This article series is based upon the book Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari (2016), which I read last year. More specifically, it is based on the notes I made whilst reading the book, in which I encapsulated (in list form) the many substantial points raised and discussed by Harari; and so this series is more of a multi-part ‘study’, as I expand on the various significant themes I took note of.
To concisely state the most significant aspects of Harari’s thesis: Humanity is sleepwalking towards Post-Humanism; and to elaborate, this means that Society—above all its citizens—are blindly following the trends of ‘technological progress’, i.e. without truly examining these trends, in order to question, debate, and then make informed decisions in the direction this technological development should be taken for the betterment of Humanity.
This introduction to the article series will include the list of points I made whilst reading the book; and the subsequent parts of the series will feature each point accompanied by the corresponding quotations from the book, guided by my commentary, and including references to relevant literature and media (the list below will also serve as a Contents page for the subsequent parts).
Interest of Harari’s Books
Firstly, in order to put this study into its proper context, I will explain my interest of Harari’s book. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2016) is a sequel to his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011), which I read first and in the same year (they were given to me as gifts together). I found Sapiens to be a very good book, for the reason that it includes a wide variety of many socio-historical points of significance. Then previewing the content of Homo Deus, I was looking forward to reading his discussion of the implications of those points regarding the technologically-driven trajectory of Humankind—and I was not disappointed.
The point of these articles is not to critique Harari’s book, or to supersede his thesis with one of my own—or to put forward a thesis at all. Rather, I am developing the notes I made towards consolidating and synthesising my thoughts on them, as these points range many important concepts.
The overarching theme of these points is: an emerging religion of transhumanism; however many of them have great importance independently of any theme, in that they describe either sociological principles, or generally pertinent aspects of present day society. This will provide an excellent opportunity for me to revisit and reference a wide variety of substantial media.
The main content of the subsequent articles will be the quotations I have selected from the book (including editing via ellipsis, italics, and bold), headed by my original notes, and directed by my commentary. Together, this represents my re-contextualizing (to one degree or another) of the passages I have found to be substantial, for the purpose of introducing concepts of significance, whilst indicating what I deem to be their significance, and using relevant references to enhance the explanation. The overarching theme is less important than the identifying and contextualizing of significant concepts and points.
I recommend for readers to purchase the book Homo Deus; and even better, to purchase and read Sapiens beforehand, which sets it up very well. Three of the cover quotes sum up the value of these books nicely:
“I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who’s interested in the history and future of our species” –Bill Gates, on Sapiens
“Shows us where mankind is headed in an absolutely clear-sighted and accessible manner” –Jarvis Cocker, on Homo Deus
“Even more readable, even more important, than his excellent Sapiens” –Kazuo Ishiguro, on Homo Deus
But in particular, I recommend Homo Deus, the value of which is in Harari’s discussion of important socio-historical principles; in tandem with his discussion of important techno-social trends—to the effect of going a long way towards usefully contextualizing the latter. I would describe the most valuable aspect of his discussion—which, as with my summary of his thesis, is my own judgement on the significance of his words—as follows: Science is the equivalent of a religion—yet everyone thinks it to be the antithesis of Religion. Hence my play on the idiom ‘hidden in plain sight’ in the title, meaning to say that Science has dressed-up the forms of Religion in the clothing if ‘Empiricism’, which has effectively hidden what is yet actually plain to see.
It is quite rare for a popular writer to draw the parallels between Science and Religion that Harari does; and the comparisons he makes are important ones. More specifically, the parallels with Religion are made between particular secular institutions and ideologies, which is all the better, as these have collectively replaced the traditional religion of Christianity—yet without anyone seeming to acknowledge Secularism’s performance of the very same functions (using the same techniques), under different names, towards different ends. However, I think it is more accurate to identify modern religion as being that of Science, rather than Secularism, because all of Secularism has originated from Science in one way or another, and continues to be driven by it.
In effect, Harari draws attention to the various and “evolving” sub-religions of Science, in the form of secular institutions and ideologies; and together with his descriptions of the essentially mechanizing aspects of these “techno-religions”, which he places within the context of socio-historical principles—this for me is the most valuable aspect of the book, towards a stimulating overview of the trajectory of present society.
Harari’s criticisms of both Religion and Science are indirect, in that they are incidental to his thesis—which is to draw attention to our present techno-driven course of social (and biological) change, so as to intelligently discuss and direct it democratically. His discussions of Science in relation to Religion is the most valuable aspect—as for example in identifying certain ‘scientific’ dogmas—despite that he promotes more than one of such dogmas in the process, which in the case of these two books, I found to be relatively minor diversions from his more accurate contexts.
The Dialectical Symbolism of the Cover Arts
The thesis I discerned from Homo Deus reminds me of the thesis—if one can call it that—of the TV series Black Mirror, which is a sci-fi anthology series of stories that are usually set in an alternative present or the near future, and is officially described as a show “which taps into our contemporary unease about our modern world”, with the stories having a “techno-paranoia” feel; and which are all about “the way we live now—and the way we might be living in 10 minutes time if we’re clumsy.”
This resonance of theme brings me to the cover art of Harari’s books, of which I made a couple of observations. The first is that Homo Deus—which is a “History of Tomorrow”—has a matt-black background, which made me think of the symbolism of black as signifying things that are very bad (which is more obviously indicated in the title of the dystopian “Black Mirror”). Furthermore, Sapiens—which is a “History of Humankind”—has a matt-white background—as if to emphasise the symbolism of the black (bad) “Future” that humanity is on course for, in contrast to the white (good) “History of Humankind”, in that it has been one of progressive enlightenment thus far.
The second aspect I noticed between the covers—more specifically, the second aspect of dialectical symbolism between them—is that Sapiens has a human thumbprint above the “i”, so as to also function as its dot—as if to signify the intelligence of the species, by a sapiens’ deliberately symbolic imprinting of his thumb in that place. Whereas on the cover of Homo Deus, the natural ridges of the thumbprint have been replaced by the circuitry of a microchip—which I think creates a clever and artistically symbolic mirroring between the books (further emphasised by an inset image of the Sapiens title with its thumbprint, parallel to the Homo Deus thumbprint). These symbolic continuities between the books represent the meaning contained in them: that the human species has begun a process of transforming itself, by way of technology, into something that will be substantially different from what it has always understood as ‘human‘.
The Notes List (Encapsulated Points)
Whilst reading Homo Deus, I compressed the notable points into chains of terms, in order to create a list of the most significant ones; but in a manner which also indicates the relation between concepts as much as possible—the vast majority of these are included in the list to follow.
Each note is intended to encapsulate a particular point in as concise a manner as possible, as a reference to my thoughts about the key aspects discussed within the passage(s) they relate to—they are not axioms, but are sophisticated forms of reminders. I have also used single quotes, hyphens, and italics to help distinguish the relation of words within and between phrases.
In the subsequent parts of this study, each point will be explained via a combination of my use of book quotes, along with guiding commentary, and using illustrative and interesting references. The following list of encapsulated points (which I will call “Ncap”s, and abbreviate to “NC”s) also features colour-coded concepts*, designed to indicate the context they are most closely suited for (i.e. independently of the NC they are in); and they also include the book page numbers, which usually refer to the page on which the related passage(s) began (the book edition is the 2017 paperback, published by Vintage).
*Note: If the colours don’t display, open the page directly in your browser (i.e. outside of the WordPress Reader).
The colour-coded categorizations for the contexts are as follows:
Socio-Historical Principles
——————————-
Modern Context → Prominent Effects
↓
Near-Future Trajectory
Socio-Historical Principles refers to anything that is true of people and societies in general, including parallels between older societies and modern ones—thus, this category serves as an over-arching context for the others.
Modern Context refers to significant aspects of contemporary society, with Prominent Effects being the most notable circumstances brought about by these aspects.
Near-Future Trajectory refers to effects and situations that have not yet happened, but which Society (and Civilization) appears to be on course for bringing about.
Ncaps for the Book: Homo Deus
01- The ‘Glossed-Over, Double-Edged Sword of Biotechnology’ in the ‘Curing of Diseases’ Overshadowing the ‘Weaponization of Worse Diseases’ [p16]
02 – The ‘Inconceivable-ization of War’, due to the Creation of ‘Nuclear Weapons’, which led to the ‘Deterrence Paradigm’, resulting in ‘Alternative Forms of Conflict’ [p17]
03 – The ‘Cyber Warfare’ Dimension towards Subversive-‘World Destablization’ [p19]
04 – The Overreaction to ‘Terrorism’ in the Extenuation of ‘Oppressively Disproportionate Counter-Measures’, effecting the Inversion of ‘Security Threat’ towards De-Civilization [p20]
05 – The Illusion of ‘Progress’ in the Misuse of New Powers to Equivalize Old Problems [p22]
06 – The De-Sanctification and Superstitialization of ‘Afterlife’ towards the Technicalization of ‘Death’ [p25]
07 – Breakneck ‘Biotechnological Developments’ towards Prophesizing Progression from ‘Equality’ to ‘Immortality’ [p28]
08 – The Ideological ‘Sanctification of Life’ towards an Establishment-Serving ‘War on Death’ [p32]
09 – Afterlife-Inspired-‘Piety’-Inversion towards an Elixir-Provoked-‘Ruthlessness’, and the Traditional Respect for ‘Death’ into a ‘Death Fear’-Prism, towards the ‘Dissipation of Virtuous Characteristics’ and the Nullification of ‘Higher Goal’-Inspired ‘Life Sacrifice’ [p33]
10 – Collectivized ‘Self-Centered Epicureanism’ towards ‘Nation-State Degradation’ via ‘The Right to Happiness’ [p34]
11 – A Pseudo-‘Positive Achievement’-Vanity, Masking an Unimproved ‘Subjective Wellbeing’, via ‘Non-Objectivity’ and ‘Greater Expectations’ creating an Increased ‘Dissatisfaction with Conditions’, and the Inhibiting of ‘Peaceful Contentment’ via ‘Artificial Sensation’-Inducement towards ‘Transient Excitement’ [p39]
12 – The ‘Biologicalization of Happiness’ via ‘Drug Industrialization’, Masking ‘Social-System’-Induced Psychological Effects, towards the Aim to “Manipulate Human Biochemistry” by Marginalizing “Economic Growth, Social Reforms and Political Revolutions” as Factors in the ‘Improvement of Happiness’ [p45]
13 – The ‘State Regulation’ of the ‘Biochemical Pursuit of Happiness’ in the Development of ‘Increasingly Sophisticated Methods’, towards the Alteration of ‘Fundamental Patters of Life’ [p47]
14 – The ‘Pursuit of Pleasure Trap’ towards Justifying the ‘Re-Engineering of Bodies and Minds’ to Increase their ‘Capacity for Pleasure’ [p48-9]
15 – The ‘Step-by-Step Merging of Humans with Devices’ through Innumerable-‘Mundane Actions’, in ‘Alteration Unawareness’ through ‘Irrelevancy Fear’ and ‘Threatened Belongingness’ [p56]
16 – A ‘Self-Obscuring System’ via ‘Intricately Linked’ ‘Field Specialization’, towards a Developmental ‘Veil of Ignorance’, and an ‘Indefinite Growth’-Based Economy towards the ‘Collapse Threat’-Justification of Constant Projects [p58]
17 – The ‘Developments of Humankind’ being ‘Collectively Directed’ by ‘Elite Minority’ Agendas [p64]
18 – ‘Novel Behaviour’-Creation via ‘New Knowledge’-Introduction, towards Accelerating ‘Knowledge Redundancy’, creating Greater ‘Confusion’ and Greater ‘Upheavals’ [p65]
19 – The Rewriting of ‘History’ for ‘Re-Imagined Futures’, towards ‘Revolutionary Movements’ [69]
20 – ‘Insidious Change’ via the ‘Slippery Slope’-Method in the ‘Normalization of Deficiency’ towards ‘Justified Modification’, being an Ideological-‘Development Motive’, Obscured by ‘Lay Naivety’ and ‘Professional Dishonesty’ [p60]
21 – The ‘Algorithmification of Life’-Prism towards the ‘Mathematicalization of Decision-Making’ [p97]
22 – The Universal Palatability of ‘Nonsensical Scientific Theories’ due to the ‘Non-Contradicting of Cherished Beliefs’ [120]
23 – The ‘Anti-Individuality’ Implication of the ‘Theory of Evolution’, towards ‘Individuality Obsolescence’ [p121]
24 – The DNAification of ‘Soul’ towards the Molecular Mutification of ‘Human Essence’ [p123]
25 – The Nullification of ‘Mind’ via the ‘Brain Origin’-Prism of ‘Subjectivity’ and the ‘Magical-Logic’ Explanation of ‘Consciousness’ [p132]
26 – Science’s ‘Dustbinning’ of the ‘Intangible Aspects of Life’ via the Ideological Equating of ‘Unprovable’ with ‘Non-Existant or Irrelevant’ [p134]
27 – Era-Tailored ‘Mind-Body’ Analogies towards the ‘Subliminal Naturalization’ of ‘New Technological Forms’ [p136]
28 – The Dogma of ‘Neurological Consciousness’ and the Concept of the ‘Unprovability of Reality’, towards the Concept of ‘Unrealities’ [p139]
29 – The ‘Turing Test’ as a Measure of ‘Social Conventions’ by the Equating of ‘Judgement’ with ‘Reality’ [p140]
30 – The Conflation of ‘Human Self-Consciousness’ with ‘Animal Self-Consciousness’ [by Harari] in the Misplacing of ‘Self-Consciousness’ within the Context of ‘Instinct and Conditioning’ [p145]
31 – ‘State Organization’ via ‘Loyalist Employment’ Throughout the ‘Networks of Society’, and the ‘Dialectical Relationship with Sister Parties’ [p158]
32 – The Pseudo-‘Devolution of Control’ via a Revolution-Hijacking ‘Smokescreen Party’, towards ‘Establishment’-Continuity [p158]
33 – Anti-Logical, Emotionally-Determined, Socio-Compelled ‘Behavioural Accordance’, via the ‘Threat-Promise’-Basis of ‘Hierarchies’ in ‘Collectively Imagined, Naturally Inviolable Orders’ [p163]
34 – An ‘Inter-Subjective Reality’ via Socially-Pressured Rounds of ‘Mutual Confirmation’, in the ‘Web of Meaning’ which Overrides ‘Objective/Subjective Reality’ [p168-170]
35 – Incredulity of ‘Mass-Hallucination’ via a Society-Encompassing ‘Web of Meaning’ [p173]
36 – The Consumption of ‘Objective Reality’ by ‘Ideological Fiction’ in its Directing of ‘Bio-Engineering’, towards the Merging of ‘Biology’ with ‘History’ [p177]
37 – ‘Branded Corporations’ being the Modern Replacement of Religious-‘God Temples’ as Centres of Worship and the Most Important Political and Economic Hubs [p182]
38 – ‘Personal Brand’-Myths Outliving the Actual Persons as the Modern Equivalent to the ‘Pharonic Machine’ of Ancient Egypt [p182]
39 – ‘Algorithmic Organization’ via ‘Literated Society’ in the ‘Bureaucratic Structure of Regulations and Protocols’, making the ‘Personality of Individuals’ Irrelevant in the Government of ‘Activities and Decisions’, thus making ‘Individual Fate’ Systematic [p187]
40 – ‘Incredible Organization’ based on ‘Imaginary Entity’-Creation, towards Great ‘Building Projects’ and ‘Feats’ [p189]
41 – The Mediation of ‘Experienced Reality’ via ‘Abstract Symbols’, based on the Sanctity of ‘Written Records’ and the Fabrication of ‘Numbers’; The ‘Official Report’-Reshaping of ‘Objective Reality’ via the ‘Technological Means’ to Describe it [p190-194]
42 – The ‘De-Enlightening’ of Students via the Educational System’s Transformation of ‘Marks as a Measurement of Success’ to the ‘Main Focus’ of Tests [p198]
43 – ‘Societal Power’ as being Dependent upon a Delicately-Balanced ‘Truth/Fiction’-Paradigm, which creates a ‘Protest-Nullifying’-Imposition of Fictional Beliefs on a ‘Submissive Reality’ [p198]
44 – Societal-‘Self-Invented’ ‘Yardsticks of Judgement’, including Inherent ‘Self-Flattering Dimensions’, and the Metaphorical Reference to ‘Fictional Entities’-Suffering being ‘Believed-as-Literal’, leading to the Cause of Actual Suffering via ‘Reality-Loss’-Based Courses of Action [p204]
45 – The Mis-Definition of ‘Religion’ in its being Confused with ‘Spirituality, Superstition, and Supernatural’, and the Concealing of its ‘Beliefs-Considered-Truths’-Principle and the Superstitialization of ‘Contrary Beliefs’, towards another Human-Created, ‘Social-Function’-Defined, All-Encompassing Story, which Confers ‘Super-Human Legitimacy’ on ‘Laws, Norms, and Values’, in the form of the ‘Religion Parallel’ of Modern–‘Creeds and Beliefs’ in a System of ‘Non-Invented’, ‘Must-Obey’-Laws on Threat of Catastrophe [p210-211]
46 – The Questioning Nature of ‘Spiritual Journeys’ which lead to ‘Mystery’ and the ‘Unknown’, as being Antithetical to the ‘Ready-Made Answers’ of Religion which lead to a ‘Completely-Described World’ with a ‘Well-Defined Contract of Predetermined Goals’ [p214]
47 – The Systematic Absorption of Prominent ‘Spiritual Journeys’ into the Establishment of New Religions [p214]
48 – Religion’s Conflation of ‘Ethical Judgements with Factual Statements, creating the Obfuscation of ‘Simplicity’, towards Compelling ‘Virtuous Beliefs’ and ‘Sinful Doubts’ [p222+8]
49 – The Non-Truth ‘Power Motive’ of ‘Science’ in Collaboration with the ‘Religion of Humanism’, towards the ‘Non-Questioning Implementation’ of Humanist Dogmas, towards a New ‘Post-Human Religion’ [p231]
50 – The Obfuscated ‘Modern Covenant’ to ‘Relinquish Meaning in Exchange for Power’, as a Replacement for the Pre-Modern Belief in a Meaning-Endowing ‘Great Cosmic Plan’, in the form of the Non-Purpose, Cause-Centred ‘Modern Belief-System’ as being the ‘Constant Pursuit of Power within a Meaningless Universe’, and which Created a ‘Plague of Existential Angst’ [p233]
51 – The Alliance between ‘Scientific Progress’ and ‘Economic Growth’, towards Fuelling a ‘Pursuit of Power’ which is Justified by ‘Humane Goals’ [p236]
52 – The Dogma of ‘Economic Growth’ as the Juncture between ‘Religions, Ideologies, and Social Movements’, with a Panacea of ‘More Stuff’ Applied to All Problems [p241]
53 – The ‘Religious-Like Creed’ of ‘Economic Growth as the Source of All Good’, creating a Bottleneck in the Discarding of ‘Ethical Objections’, towards the Dismantling of ‘Natural Habitats, Social Structures, and Traditional Values’ [p243]
54 – The Religiosity of ‘Free-Market Capitalism’ via the ‘Implied Ethical-Judgement’ Commandment to ‘Invest Profits in Increasing Growth’ [p244-245]
55 – The Embedding of ‘Capitalist Principles’ into Modern ‘Strategy Games’ [p246]
56 – ‘Knowledge’ as a ‘Growing Resource’ in its ‘Use-to-Gain More’-Principle [p248]
57 – The ‘Nemesis’ of ‘Economic Collapse’ towards making ‘Progress Deceleration’ a Heresy and ‘Progress Acceleration’ a Compulsion [p249]
58 – The ‘Rat Race’-Result of ‘Economic Growth and Scientific Progress’ towards ‘Socio-Political Upheavals’ via ‘Generational Revolution’ and ‘Accelerated Antiquation’ [p254]
59 – The Reversal of ‘Traditional Desire-Restraint’ by ‘Modern Pro-Avarice, Anti-Equilibrium Institutions [p255]
60 – The Transfer of the ‘Source of Meaning and Authority’ from ‘God’ to ‘Man’s Free Will’, towards the Justification of ‘Personal Feelings’ as the ‘Authority’ in Individuals’ Actions and Socio-Political Processes [p261]
61 – The Subjectification of ‘Ethical, Political, and Aesthetical’ ‘Yardsticks for Evaluation’ [p269]
62 – The Internalization of the ‘Source of Authority and Meaning’ by the ‘Humanist Mythology’, via the Reduction of ‘Supernatural Concepts’ into ‘Psychological States’ [p271-272]
63 – The A-Ethical ‘Scientific Knowledge-Formula’, flanked by the Pseudo-Ethical Humanist ‘Experience-times-Sensitivity’ ‘Knowledge Formula’, towards the Yin-Yangification of the Modern World into an ‘Extravaganza of Novelty’ [p277]
64 – The Traditional Worship of ‘God-Like Heroes’ replaced by the Humanist Sanctification of ‘Ordinary Feelings’, towards the Fabulization of the ‘Commoner’s Life-Changing Journey’ [p281]
65 – The Inversion of the ‘Hierarchy of War’ in the De-Emphasis on ‘Leaders and Heroes’ and the Placing the ‘Common Soldier and his Experiences’ at the Centre of Attention, towards the De-Valourization and Terriblization of ‘War’ [p288]
66 – The Religious Fragmentation of ‘Humanism’ into Conflicting Sects, and the False Dichotomy of ‘Liberalism and Conservatism’ [p289]
67 – The Capitalist Prism of Pseudo-‘Self-Authenticity’ in Personal Preferences and Social Activities, with the De-Emphasis of ‘Social-System Conditioning’, towards the Prevalence of ‘Self-Confusion’ and ‘Individualized Blame’ [p294]
68 – The Deprecation of ‘Self-Exploration’ and Advocating of ‘World-Deciphering Solidarity-Institutions’ by ‘Socialism’ [p295]
69 – The ‘Superman Prevention’-Imperative towards the (Glitterized) ‘Emasculization of the Fittest’ via the Mythology of ‘Equality’ [p296]
70 – The War-Time ‘Reality Revelation’ of Peacetime ‘Petty Sordidness’ via ‘More Honest and Outspoken Forms of Savagery’, in the form of an Exhilarating ‘School-of-Life’ with Opportunities to Realize Ideals [p297]
71 – The Liberal-Created-‘Faux-Pas Minefield’ of ‘Politically Incorrect Cultural-Comparisons’, towards ‘Socio-Cultural Degeneration’ by a Vulgarly Timid ‘Relativism Creed and Equality Mission’ [p304]
72 – Liberalism’s Promotion of an ‘Isolating, Individualized Self-Image’, towards Intra-Class Divergence and the Prevention of ‘United, System-Opposing Action’, via the ‘Offering of Pseudo-Alternatives to the Liberal Package’ [p306]
73 – A ‘Minority-Group Shaping of History’ via ‘Technologically-Defined Religious Visions’ [p314]
74 – ‘Techno-Religionist Socialism’ in the ‘Salvation through Technology and Economics’-Promise, towards the Succession of Liberalism via the ‘Information Age’-Adaptation of ‘Savvy in Biotechnology, Computing, and Algorithms’ [p314]
75 – The ‘Self-Undermining of Humanism’ in Obsoleting ‘Liberalism and Democracy’ via ‘Post-Human Technology-Creation’ [p323]
76 – The ‘Non-Scrutiny of Believed-to-be-Factual Statements’ Masking ‘Fallacious and Abstract Ethics’ [p327]
77 – The ‘Agentification of Genes, Hormones, and Neurons’, towards the Demeaning of ‘Freedom’, via the Implicit Doctrines of ‘Determinism’ and ‘Randomness’ [p328-329]
78 – Science’s Mythologizing of an ‘Authentic Self’ via the ‘Dissociation and Mechanization of the Desires-Actions Relationship’ [p329]
79 – The ‘Editorialized Censorship of Thoughts’ by ‘Self-Narration’, towards the Production of ‘Happiest Endings’ and ‘Self-Identification’, via a Coherent-‘Feeling of Continuity’ [347]
80 – The Tenacity of ‘Story Retention’ as being Proportionate to the ‘Need to Justify Sacrifices and Misdeeds’ [p349]
81 – The ‘Self-Propelling, Religious Sacrifice Mode’ via a ‘Conviction-Strengthening, Imaginary-Recipient Entity’ in a ‘Meaning-Endowing Fantasy’, towards the ‘Evasion of Responsibility’ for ‘Accumulating Acts of Stupidity and Gravity’ [p351]
82 – The Incremental Increase of a ‘Building/Project Cost’ via the ‘Completion Imperative’-Ploy [p352]
83 – Pseudo-‘Mistake Admission’ in the Meaning-Infusing-‘Plot Twist’ [p353]
84 – The Construction of ‘Self’ in the ‘Systematic Editing of Experience’, with ‘Resonating Media’-Incorporation, towards a Lifestyle-Guiding-‘Story’ [p353]
85 – The Economic and Militarial ‘Obsolescence of Individuality’ towards a ‘Collectivized Population’ Below a ‘Minority Strata of Upgraded Super-Human Elites’ [p356]
86 – The Cyberwar-ification of ‘Combat and Decision-Making’ towards ‘Asymmetrical Conflict’, Reducing ‘Personnel’ to ‘Human Shields’ [p359-360]
87 – ‘Non-Conscious Intelligence’ towards the ‘Optionalizing of Subjective Experience’ in Armies and Corporations, towards the ‘Algorithmic Takeover’ of the ‘White Collar’-Job Market [p361-362]
88 – ‘Human Redundancy’ via ‘Job Specialization’, towards the ‘A.I. Replacement of Specific Abilities’ [p375]
89 – The Corporate-‘Mimicking of Ancient Gods’, towards ‘Deified Algorithms’ and a Massive ‘Useless Class’ [p376-377]
90 – New ‘Transitory Professions’ and ‘Amusement-Occupied Masses’ towards the Degradation of ‘Human Sacredness’ [p377]
91 – The Authorization of ‘Networked Algorithms’, towards the ‘De-Individualization and Biochemical Mechanization’ of the ‘Self’, via Omnipotent-‘Monitored Guidance’ [p384]
92 – ‘Self-Experiencing through Unrelenting Device-Mediation’ towards the ‘Quantified Self’-Religion, via the Motto of ‘Self-Knowledge through Numbers’ [p386]
93 – The ‘Improved Health’-Desire Imperative towards the Willful Relinquishment of ‘Privacy’, and the Depreciation of ‘Privacy Laws’ via the ‘Genetic Testing’-Market ‘Competition Imperative’ [p389]
94 – ‘Election Cycle’-Maintenance via a ‘Threat/Promise Balance’, towards the Inducement of an Exclusive Prioritization of ‘Security and Stability’ [p395]
95 – The ‘Judgement of Personality by Algorithms’ towards a Psychological Dependency on ‘Data-Driven Decision-Making Machines’ [p396-397]
96 – ‘Algorithms’ Evolving from ‘Oracles into Agents’, towards ‘Sovereignty’ in Manipulation via ‘Desire-Shaping and Decision-Making’ [p398]
97 – The Evolution of ‘Artificial Personal Assistants’ into Agents, towards the ‘Dependency of Success’ on the ‘Quality of Software Version’ [p399]
98 – ‘People-Reading Books’ in Biometricized ‘eBook Readers’ [p401]
99 – The Biologist-Directed ‘Reversal of the Humanist Revolution’ via a ‘Biometrically-Dependant Life’ in a 24/7-Connection to an ‘All-Knowing Network’ [p401]
100 – The ‘Willing Embracement’ of a ‘Biotechnological Future’, in an ‘Online Life’ via ‘Connectivity Addiction’, and the Authoritization of ‘Algoroithms’ via a Plethora of ‘Mundane Choices’, towards the Gentle ‘Auto-Disintegration of Individuality’ [p402]
101 – The ‘Biotechnological Caste-ification of Humanity’, towards the Destruction of the Liberalist ‘Ideology of Equality’, via an ‘Elitist Project’ in the ‘Techno-Progressive Shift’ from ‘Healing’ to ‘Upgrading’ [p404]
102 – The Creation of ‘Brave New Religions’ by ‘Silicon Valley’s High-Tech Gurus’ via the ‘Secularization of Traditional-Theological Promises’ [p409]
103 – The Fostering of Particular ‘Mental State’-Types via ‘Socio-Economic Realities’ and ‘Daily Routines’, as in the ‘Superior State’-Loss and ‘Mundane/Average-State’-Sanctification by the ‘Humanist Revolution’ [p414]
104 – An A-Positive, ‘Negative Psychology’-Focused Paradigm for the ‘Scientific Study’ of the ‘Mind’ [p419]
105 – The ‘Civilization Requirement’ of Sensory Shallow-ization, towards the Division of ‘Attention’ [p420]
106 – The Techno-Induced ‘Intolerance of Doubt’ towards an ‘Impoverished and Shallow Life’ of Resolute ‘Quick Fix’ Decision-Making [p422]
107 – A ‘Body-and-Mind Upgrading’ towards a ‘Mind Loss’-Downgrading via an ‘A-Human Qualities’-Valuation [p422]
108 – The Technological Control of the ‘Will’ towards the Designing of ‘Desire’ [p422]
109 – ‘Human Mechanization’ in ‘Biochemical Algorithm-ization’, via the Scientific Establishment’s ‘Religion of Dataism’ [p428]
110 – ‘Data Overflow’ towards the ‘Collapse of the Steps’ in the ‘Knowledge-and-Wisdom’-Producing ‘Chain of Intellectual Activity’ [p429]
111 – The ‘Data-Processing Systemization of Society and Economics’ towards a ‘Rome-Mimicking, De-Democratizing Power-Shift’ [p430-435]
112 – The ‘Technological Revolution’s Outpacing of Political Processes’ towards ‘Mutual Control-Loss’ [p436]
113 – The Impotent-ization of ‘Democratic Debate on Political Issues’ via ‘Non-Democratically’-Created Technologies [p436]
114 – The Stealth-‘Overhauling of Society’ via the ‘Political Ignorance of A.I. and Biotechnological Developments’, creating Events-‘Control-Loss’ and ‘Meaningful Plans’-Lack, towards a ‘Futility-Inducing Disempowerment’ [p437]
115 – The Demotion of ‘Government’ to ‘Administration’ via the ‘Speed of Technological Progress’ [p438]
116 – ‘Expert Belief’ in ‘Free Market’-Forces as an Excuse for ‘Ignorant Inaction’, Enabling the ‘Flourishing of Ruthless Billionaires and Small Interest Groups’, leading to ‘New Political Structures’-‘Evolving out of a Power Vacuum’ [p439]
117 – The ‘Data-Processing System’-Interpretation of the ‘Human Species’ towards a Sapiens-Eradicating ‘Internet-of-All-Things’ [p439]
118 – The Supremacy-iziation of ‘Information Flow’ towards the Messiah-nization of ‘The Singularity’ [p444]
119 – ‘Missionary Dataism’ in the ‘Data Flow’-Maximization Doctrine, via the Sanctification of the ‘Freedom of Information’ [p445]
120 – The Overriding of ‘Freedom of Expression’ via ‘Information Circulation’-Rights [p446]
121 – Capitalism’s ‘Economic Growth’-Belief being Subsumed by Dataism’s ‘Freedom of Information’-Belief [p447]
122 – The ‘Invisible Hand of Data Flow’-Belief towards ‘Connectivity-Merging’ with an ‘All-Knowing, Global Data-Processing System’ as the ‘Source of All Meaning’, via the ‘Devaluation of Unshared Experiences’ and ‘Algorithm-Determined Life Directives’ [p449]
123 – The ‘Strict, Functional-ization of Humanity’ in the ‘Algorithm-ization of Human Experiences’ [p449]
124 – A ‘Data-Centric Paradigm’ via the Biochemical Algorithm-ization of the ‘Source of Imagination’ [p454]
125 – The God-Like Mystification of ‘Master Algorithms’ towards the Data-ization of ‘Know Thyself’ [p457]
126 – The Unification of the ‘Scientific Paradigm’ into an ‘Unassailable Dogma’, towards a ‘World Takeover’, via the Political and Economical ‘Non-Examination of a Factually Inaccurate Ideology’ [p459]
127 – The ‘Constraining of Thought’ by ‘Ideological Conditioning’, including ‘Pseudo-Alternative Futures’ offered via the ‘Fictional Recycling of Past Events’ [p460]
128 – The ‘Data Deluge’ towards ‘Confused Inactivity’ and ‘Relinquishing of Authority, and ‘Inverted Censorship’ in the ‘Information Flood’, via Swimming in the ‘Irrelevancy of Side-Issue Distractions’ [p461]
Stepping Stones 
3 thoughts on “Transhumanism: Religion in Plain Sight – Introduction”