In 1957 Julian Huxley, brother of Aldous Huxley, coined the term “Transhuman.”
Julian was a staunch evolutionist, eugenicist, and globalist; he was also the grandson of T.H. Huxley, a contemporary and proponent of Darwin and his theory of evolution. In basic, Julian believed that up until the modern area, humanity had hitherto naturally evolved by chance. Yet now before modern man stood the opportunity to take the reins from “natural selection,” humanity could guide its own evolutionary process. Of course, not all of humanity, only those who have been chosen by history to do so. This idea was not unique to Mr. Huxley. Others such as Jonas Salk, to name but one, also spoken in similar terms in his book “Survival of the Wisest.”
It seems very plausible that the “mystic” evolutionist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (himself a Jesuit priest), brought a certain religious aspect to the Transhuman ideology. It is certain that Transhumanism, as we know it, is religious in its application and intent, as will be made clear in this article. Vital to Transhumanism is Evolutionism, or Darwinism. Mr. Teilhard himself states, “Is evolution a theory, a system, or a hypothesis? It is much more – it is a general postulation to which all theories, all hypotheses, all systems must henceforth bow and which they must satisfy in order to be thinkable and true. Evolution is a light which illuminates all facts, a trajectory which all lines of thought must follow – this is what evolution is” (Genesis, Creation, and Early Man, the Orthodox Christian Vision. Platina, CA. pg. 582). Although he did not coin the term “Transhuman,” he speaks in such terms, “May the world’s energies, mastered by us, bow down before us and accept the yoke of our power. May the race of men, grown to fuller consciousness and great strength, become grouped into rich and happy organisms in which life shall be put to better use and bring a hundredfold return” (Ibid. pg. 585).
It is worth noting that Julian Huxley wrote the introduction to a book by Teilhard, The Phenomenon of Man.
Early Transhumanists looked more to social institutions to mold the “new” man, yet as technology advanced rapidly over the 20th and 21st centuries, it was soon recognized as the most potent tool in the Transhumanist desire to remake man and the world. Central to the Transhumanist dogma is Artificial Intelligence (AI).
It is very important to comprehend that most of the current “elites” are Transhumanists. Transhumanism seeks an event called “Singularity.” When achieved, it claims, humanity as we know it will be no more. It seeks to overcome sickness and death and liberate the human consciousness from the bonds of the body. Transhumanism is profoundly anti-Christian and has developed an anti-Gospel, in which AI will save humanity.
Recently a video by the prominent Transhumanist, Yuval Noah Harari has resurfaced on the internet, in which he clearly proclaims the Transhumanist message. Mr. Harari is a lecturer, department of history, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is part of the World Economic Forum (WEF). This organization is devoted to Transhumanism.
In 2015, Mr. Harari published a book entitled, “Homo Deius, A brief History of Tomorrow.” As even the title indicates, in the Transhumanist mind, the future is already history. History is something that has been accomplished. They are convinced that the coming epoch of Transhumanism is inevitable. They believe it to be unstoppable. They believe their goals for the future are already “history.”
The reader should understand, first of all, not everyone will be chosen to enter the Transhumanist AI world. An aspect of the Transhumanist agenda is depopulation. The unfit will be given over to biological death so to purge the gene pool. But we little people of the masses may rest assured that the elites have been endowed with the power to direct evolution, so just trust them (remember just trust the experts!).
Many of the modern agendas being promoted, such as Environmentalism and Globalism, are grounded in aspects of the Transhumanist teaching. Elite Transhumanists view themselves as the architects and molders of the new coming age. Many of the current crises have the intent of reshaping the world. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, aka the Great Reset, is essentially Transhumanist in its agenda. Illness, war, economy, environment, social relations, and so forth, are all potential tools, so they believe, in achieving a Reset that will usher in Singularity. Much of the chaos in the world is intentional.
I have touched upon many of these topics in past articles. Yet, it never hurts to remind the reader that much of the agenda surrounding Covid-19 is also being influenced by the Transhumanist ideology. Covidism is a instrument of Transhumanism.
In the above-referenced book by Mr. Harari, there is a chapter entitled “The Data Religion.” In my article “Green Pass to the Abyss” I explored the writings of another WEF member, globalist, and Transhumanist, Jacques Attali. There I provided substantial quotes that reveal the goals of utilizing technology for enslaving and controlling the masses. Vital to this in the current age is data. I think it wise to understand that much of the Covid crisis was a massive data collection event.
Now we may believe that much of what Transhumanism is teaching is nuts. We may feel that it is far-fetched. Yet, the reality remains this is the philosophy – the religion – inspiring and driving much of the global agenda and is funded and promoted by many global agencies and even governments. It is also a major trend with Silicon Valley, University teachers, and bioethicists. Thus as far-fetched as it may strike the “average” persons, it is an ideology that deeply influences the mentality and actions of the “elites,” people with substantial worldly power.
Dataism and Humanity as Algorithm
A primary dogma of Transhumanism is what Mr. Harari calls “Dataism.”
Mr. Harari writes, “Dataism says that the universe consists of data flows, and the value of any phenomenon or entity is determined by its contribution to data processing. This may strike you as some eccentric fringe notion, but in fact it has already conquered most of the scientific establishment … the life sciences have come to see organisms as biochemical algorithms. Simultaneously, in the eight decades since Alan Turing formulated the idea of a Turing Machine, computer scientists have learned to engineer increasingly sophisticated electronic algorithms” (pg. 351).
Please note, he himself says this is not a “fringe notion.” He claims most of the scientific establishment has embraced this notion. Who have we been so fervently instructed to “trust” over the past few years?
He continues, “Dataism thereby collapses the barrier between animals and machines, and expects electronic algorithms to eventually decipher and outperform biochemical algorithms … For scholars and intellectuals it also promises to provide the scientific holy grail that has eluded us for centuries: a single overarching theory that unifies all the scientific disciplines” (Ibid).
Based on its grandparent, Darwinism, Transhumanism views humanity as a “biochemical algorithm,” as it does all biological life. It teaches, humanity’s own creation of “electronic algorithms,” such as computers and AI, will surpass humanity itself. This is known as “Singularity.” The barriers between animals and machines will collapse, which means the current barriers will be transcended and biological life will merge with AI. Singularity means the end of humanity as we have known it, so they profess. As Teilhard viewed Evolutionism as an indispensable theory, its child Transhumanism views itself as the emerging single binding overarching theory that will unite all scientific disciplines.
Since the human mind will be surpassed by AI, it is not trustworthy; thus we are told, “Dataists are sceptical about human knowledge and wisdom, and prefer to put their trust in Big Data and computer algorithms” (pg. 352). He goes on to reveal, “Dataism is most firmly entrenched in its two mother disciplines: computer science and biology. Of the two, biology is the more important” (Ibid). Biology is more important because they believe, it will give them the ability to control the human “algorithm” (which as he noted is not “trustworthy).
He boldly proclaims, “You may not agree with the idea that organisms are algorithms, and that giraffes, tomatoes and human beings are just different methods for processing data. But you should know that this is current scientific dogma, and that it is changing our world beyond recognition” (Ibid). Please note that he uses the word dogma. He claims that the world of “science” is already operating upon a central dogma of Transhumanism.
Dataism as the Master System
Some further goals are elucidated for us, “In the coming decades, it is likely that we will see more Internet-like revolutions, in which technology steals a march on politics. Artificial intelligence and biotechnology might soon overhaul our societies and economies – and our bodies and minds too – but they are hardly a blip on our political radar” (pg. 359). Ah, so a goal is to overhaul even a person’s body and mind! Transhumanism seeks to achieve this down to the genetic level. Thus, gene-editing is an important part of Transhumanism. As part of the process, humanity must be genetically modified. Also, it is worth noting again that the assimilation of even the body and mind is a clear goal of the Internet of Bodies (IoB).
In interesting and telling words, he proclaims, “In the twentieth century, dictators had grand visions for the future. Communists and fascists alike sought to completely destroy the old world and build a new world in its place. Whatever you think about Lenin, Hitler or Mao, you cannot accuse them of lacking vision. Today it seems that leaders have a chance to pursue even grander visions. While communists and Nazis tried to create a new society and a new human with the help of steam engines and typewriters, today’s prophets could rely on biotechnology and super-computers” (Ibid). Communists and Fascists sought to destroy the old world and build a new one, such is also a Transhumanist goal! Or, rather, it is continuing the goal of its predecessors. These early attempts simply lacked the technological advantage afforded today (they utilized mainly the social construct approach), so it seems implied. Yet, today’s “prophets” are of the same cloth as Lenin, Hitler, and Mao.
Mr. Harari does confess that no current political system will be able to fulfill the vision of Transhumanism, thus a totally “new” one will be required. Such a system should be controlled by AI, which makes its just decisions based upon an endless supply of data, thus imparting to it god-like omniscience.
As humans we must be willing to offer ourselves up on the altar of “data,” “From a Dataist perspective, we may interpret the entire human species as a single data-processing system, with individual humans serving as its chips. If so, we can also understand the whole of history as a process of improving the efficiency of this system” (pg. 361). The human “worth” is only found in it being of benefit to the “system,” or as he himself says, this new religion.
“Like capitalism, Dataism too began as a neutral scientific theory, but is now mutating into a religion that claims to determine right and wrong. The supreme value of this new religion is ‘information flow’. If life is the movement of information, and if we think that life is good, it follows that we should extend, deepen and spread the flow of information in the universe. According to Dataism, human experiences are not sacred and Homo sapiens isn’t the apex of creation or a precursor of some future Homo deus. Humans are merely tools for creating the Internet-of-All-Things, which may eventually spread out from planet Earth to cover the whole galaxy and even the whole universe. This cosmic data-processing system would be like God. It will be everywhere and will control everything, and humans are destined to merge into it. This vision is reminiscent of some traditional religious visions” (pg 364).
The Data Commandments
Humans are not sacred, we are but tools to create the Internet-of-All-Things. So, humans create technology and AI, and this creation of man will transcend man himself and become “like God.” It will control everything and our destiny is to merge into it. Not too far off from idol worship, human hands make an idol and then bow down and worship it as a “god.” Now we are simply making technological “gods.”
In case we still have lingering doubts, he elucidates, “Well then, if we could create a data processing system that absorbs even more data than a human being, and that processes it even more efficiently, wouldn’t that system be superior to a human in exactly the same way that a human is superior to a chicken? Dataism isn’t limited to idle prophecies. Like every religion, it has its practical commandments. First and foremost, a Dataist ought to maximise data flow by connecting to more and more media, and producing and consuming more and more information. Like other successful religions, Dataism is also missionary. Its second commandment is to connect everything to the system, including heretics who don’t want to be connected. And ‘everything’ means more than just humans. It means every thing” (pg. 365).
Don’t want to be connected? Too bad. For the AI-god to work as it should, everyone and everything must be assimilated. This helps shed light on the reason why the “everyone must do it” mentality is being cultivated. During Covidism this mentality has been applied to masks and injections, for example. Everyone has to be in, like it or not, or else. As a person, you have no privacy you have no choice, for your one point of existence is to generate life-giving data. This is one of the underlying motives to digitize everything. Data must not be private or personal. It must be open to all.
Sins against Data
And so we truly understand that Transhumanism seeks to subjugate and dominate everyone and everything, “We mustn’t leave any part of the universe disconnected from the great web of life. Conversely, the greatest sin is to block the data flow. What is death, if not a situation when information doesn’t flow? Hence Dataism upholds the freedom of information as the greatest good of all” (Ibid). Ah, blocking the flow of data is a “sin!” Thus those who do not offer themselves to the data gods are sinners and promoters of death. It should be clear to Christians how this is an anti-gospel.
But wait, freedom of information? Isn’t that a nice thing? Let us see, “We mustn’t confuse freedom of information with the old liberal ideal of freedom of expression. Freedom of expression was given to humans, and protected their right to think and say what they wished – including their right to keep their mouths shut and their thoughts to themselves. Freedom of information, in contrast, is not given to humans. It is given to information. Moreover, this novel value may impinge on the traditional freedom of expression, by privileging the right of information to circulate freely over the right of humans to own data and to restrict its movement” (pp. 365-366). It is the freedom for “information” to demand anything and everything from you, and your responsibility to submit. Remember it is a sin to restrict the flow of data. Transhumanism is a fundamental denial and destruction of the human person. It is Technocracy par excellence.
So grand will be the blessing of being part of the “data flow” that Mr. Harari tells us we should be happy to relinquish our privacy, autonomy, and individuality (cf. pg. 368). It will be great to be a technological slave with no personhood. Anyway, free will does not really exist. It is just a construct of humanity, so they say.
And in the warmest words, he tells us, “As the global data-processing system becomes all-knowing and all powerful, so connecting to the system becomes the source of all meaning. Humans want to merge into the data flow because when you are part of the data flow you are part of something much bigger than yourself. Traditional religions told you that your every word and action was part of some great cosmic plan, and that God watched you every minute and cared about all your thoughts and feelings. Data religion now says that your every word and action is part of the great data flow, that the algorithms are constantly watching you and that they care about everything you do and feel. Most people like this very much. For true believers, to be disconnected from the data flow risks losing the very meaning of life” (pp. 368-369). Silly people use to believe in a Divine Being who was omnipresent and omniscient! No, humanity has created AI that will be god and watch over you. Believing in God is stupid but believing in AI is so profound! Just join the data flow and become a believer.
Humanity has no intrinsic value
The Transhumanists assure us that there is no meaning intrinsic to humanity, no value that we can find in ourselves. Human experience has no value unless it is feeding the data god. “It has nothing against human experiences. It just doesn’t think they are intrinsically valuable” (pg. 370). No hard feelings.
Humanity as we know it must be retired. It must be transcended. “When the car replaced the horse-drawn carriage, we didn’t upgrade the horses – we retired them. Perhaps it is time to do the same with Homo sapiens” (pg. 371).
Transhumanism is anti-human, that is it is totally against the traditional understanding of humanity, most of all as taught by Christianity. When it claims to not be “anti-human,” it means humanity as it defines it. As the reader may discern, it has no true value for humanity or personhood.
Confirming, in a certain way, observations made even by Orthodox Christian saints, Mr. Harari writes, “In the days of Locke, Hume and Voltaire humanists argued that ‘God is a product of the human imagination’. Dataism now gives humanists a taste of their own medicine, and tells them: ‘Yes, God is a product of the human imagination, but human imagination in turn is the product of biochemical algorithms.’ In the eighteenth century, humanism sidelined God by shifting from a deo-centric to a homo-centric world view. In the twenty-first century, Dataism may sideline humans by shifting from a homo-centric to a data-centric view” (pg. 372).
In sidelining God, humanity has ultimately sidelined itself. As a substitute, Transhumanism now offers to humanity a product of its own creation – AI – to be god over it. The Venerable Father Seraphim (Rose) keenly teaches, “Between them, the positive and negative images of the ‘new man’ sum up the state of contemporary man, the man in whom worldliness has triumphed over faith. At the same time, they are a sign of transition, a presage of a major change in the ‘spirit of the age.’ In the negative image the apostasy from Christian Truth which primarily characterizes the modern age seems to have reached its limit; God being ‘dead,’ the man created in His image has lost his nature and fallen into subhumanity” (Nihilism, the Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age. Platina, CA. pg. 88). Transhumanism is in its essence subhumanity.
Since humanity is an obsolete algorithm, it should not even listen to itself. It must place all its faith and trust in Data, “Consequently you should now stop listening to your feelings, and start listening to these external algorithms instead. What’s the use of having democratic elections when the algorithms know how each person is going to vote, and when they also know the exact neurological reasons why one person votes Democrat while another votes Republican? Whereas humanism commanded: ‘Listen to your feelings!’ Dataism now commands: ‘Listen to the algorithms! They know how you feel’” (pg. 373). Humans should not make any decisions or choices, they are illusions anyway – just let Data do it for you.
What are some practical steps of Transhumanism? How can we become beneficial servants of the Data god? Conveniently, Mr. Harari has some Transhumanisn praxis for people to follow, “Here are some practical Dataist guidelines for you: ‘You want to know who you really are?’ asks Dataism. ‘Then forget about mountains and museums. Have you had your DNA sequenced? No?! What are you waiting for? Go and do it today. And convince your grandparents, parents and siblings to have their DNA sequenced too – their data is very valuable for you. And have you heard about these wearable biometric devices that measure your blood pressure and heart rate twenty-four hours a day? Good – so buy one of those, put it on and connect it to your smartphone. And while you are shopping, buy a mobile camera and microphone, record everything you do, and put in online. And allow Google and Facebook to read all your emails, monitor all your chats and messages, and keep a record of all your Likes and clicks. If you do all that, then the great algorithms of the Internet-of-All-Things will tell you whom to marry, which career to pursue and whether to start a war.’ But where do these great algorithms come from? This is the mystery of Dataism. Just as according to Christianity we humans cannot understand God and His plan, so Dataism says the human brain cannot embrace the new master algorithms” (pp. 374-75)
Conclusion
I once again bring forth first-hand testimonies so that the reader may see clearly the goals and agendas that are driving much of world events.
For Christians, it is in no way to be “obsessed” with darkness. The Lord will allow the goals of evil men to be achieved to a certain degree. He has set a boundary to evil. Our hope is in the Lord. Yet, we must be diligent to be steadfast in the Truth, most of all as, “Evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But must you continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of” (2 Tim. 3:13-14).
We must soberly understand that the times will become increasingly difficult for those who desire to hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ. According to the new emerging religion, we will be sinners, those who are obstructing the great advancement of humanity. This accusation against true Christians is not new. We should embrace it with joy and honor in the Lord. Never forget, the Lord God will overthrow all the false works of men. May we be found faithful in Christ Jesus, making the song of our hearts these words, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
About the author
Husband, father, and Priest.
Schooling: Kharkov State University (Ukraine); Brownsville School of Ministry; St. Tikhon's Orthodox Seminary (M.Div.).
Author and illustrator of St. Patrick, Enlightener of the Irish Lands (Conciliar Press, out of print) and illustrator of The Life of St. Brigid (authored by Jane G. Meyer).
Proprietor and writer at the Inkless Pen Blog, at which, based on the foundation of the teachings of Orthodox Christianity, a wide variety of topics are addressed. Fr. Zechariah has translated some works by St. Dimitry of Rostov and New Hieromartyr Seraphim (Zvesdensky), these translations are also available on his blog.
1 thought on “Full Spectrum Data Surveillance, Transhumanism, and the Religion of the End”
One of the most important essays for Orthodox Christians to read.
A false unity brought about via the spirit of dataism or a Real and True unity borne from above by the Holy Spirit?
Choose you today which God you will serve!