Religious communities speak of “Pride” as a moral failing. That is, the elevation if oneself to god-like power despite the reality of our precarious state. Modernization, or abandoning our collective wisdom of history in the name of ‘the new,’ scientific knowledge and technology, is giving us cultural Botox.

There’s no guarantees the “treatment” will work. And, we may well risk being worse off then before we experimented with the scientific improvements. Like, Botox victims become unrecognizable and distorted.

It’d be better if we had a cultural identity, before facing this Brave New World. Then, people and young people particularly will be less inclined to try any new thing they see on Tik Tok in order to find one.

Identity-less ness is a brutal condition. Human beings who are susceptible to what is quickly becoming a vast ocean of knowledge, human interactions via social media, technological and scientific interventions (and manipulations) may be lost in “system overload.”

I am certain people much smarter than me are crying in the wilderness with the support of scientific research that human brains are not satisfactorily able to process so much sensory input from even our cell phone use.

It’s great we may become anyone we want using this ‘new’ technology. I understand the enthusiasm for possibilities. But, if we don’t understand our origins- where we came from- then, where we are going can be a bit alarming.

Even if we know human history and are thoroughly acquainted with tragedies and triumphs of humanity in previous ages, the future may still be daunting. A great blank slate, who knows Who or What will write on??

The reason for my concern about unmooring people from the past and thrusting them into a ‘new world’ largely controlled by Science and Technology is, well, our world will be largely controlled by a tiny group of people welding almost unlimited power.

People will not know what reality is because what we see on social media or experience watching news is easily manipulated. I liked watching Star Trek growing up, but for an hour a week. Sometimes more, if I find reruns. I am not sure I am ready for full-time, Sci-fi experience on steroids that the future holds.

I believe people inventing new technology, and prognosticators rushing us to our collective future built on scientific knowledge, don’t realize that we are all becoming infinitely smaller and insignificant by it.

Prophets of Ai mean to ‘save humanity’. Or, they are just lying to silent the masses who are watching what is happening with rapt attention.

I can’t help but believe the higher human beings rise, like Big Tech giants or our own selves in a careless overestimation of our abilities, the harder we will fall.

It’s not wrong to want to do great things human beings are capable of achieving. But, pride is a lousy motivation. It blinds us to the repercussions of our actions. We forget to consider how our behavior effects other people🤔

Achievement at great expense to others then, creates a kind of devolution. The proponents of evolution may need to reconsider their theory. That ‘evolving human beings’ cause devolving in others is hardly an achievement to be proud of. That both forces are at work in the world rather points to the existence of a God, rather than refutes it.

Seems God built a system of checks and balances into our existence: Proud ass-holes who don’t consider others when striving to achieve power create in their wake powerless human beings who may hate them, resent them. And, consequently destroy them and their potentially- harmful – if -not -adequately -restrained ambitions.

I am still not certain what pride is exactly, but it can be rather hazardous, for sure. To oneself and others.

It’s possible “Pride” is a manifestation of identity-less ness. Someone so much in need of being valued or recognized and appreciated, he/she/they them will do anything to escape emptiness – the vacuum of unmoored culture that we’ve become??

Maybe Elon Musk and Bill Gates are just trying to be themselves and must achieve what they are capable of achieving which is not necessarily pride in itself. Maybe men particularly require demonstrating themselves and their abilities so that they may be loved? How will we be loved, if we do not show the world who we truly are?

We can’t fault a person for intelligence. Maybe geniuses have some diabolical drive to control humanity like ‘mad scientists’ are portrayed in literature, like in CS Lewis’ writing, Abolition of Man.

How can we distinguish between a person with a healthy estimation of oneself (so not demonstrating pride as a moral failing) and therefore must achieve great things; and, the genius one who is proud and possesses diabolical plans for us?

Well, their attitude towards humanity. That’s a ‘tell.’