If You Had to Assign an I.Q.?

[FJK]

28 minutes ago, Starise said:

I see the smart devices and phones much like a dependency on an artifical limb in a way. It becomes and engrained habit. I mean, if I'm sitting in a waiting room am I going to look at the wall art or get out my phone to check my email, or go on Worthy? In the grocery store checkout line, yep I'm going to check my email. At a family gathering not so much. I'll sit there for two or three hours and if my wife still isn't ready to go I'll pull out my phone to avoid going insane lol. 

I think Revelation infers things about tech. We know it will be used in a totalitarian system. Already is in China. 

Two words come to mind when I read threads like this, well actually three that mean similar things. Fear, concern and worry.

I think God has our back regardless, but we should be wary of being snared into tech in a way that holds it as more important than God in our lives. In Phillipians 4 we are told to be anxious for nothing. Maybe it doesn't affect others the same as me, but I think a lot of this leads to a negative view of the future instead of a victorious view of the future. We all get through that tunnel no matter what your views on the end times are. From what I gather, the tech has a serious hold on people in the future and most assuredly now as well.

For us worry should be off the table, anxious should be off the table, concern seems more sterile and acceptable because it has no fear in it for me, and only leads to more prayer.If we aren't concerned we won't reach out. If we are worried we are disabled.

As I read your post for some reason Simon and Garfunkel came to mind:   "And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made .....".

[Starise]

5 minutes ago, FJK said:

As I read your post for some reason Simon and Garfunkel came to mind:   "And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made .....".

Ha, now that you mention it, I always wondered what that mean't.

AI and "neuro layers" want us to think it can perfectly duplicate a human mind, but human minds are not algorhythmic. AI will never be anything more than a simulation because it will never be conscious. Some of our sci fi buffs might say that at some point on the future Satan will inject a consciousness into a machine. The "image of the beast". That's all a little Orwellian but at the speed tech is advancing who really knows? One thing I do know is it will be a deception whatever it is and it infers some kind of control IMO. 

This is why I hope we can persuade as many as we can to come to Christ before they get pulled into the matrix. Whatever it is, it will be enticing and very convincing to most of the population.

[AnOrangeCat]

1 hour ago, Starise said:

I think God has our back regardless, but we should be wary of being snared into tech in a way that holds it as more important than God in our lives. In Phillipians 4 we are told to be anxious for nothing. Maybe it doesn't affect others the same as me, but I think a lot of this leads to a negative view of the future instead of a victorious view of the future. We all get through that tunnel no matter what your views on the end times are. From what I gather, the tech has a serious hold on people in the future and most assuredly now as well.

I worry about it, and it makes me a little sad too. I'm housebound and pretty eccentric as a person. The internet has really helped ease my life physically and socially. AI writing has been a blast and made me laugh more than anything else in a long time. But there is a pretty clear dark side to it all. Some of it isn't even intentional or overtly wicked. One that point out a lot is that the internet promotes instant gratification a lot. When it's used as a babysitter and a constant companion from an early age as it is now that's setting people's brains toward seeking the immediate. Probably qualifies as a low end form of addiction. Seems pretty reasonable to me to be upset over something with such tremendous potential to do good being abused and used to hook people into sin. Can't really see God being happy or even indifferent toward this kind of thing going on with something made in His image.

[other one]

To me, technology of today is just a tool, and much like a screwdriver can be used to tighten up a screw or stab someone.

Without it, how could I converse with you all.    Does it matter if I read my Bible on my phone or computer compared to a book.

 

It's not the tool that is the problem, it's what it's used for.  AI is the same.   I personally believe that the image of the Beast will be some form of AI.  That doesn't mean I shouldn't use it to make my life easier while we wait for the beast to arise.   Even the mark of the beast in itself is just a mark.  It's what it represents that sends you to hell.

[Starise]

27 minutes ago, AnOrangeCat said:

I worry about it, and it makes me a little sad too. I'm housebound and pretty eccentric as a person. The internet has really helped ease my life physically and socially. AI writing has been a blast and made me laugh more than anything else in a long time. But there is a pretty clear dark side to it all. Some of it isn't even intentional or overtly wicked. One that point out a lot is that the internet promotes instant gratification a lot. When it's used as a babysitter and a constant companion from an early age as it is now that's setting people's brains toward seeking the immediate. Probably qualifies as a low end form of addiction. Seems pretty reasonable to me to be upset over something with such tremendous potential to do good being abused and used to hook people into sin. Can't really see God being happy or even indifferent toward this kind of thing going on with something made in His image.

I get where you're coming from on this. I have probably zero power to make things any different other than prayer, even with the things I see happening in my immediate family. I'm not against tech. In fact I am a bit of a techie nerd. 

I see a definite line that will be drawn in the future where adoption of some of it will be giving a part of ourselves up. According to what I read, we will always have a choice even if that choice has what seems like very bad consequences. i.e. the recent COVID stuff. I see a heightened version of that. Am I concerned. Yes. Enough to bring it to the Lord in prayer.

When and if tech is used to "clamp down" on us, if I think I'm somehow compromising my beliefs I will stand strong and pay the price. It seems to me Satan brings all of this in as something to help us and make our lives better, like the rest of the tech, but "if" something is developed that taps into my brain somehow forget it.

A brother recently said, it only means we are that much closer to the end which is our beginning. To me that's a positive thing.

[WilliamL]

21 hours ago, Dennis1209 said:

There is very little socialization, interaction, or conversation as there once was. I feel bad interrupting them to say dinner is ready. ALL their faces are constantly planted in their smartphones, children and all. At the dinner table, guess what they bring with them?

It starts with us to set an example. At your dinner table, you have the authority to ban all such devices. Use it. Then start teaching them how to hold a conversation face-to-face.

And in your house, you likewise have the authority to limit screen time however you choose. Establish it and insist on it.

[Dennis1209]

In addition to my previous comments, one way or another, we are all plugged into the World Wide Web, whether we have ever used the Internet or not (banking, credit-debit cards, medical records, driver's license, SSAN, NSA, etc.). We enjoy many benefits and comforts from our modern technology. As was stated, and we all know, it can be used for good or bad. Man's heart is inherently good, correct? Oops.

We hear of the frequent alleged TOS abuses from users on YouTube and other social media platforms. The unwarranted discrimination against the truth, conservatives, and Christians are the primary targets. They are too big to care about their consumer base. The hundreds of businesses openly supporting LGBTQ and their bottom line prove it. I am sure most here are aware of the tens of millions of dollars squandered for their shareholders with Bud Light's support for abominations and perversion.

I could go on and on about the TOS changes you receive and must agree to, from everything from your bank to Amazon. If you read these TOS now, they do not serve you; you serve them at their whim.

It has all been carefully planned out and orchestrated in detail by the elites and globalists to return to the days of Nimrod for power, control, and evil agendas.

These days, when you have a computer problem or a problem with something else and need to converse with a human, how did that work out for you? Usually, the closest I can come after waiting a long time is with a thick Indian accent I cannot slice through.

My point is this: All these terms of service for everything are being monitored inefficiently by algorithms and low-tech AI. There are not enough humans to do this monitoring; thus, AI is taking over to intelligently monitor those that do not support their policies and agendas. Try talking and negotiating a problem with a human with YouTube, Amazon, etc.  

A global cashless system will be initiated in the next few years, which is incontrovertible. What does that mean for you and me? A something, not someone, will monitor and control all instant transactions; we may also have a social credit score.

This something will be AI; no number of humans could control the volume of public and private transactions, monitoring, and approvals. When, not if, people get unplugged from this system, and their accounts are suspended or terminated for not going along with the program. Who will you call, 1-800-CYBERAI, to talk to a human?

Over a decade ago, I wrote articles detailing the above and other topics (mainly UFOs) for consideration for publication on some Christian websites. They were rejected as conspiracy theories and rejected for publication. Those same websites are now plastered with authors parroting what I submitted a decade ago. What changed?

I believe we see artificial intelligence for all buying and selling, and the Image of the Beast in the book of Revelation. Those who do not worship the Beast will be unable to work, have banking transactions, pay rent, taxes or utilities, etc. They will be unplugged from the system and persecuted as I see it.

Even today, can you get a quality job, open a bank account, pay taxes, get a driver's license, a doctor's appointment, etc., without your number identifier?

From here on out, I do not expect things to get any better. There may be ebbs and flows, but the trend is not pretty. Fortunately, we have a great God and Savior with us, and we know for sure who wins.

[Dennis1209]

17 minutes ago, WilliamL said:

It starts with us to set an example. At your dinner table, you have the authority to ban all such devices. Use it. Then start teaching them how to hold a conversation face-to-face.

And in your house, you likewise have the authority to limit screen time however you choose. Establish it and insist on it.

You are correct, and I have considered if it is in our best interests or not. If I want to see them, I cannot be authoritative (my house, my rules) to an adult married couple.

[WilliamL]

1 minute ago, Dennis1209 said:

If I want to see them, I cannot be authoritative (my house, my rules) to an adult married couple.

And why not? Just as they have the authority in their own house to set their own rules. Or authority over when and under what circumstances you can be with their children.

Beware of submitting to emotional blackmail, real or perhaps unjustifiably feared. If you bite the bullet and set the example in your house, maybe the parents will buck up and do the same in theirs.

[Dennis1209]

1 hour ago, WilliamL said:

And why not? Just as they have the authority in their own house to set their own rules. Or authority over when and under what circumstances you can be with their children.

Beware of submitting to emotional blackmail, real or perhaps unjustifiably feared. If you bite the bullet and set the example in your house, maybe the parents will buck up and do the same in theirs.

I see your point, but it is a little too late in my life to upset the apple cart.