I'm no longer a religious person, but the habit of looking for patterns in the weave of the universe remains. Sometimes I find myself looking back at old writings religious and otherwise for little nuggets of understanding that may have been lost, ignored or misunderstood.
Our ancestors were no mental slouches, so I feel like there might be a few kernels of insight scattered throughout the world's theologies - that either in art or in writing, people may have actually gotten a glimpse at the intent churning beneath the hood of the universe.
For example, I see an interesting through-line in the christian bible's book of genesis. Humanity exchanges the gift of life for the gift of knowledge and, having expanded and unified beneath a single language, we very nearly complete the tower of babel prior to god's intervention.
And then again later on, god goes absolutely apeshit on the nephilim when they emerge - you could rightly say that the single most consistent aspect of the christian god's character is that he detests anything capable of elevating humanity closer to his state of wholeness and perpetuity.
So my big dumb pattern-seeking brain looks at the emergence of AI along with the ultimate shattering of the language barrier to follow and it wonders - is there something here? Are we banging on the glass and about to break through? Were the authors of those stories using fiction to contextualize some deep insight they'd gained?
I suppose this type of thinking serves no purpose. I've no faith to bolster and I certainly won't be making any great discoveries in this lifetime. Still, it gives my brain something to do in the late hours.
