Mulling over MARNIE TROSCLAIR to STEVE ASHER 02 May 2005

Hi Marnie,

 MT> While contemplating the idea of computers, the internet, and the  
 MT> world wide web as candidates for a modern-day "image of the beast,"
 MT> it occurred to me that the image need not be autonomous.  I don't 
 MT> recall any reason why it must be autonomous.

The image of the beast may not be autonomous, but to fulfil its "job
description" it must be (a) able to speak, and (b) able to kill all
those who refuse to worship it. Since it is the second beast who gives
life to the image of the beast & empowers it to speak & to kill, it is
reasonable to assume that the second beast gives directions to the 
image as to what it is to speak & how it is to kill, but the degree
of autonomy is not known (to my knowledge).

 MT> And, if it need not be so, perhaps there's no need to look for a 
 MT> golem brought about through some mystical means. Rather, we might 
 MT> look to a kind of re-creation of the "The Almighty Oz"
and "that 
 MT> man behind the curtain." It is certainly conceivable and 
 MT> achievable that a person or group, operating behind the scenes, 
 MT> or screens, could gather enough information about your life and 
 MT> use that information in an attempt to convince  you that you were 
 MT> being visited by an angel, a supernatural being,  
 MT> extra-terrestrials or God.  

Both scenarios are possible, and it is only very recently that I have
really considered the golem brought about by mystical means; it had
seemed more likely, based on the limits of my knowledge & understanding, 
that it would be technological, such as ubiquitous web-casting & forced
worship sessions in front of monitors & cameras etc.

 MT> It might be easy enough to accomplish this  on a local level, 
 MT> involving a few individuals, but it would be much more 
 MT> difficult, if not impossible, to establish a "god" that would   
 MT> be recognized as such on a global basis. On a local level, an  
 MT> individual or group could certainly mess with your mind. Trying 
 MT> to program the masses would take a lot more effort and power.  

Two things (at least) to consider. (1) A false messiah, possiby 
appearing to Jews as Messiah, apostate Christians as Jesus Christ,
Moslems as Mahdi (etc). (2) God will send "strong delusion" to
those left behind to cause them to believe a lie. It might be
similar to the effect of hallucinogenic drugs... I don't know.

 MT> That said,  let's consider two alternative paths.  Let's say that 
 MT> the first involves  a fight for peace in the world being fought 
 MT> with weapons of destruction.  On this path, people die, the 
 MT> victims of bombs, tanks, artillery, etc.

 MT> Let's say, for the sake of the argument, that the second path also 
 MT> involves a fight for peace in the world, but on this path we see a 
 MT> war of information, information warfare, the battle for minds.  On 
 MT> this path, you might find books, radio, television, films,
 MT> videotapes,  CDs, DVDs, the Internet, the World Wide Web, etc. 
 MT> It's sort of like  arrows in one hand and an olive branch in the
 MT> other.  Sort of.  Some  people fight for peace with their fists
 MT> clenched.  So, what do you do when you live in a world where
 MT> terrorists are tossing bombs left and right?   

Essentially, follow the advice concerning the wars and rumours of
wars, and accept that they will be the order of the day, and not
let your heart be troubled by them.

 MT> The problem with the "man behind the curtain" scenario is that
 MT> there are no guarantees the person in your vicinity will be as
 MT> benevolent, kind or caring as the "Wizard of Oz." In fact, the
 MT> ghost in your machine might be the complete opposite, malevolent,
 MT> mischievous, out to steal your identity, steal your business,
 MT> steal your ideas, and destroy your sanity. Such is the nature of
 MT> the Internet that hackers of all ages, with varying levels of
 MT> education, and operating under no requirement that they possess
 MT> any particular standard of ethics or morals, can access your
 MT> machine and your life. The "man behind the curtain" could be your
 MT> friend, or he could be your enemy. And, as long as he has the
 MT> power to observe you, and you've no power to observe him, he has
 MT> an upper hand.

The "man behind the curtain" may in turn have one or more "men the
curtains", manipulating the first man, and in turn being manipulated.
If one wants to fake the millennium, then it pays to have a supply of
perhaps well-intentioned front men to manipulate. E.g. in the USA vs
Iraq scenario, who manipulated who? The USA & the coalition of the
willing were willing to manufacture a case for war, based on alleged
weapons of mass destruction; when there was no evidence for any broad
WMD arsenal, an accusation was made against Saddam that he (or his
scientists) had deceived the Coalition into attacking.

 MT> Now, returning back to the two paths in the fight for peace. Let's
 MT> try to see if we can somehow make a connection. Suppose the power 
 MT> with the upper hand on the first path, the one involving weapons of
 MT> destruction, had the ability to rain fire from the sky. But, it  
 MT> didn't want to use that power. It only threatened to use that
 MT> power. Then, there, on the second path, is an opportunity to
 MT> educate yourself, to learn and teach others, to share ideas, and
 MT> the opportunity to buy and sell in the world's biggest shopping
 MT> center, the world wide web. And this web, as it and the Internet
 MT> spread across the globe, makes it possible to communicate ideas
 MT> and conduct business at speeds that challenge those who aren't
 MT> connected to "keep up." In a short period of time, it becomes
 MT> obvious that you either plug in or get left behind.  

Of course, you then describe the gap between those who are connected,
"web-enabled", online (etc) and those who aren't connected as a
"digital divide", and create a case for taxation (by the UN?) of
internet connections & e-commerce to help bridge the "digital divide".

I am, of course, rambling in this reply... in the case of the golem,
emet "speaks" it into life, while met shuts it down & makes it die.
In the old "off-line" economy, we lived happily without
"e" ... now
we have ecommerce, email, egovernment, elearning etc - take away
the "e" prefix, and the online world basically ceases (not literally,
just a coincidence that "e" is the letter that gives it "life").

 MT> Economies will have a hard time surviving unless they're part of 
 MT> the Internet / world wide web. So... perhaps what you have here 
 MT> is what they call a fait accompli. Maybe you needn't look   
 MT> further for your "image of the beast."  However, you must ask   
 MT> yorself if this fits on all of the criteria.  

The "world wide web" has been a brilliant success of marketing &
establishing top-down governmental & business monitoring and control,
even where it was not "created" as a tool of government and commerce;
it was to be the "information superhighway", which gave the impression
of equality of access to resources, and in the ability to place one's
own ideas & knowledge "online". Other attempts, designed from the
outset to be "information tollways", with corporations providing
"content", & "consumers" paying per view or
download largely failed;
Australia had a dial-up / ansi/ascii system called Viatel, which
was a bit like a BBS system, navigated using a menu & page structure;
not easy to navigate. AFAIK, the Minitel system in France did succeed,
& is still in use - Teletext survives on broadcast television &
dedicated screens in pubs (racing results, weather forecasts etc).
The WWW, of course, is heading in the direction of "pay per view",
or paid subscriptions to content which was previously "free", while
governments & regulators ensure that corporate interests get to
control "content", and "consumers" get to know their place!

Well, I've rambled to the point where maill processors might break,
and in answer to a question in another forum, no, I never played
baseball. I did play hockey for a year or two, before I discovered
fishing. :)

Cheers, Steve..

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