN 117 it is written that “right view that is accompanied by defilements, partakes of good deeds, and ripens in attachments.” (It is not a factor of the path) Only by understanding the view expounded in SN 22.59, we attain the “right view that is noble, undefiled, transcendent, a factor of the path.” through which we can be “freed from defilements by not grasping.”

In light of the previous, would you not say that forgiveness and compassion towards those who cannot control what they cannot control, and spreading the wisdom as shared by the buddha, would be a more fruitful way of heading into the future, instead of critizing people and calling them “a bunch of nazis”?

As far as I can tell, the buddha shared the dhamma to attain personal liberation, not as an instrument to impose our vision of how the world should be or to attract others to that pursuit.

Warm regards,
Peter

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Perhaps you missed the links to Bhante Sujato’s AI essays at the bottom of the page. I could be wrong, but perhaps he just wanted to make them easier to access so you wouldn’t have to search.

Yes.

Like I was saying.

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Thanks, but I’d rather stick to the dhamma of the Buddha.

Paramaṭṭhakasutta

Eight on the Ultimate

Paramanti diṭṭhīsu paribbasāno,
If, maintaining that theirs is the “ultimate” view,

Yaduttari kurute jantu loke;
a person makes it out to be highest in the world;

Hīnāti aññe tato sabbamāha,
then they declare all others are “lesser”;

Tasmā vivādāni avītivatto.
that’s why they’re not over disputes.

Yadattanī passati ānisaṁsaṁ,
If they see an advantage for themselves

Diṭṭhe sute sīlavate mute vā;
in what’s seen, heard, or thought; or in precepts or vows,

Tadeva so tattha samuggahāya,
in that case, having adopted that one alone,

Nihīnato passati sabbamaññaṁ.
they see all others as inferior.

Taṁ vāpi ganthaṁ kusalā vadanti,
Those who are skilled say that, too, is a knot,

Yaṁ nissito passati hīnamaññaṁ;
relying on which people see others as lesser.

Tasmā hi diṭṭhaṁ va sutaṁ mutaṁ vā,
That’s why a mendicant ought not rely

Sīlabbataṁ bhikkhu na nissayeyya.
on what’s seen, heard, or thought, or on precepts and vows.

Diṭṭhimpi lokasmiṁ na kappayeyya,
Nor would they form a view about the world

Ñāṇena vā sīlavatena vāpi;
through a notion or through precepts and vows.

Samoti attānamanūpaneyya,
They would never represent themselves as “equal”,

Hīno na maññetha visesi vāpi.
nor conceive themselves “worse” or “better”.

Attaṁ pahāya anupādiyāno,
What was picked up has been set down and is not grasped again;

Ñāṇepi so nissayaṁ no karoti;
they form no dependency even on notions.

Sa ve viyattesu na vaggasārī,
They follow no side among the factions,

Diṭṭhimpi so na pacceti kiñci.
and believe in no view at all.

Yassūbhayante paṇidhīdha natthi,
One here who has no wish for either end—

Bhavābhavāya idha vā huraṁ vā;
for any state of existence in this life or the next—

Nivesanā tassa na santi keci,
has adopted no dogma at all

Dhammesu niccheyya samuggahītaṁ.
after judging among the teachings.

Tassīdha diṭṭhe va sute mute vā,
For them not even the tiniest idea is formulated here

Pakappitā natthi aṇūpi saññā;
regarding what is seen, heard, or thought.

Taṁ brāhmaṇaṁ diṭṭhimanādiyānaṁ,
That brahmin does not grasp any view—

Kenīdha lokasmiṁ vikappayeyya.
how could anyone in this world judge them?

Na kappayanti na purekkharonti,
They don’t make things up or promote them,

Dhammāpi tesaṁ na paṭicchitāse;
and don’t subscribe to any of the doctrines.

Na brāhmaṇo sīlavatena neyyo,
The brahmin has no need to be led by precept or vow;

Pāraṅgato na pacceti tādīti.
gone to the far shore, one such does not return.

Paramaṭṭhakasuttaṁ pañcamaṁ.


Translators: sujato

Anthology of Discourses 4.5

https://theravadan.org/pages/snp0004p0005

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Wise people blame what is blameworthy and commend what is commendable. I’ll let someone who likes pasting quotes find a good passage for that particular teaching. Reading and thinking is good exercise for the mind, but the development of compassion and wisdom is next level.

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Absolutely. It’s easy to take principles meant to help people to pacify their own minds, and then inappropriately turn those into passivity in the face of oppression.

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