iGURU!’s – Weekly Review – 13th October 2019 "Where was I Before I AM? How many Bodies are we? Where do I go when I sleep? Where are the deceased?" (4 Meditations On Existence – Science Of The Immortals) These 4 questions – SOTI Meditations, are created to make us think about the nature of ‘Existence’ and of ourselves. What do we do with them and how do they help us? The power of these 4 meditations is that they cause us to reflect on the nature of ‘Self’ by engaging in ‘Introspection.’ They are an access point, a lens into the Self A significant part of the work of psychologists and psychotherapists and others engaged in healing the mind, is listening and ‘talking issues through’ with a client, thereby shining a light on what the individual is experiencing. What is the purpose of introspection? – Its purpose is to find out who we really are, by examining our ‘inner space.’ This self-examination – through the process of 'reflection' and 'self analysis,' enables us to become an ‘observer’ of our own lives, its meaning and purpose - thereby, providing the information necessary to make positive changes. Conducted properly and regularly - it is a ‘Self Empowering’ activity - truly liberating. I have therefore come to realise that this process of ‘introspection’ is a necessary one, if one is to maintain, mental and emotional balance and health. Most importantly it is not a process reserved solely for those who attend ‘therapy sessions’ – but it is a process, which can and should be used by all - your average man and woman on the street – great Sages – anyone with a ‘Mind’ – anyone who can - ‘Think!’ - will find the process useful. What is the prize? – What is the treasure? There are many benefits to Meditation-Introspection - Thinking! - but it is arriving, at a true knowledge of ‘Self,’ which must be one of the most valued. This true understanding and knowledge of 'Self,’ may at first sound rather abstruse – but it can be boiled down to a simple word - ‘genuineness’ – the ‘genuine,’ the ‘real,’ the 'true' you. Lately – I’ve been thinking about the word ‘authenticity.’ - What does it mean to be real and authentic – in this day and age? – What is 'real' / 'reality' and what is 'fantasy?' - in this Age of - Consumerism, rampant Technology – and ubiquitous Social Media Narratives. A friend of mine, once told me a story – about an exchange he had witnessed on the street. It was a curious incident. A member of the public, a young man, had seen an actor who played a role in a popular UK TV ‘Soap’ - from recollection I think it was Eastenders – or some such similar sitcom drama. Anyway - in this TV soap, the character this particular actor played, was not very likeable, in fact, one could say quite detestable – however, when this young man saw this actor in ‘real life’ – he became enraged! He started to shout, raised clenched fists - and even sought to approach this actor, who bewildered - managed to dodge into a local supermarket store. The shouting and insults from outside of the store continued, in fact, the ranting and shouting now almost incomprehensible grew louder. I shall not repeat here, the abuse and expletives used. Unsurprising, a crowd gathered - "what's all this about?" an elderly woman asked. The young man, now almost in a fit of fury, could scarcely explain, such was his anger at the actor. The elderly woman laughed, "But its just a TV programme!" Having been told this particular incident - I’m pretty sure such incidents must frequently occur (here's an article you might find interesting - click here.) As crazy as this may sound to many of us – it's actually not so surprising. Think about it - the lines between reality and fantasy are becoming increasingly blurred - I mean how do you distinguish nowadays between what is real and what is not, given the nature of social media, the power of modern technology and the ease with which, lies are accepted, even from prominent persons, as being a normal part of everyday discourse. Practically each day I come across some article, video or piece of information, addressing this issue - about what is real and what is fake. In having to deal with it, in not being able to trust what one sees and hears, our human experiences are not only being manipulated, but distorted. The idiom 'seeing is believing' - was always pretty thin in reality, but now its of little practical use, since it appears, our eyes are being constantly deceived. Google is disliked for many things - but I suppose its manipulation of our perceptions on a daily basis, by deciding what users see and do not see via their search engines, and weighted algorithms (for info - click here) - these kinds of practices affect what we see here and experience online and is one of its more obvious objectionable practices. Then there's - ‘fake news' – which has become quite a popular global buzzword affecting our perception of news and information (for more info - click here.) It seems that nothing is sacred from this march - this drive to sow confusion - the very food we eat is often no longer food - since if one is not a conscious consumer, it is - more than likely full of pesticides - genetically modified and it is not exaggeration to say its content is no longer as nature intended - add to that its often low or even non-existent nutritional value - But it's marketed as food!... And then there's the field of education - I watched a video recently titled ‘False History - How Deep is the Lie - Max Igan (Mirrored)’ – in the video, the host Max Igan – explores, how significant parts of world history have been tampered with – changed – altered – with parts missing - omitted - erased, completely removed - from historical literature. These are crimes - since to deliberately manipulate and interfere with our collective Human Consciousness in this way, so that sections of Humanity can be collectively managed, for some ulterior motive, is surely criminal. If you want to watch this video – click here. Why does it matter, if history has been altered and changed? - I guess, we should also ask – Who has initiated such changes and why? Who decides? It is clear, that there are many agendas in play here. The manipulation of a peoples history - can be and has been easily accomplished in the past and current technology would seem to make the process even easier, indeed it seems that we are experiencing it, on a daily basis. This manipulation has always occurred in order to manipulate particular sections of Humanity. The manipulation and falsification of African History in particular, is something I have personal experience of. What little African History I was taught in school, bears little relationship to the truth, which I was later to discover, through my own researches. Marcus Garvey said -"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." African History is not the only example of this process - there are countless others – and so it can be seen that ‘History’ – itself is not ‘neutral,’ ‘impartial’ or ‘unbiased.’ Well if that’s the case - if History - can and is being manipulated, how can we hope to approach ‘Truth?’ This manipulating and distortion of truth is serious as it has a corrosive effect on civic institutions, personal relationships, Human Consciousness. We are told continually, how smart AI is and how within perhaps decades such technologies, will outstrip the intelligence of Human Consciousness - I don't believe that that is the case and that human creative genius, will more than hold its own - but these are not foregone conclusions, Human Consciousness itself will have to play its part, in its own survival - the ability for us as individuals (i.e. Individual Consciousness) to be able to rationally and easily discern 'lies' from 'truth' - 'fact' from 'fiction' - the 'real' from the 'fake' - is an important part of our 'armory' - if there is to be a struggle (which I doubt) between 'Man and Machine.' Max Igan sums it up well in his video, when he states - “… the world is not what we have been taught to believe – and the trick is getting to the bottom of the puzzle – finding out what the world really is…” he then goes on to say “…the real trick, I have always found is asking the questions to begin with.” Yes – things are not always what they appear to be – but the beauty of being human, is that we can at least ‘think!’ – albeit less freely - but with introspection, even this intrusion can be halted and overcome. - We can ponder the things of Life and the World – we can ask questions… and through introspection - we can still play an active role in the ‘constructing’ and / or ‘consolidating’ of our own reality. Now - here’s something else to think about – the said AI technologies referred to above. AI technology can now create what are termed - ‘Deepfakes’ (click for definition,) which through social media can quickly feed into the public arena. This AI technology has apparently been around for some time and has been used for many years in the film industry, but it is now rapidly making its way into the mainstream - moving beyond the world of ‘fantasy’ and ‘fiction’ - and into our reality – the world of ‘established fact.’ Here’s an example - This AI technology enables its user to manipulate video footage - both visually and aurally. By using this technology you can manipulate both facial images which appear in the video - and what is said in the video – e.g. you could put the head of one person onto another person’s body. This gives the term identity theft a whole new meaning. You could actually make a person appear to have done something, when they didn't - or appear somewhere, they have never been to. You can learn more about ‘Deepfakes’ by watching the following video - 'Deepfakes - Real Consequences.' Whilst such technologies may be ‘fun’ to use in the ‘social media environment,' clearly these technologies can be used maliciously, to create “malicious deepfakes,” this is explained in the article - 'You’ve been warned: Full body deepfakes are the next step in AI-based human mimicry' (to read click here.) There are therefore, serious implications in the eventual distribution of such a technology into the wider community. It is yet another troubling consideration - when having to determine, what is ‘fake’ and what is ‘real,’ what is ‘fact’ and what is ‘fiction’ – what is ‘authentic’ and what is not. In terms of its impact on civil society – politics for example - it could be used to manipulate members of the public – i.e. to discredit a candidate during a political campaign. In the article mentioned above, it explores this idea further – as it features and features a ‘doctored video’ of Nancy Pelosi (US Congresswoman) – the video has been slowed down – which makes Nancy Pelosi sound drunk. The speed and depth by which such false images can permeate throughout society, due to social media networks, is phenomenal and the potential damage goes far beyond the individual personality impacted, but extends in its impact, to a corrosion of civic society (i.e. political process,) - the possible distortion of History - and ultimately, Human Consciousness itself. Another video I watched, called ‘This AI Can Clone Any Voice, Including Yours,’ similarly explores the implications of AI technology, which can clone the human voices. In this video, the presenter makes the following statement - “Its nice to be enthusiastic – its also nice to meditate on the consequences of your inventions.” It's a thoughtful comment - however, one gets the impression, that scientists working in the field of AI technology, often lack a full understanding, of where the technology they invent, will lead us - and what will be its impact on Humanity, in the long run. So – it seems the lines between what is real and what is not, are becoming increasingly more blurred – as fantasy and virtual reality - seeps into become 'everyday life' - reality. This AI technology is an interface with Human Consciousness - a point where 'virtual reality' meets – 'individual reality' / Human Consciousness – and whereby events created in a virtual reality, can easily become merged with Human Consciousness and individual personal experience - both for good or ill. This brings us to the issue of transhumanism - a whole subject in itself. The world is changing at a rapid pace – in a blink of an eye – the world is changed – where are we in this change? - What is our role in this change? - Look inside - introspection. REFERENCES TO ARTICLES, VIDEOS ETC To view the contents of this index – click on the subject of interest below. ALPHABETICAL ORDER
D Deepfakes - Deepfake Pioneer: “Perfectly Real” Fake Vids Are Six Months Away - Deepfakes - Real Consequences - What is Deepfake? - Definition from Techopedia - You’ve been warned: Full body deepfakes are the next step in AI-based human mimicry F 'Fake News' - Fake news: What is it? And how to spot it - How "fake news" and misinformation online is changing society False History - False History - How Deep is the Lie - Max Igan (Mirrored) G - How Google's search algorithm spreads false information with a rightwing bias - Study Shows Google Manipulating Search Results, Despite Promises S Surviving The Matrix-Max Igan - The Reality of Our Future (on Youtube 12-Oct2019) T Television - Television Characters: I Know They’re Not Real People, But... U US-Trump - Fake News, Fake Polls, and Now, Fake History — 14-Oct2019 - Strategic Culture V Voice Cloning - This AI Can Clone Any Voice, Including Yours
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