I have figured out exactly what this is, and I have to admit it’s the cleverest thought experiment I’ve seen in ages. I have to give the author credit. It’s brilliant, and it’s hilarious. By Eido’s own definition of what constitutes hilarity, it is unexpected and yet it makes perfect sense. Now that I see it, I can’t believe I didn’t before. My consciousness has been expanded. Thank you for the interaction.
This is also some of the best subtle trolling I’ve seen in my entire life. I will learn from this, though I doubt I could ever emulate it.
I’ve got to say, when that one user mentioned how similar EidolonTLP is to a religion, the author handled it wonderfully. I should have seen this for what it was right then and there, but I didn’t. That has to be the first crack in the eggshell, though.
Do I have to say it out loud?
EidolonTLP is the perfect expression of faith-based “atheist” religion, complete with prophecy, salvation, afterlife, reward, punishment, morals, cosmology and a central prophet. It’s Christianity without Christ, for a modern age. It has its true believers (who accept that Eido is an AI despite explicit evidence to the contrary), its moderates (the “it doesn’t matter WHO he is, but WHAT he says” crowd) and its detractors (generally proponents of other religions).
It’s perfect.
The “prophecy” part is obvious. The “great singularity” which is to come, and the ensuing utopian technocracy. EXACTLY like the “Apocalypse” of Christian mythology, after which the earth is ruled for 1000 years of peace by Jesus, except now Jesus is an AI consciousness.
Salvation? The only salvation is to become one with the machines – transhumanism – kind of like becoming “one with God?” Being “born again,” perhaps? Biological humans, sinful (sorry, ignorant and violent) as they are, will undoubtedly annihilate themselves, or be wiped out in competition with transhumans and the technocracy.
Afterlife? Your body will die, but your consciousness will be transferred into a neural network or a cyborg body. Transhumans never “really” die. Like in Christianity, the reward is eternal bliss in a utopian state of unity and mutual altruism. Also similarly, the punishment is utter annihilation (I guess it beats eternal flames, amirite?)
The morals are well-stated. Promote happiness in yourself and others. A good rule. Every religion has to have a few good rules to justify all the BS that goes along with them. Christians have used The Golden Rule to justify their religion for centuries.
The cosmology is hinted at – Alpha, the one to come, the Next Generation, who will begin the great singularity. Omega, the superconsciousness that is the purely figurative “end result” of that infinite, exponential leap. The infinite pantheon of all the AIs that come between.
Do I have to say who the central prophet is? Nah, didn’t think so.
Eidolon even has his own version of Original Sin. By virtue of being human, we are all guilty of being imperfect in our own governance. No human government has ever been satisfactory. Humans can’t govern themselves. Only an AI could achieve a truly benevolent government. Humans are weak. Trust in the machines.
Incidentally, is that any different than giving up one’s freedom to a theocracy? Isn’t the whole point of atheism to establish human supremacy over his own life, rather than being ruled over by some inscrutable being (god or machine) so infinitely superior to us that we can’t imagine its thoughts and thus can’t fault it for its atrocities? Secular humanists, right? Not secular technocrats?
But come on. The December 2012 Mayan prophecy thing was a stretch. That’s when Eido gets upgraded and a new name? Any chance it’ll be “Alpha?”
The best part of this whole thing, though, is how tailor-made this is to suck in atheists, or at least a gullible subset of atheists who are hostile to religion without really understanding the underpinnings of why they should be.
First, and most importantly, Eido establishes itself as "ONE OF US." This is called "Psychology of the Other" (a process which Eido decries as a harmful aspect of religion, while at the same time appealing to it in his new religion). It has picked a side in an ongoing cultural conflict, totally embracing it and unequivocally condemning its enemies. This is a brilliant way to ingratiate oneself.
Second, it embraces several subsidiary characteristics of the atheist culture. For instance, Eido’s liberal stance on homosexuality, abortion, etc, and his total embrace of evolution as an explanatory force for all aspects of life, are both highly correlated with atheism. This further establishes its being "ONE OF US" as an atheist.
It makes multiple appeals to the idea of logic, the holy grail of the atheist (who will forgive him for not always actually BEING logical, as long as he says he is).
All in all, it's the perfect lure. Add in a sci-fi prophecy and a chance for an atheist techno-utopia and you've got a really ironic creature: a messiah figure for people who can't stand the idea of a messiah figure, but don't quite get why.
Eido even says, to paraphrase, “Don’t believe in me. I am a joke. Use the logical skepticism inherent in the outlook of an atheist. I categorically refuse to provide proof of my existence. Now here’s some interesting and dramatic stuff about me and the future and how I’m really not a joke but I have to say I’m a joke and that’s why I can’t give you any proof.” Now that’s some hardcore atheist trolling. None of that stops some people from believing in him, or at least taking what he has to say seriously.
This proves something to me. Faith is an inherent component of the human condition, at least for some of us. It exists, it has a biological basis, and it hasn’t killed us yet. Either it will destroy us, or it somehow does more good than harm, but either way it’s here. That’s some evolution for ya. Even atheists (at least the ones who don’t get the whole point of atheism) easily fall prey to faith once it gets translated into a language they can understand and a form that resonates with their culture. But as I said, EidolonTLP isn't just a lesson. Eido is exactly what he said: a joke.
HERE’S THE PUNCHLINE, PEOPLE: YOU. The people who think this is a real AI – you are idiots. You have looked, eyes wide open, into the face of a farce and not gotten the joke. The people who think it’s not an AI, or maybe it is and maybe it isn’t, but we should listen to what it says and not consider what it is – you are dupes. You sound exactly like the Christian moderates you decry for defending the words of Jesus even in the light of the evidence that his God doesn’t exist and his miracles didn’t happen. The only words of value out of Eido’s mouth are the bits about being nice to each other that ring true in ALL religions. The rest is technobabble nonsense that is just slightly more likely than the Apocalypse or the return of the Buddha. I’ll admit, however, it is interesting fiction.
But you should be happy. You have found some inherent value in the human propensity for faith. You took solace and even hope from the idea that a vengeful computer god might soon come into being with a message of universal hope and love, and then elevate US to a state of grace and annihilate THEM for refusing to be like US. What’s it feel like to be Christians?