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Thomas Arnold

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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Adrienne Mayor's "Gods and Robots" discusses this myth and many other ancient robot legends across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Now I can't wait to read this book as follow up.
blaftrakesh.bsky.social
Rakesh Khanna @blaftrakesh.bsky.social · 3d
When I was researching my book Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, I learned of a 1000-year-old myth about Roman tech being used to build killer robots to guard the Buddha's remains in Pataliputra, and a Hungarian folklorist read my book & got excited about it, & she managed to dig up a🧵(1/3)
Romanised Pali manuscript of the Lokapannati Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India p. 60 Bhoota Vahana Yanta Bhoota Vahana Yanta means “spirit movement machine.” The term is used for several varieties of robot drone assassins and sword-wielding machine- men mentioned in the Lokapannati, a Pali-language text written between 1000 and 1200 CE by Saddhammaghosa of Thaton, but concerning events that took place much earlier, around 500 to 200 BCE. According to the story, robots were first invented by engineers of the early Roman Republic. These robots were used for commerce, in agriculture, as a police force, and as executioners. The secret of how to build these spirit-engines was fiercely protected. If any engineer dared to take the designs out of the city, one of his own executioner robots would come after him and kill him. At that time, in Pataliputra (then in the kingdom of Magadha, now Patna in the state of Bihar), there lived a young man who had heard of the Romans’ magical androids. He became so determined to learn the secrets of their manufacture and share them with the people of Magadha that he arranged his own death. Then, on his deathbed, he vowed to be reincarnated as a Roman. This indeed took place. In his new life, the man grew up to join the Roman guild of engineers. He even married the daughter of the Master Robot-Maker, and had a son by her. Once he learned the secrets of the Bhoota Vahana Yanta, the man resolved to transfer the information back to Pataliputra. But he was well aware that now, since he was a member of the guild, he would be killed as soon as he left. So he cut a gash in his thigh, inserted the plans in his flesh, and sewed the wound back up.
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Reposted by: Thomas Arnold

blaftrakesh.bsky.social
When I was researching my book Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, I learned of a 1000-year-old myth about Roman tech being used to build killer robots to guard the Buddha's remains in Pataliputra, and a Hungarian folklorist read my book & got excited about it, & she managed to dig up a🧵(1/3)
Romanised Pali manuscript of the Lokapannati Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India p. 60 Bhoota Vahana Yanta Bhoota Vahana Yanta means “spirit movement machine.” The term is used for several varieties of robot drone assassins and sword-wielding machine- men mentioned in the Lokapannati, a Pali-language text written between 1000 and 1200 CE by Saddhammaghosa of Thaton, but concerning events that took place much earlier, around 500 to 200 BCE. According to the story, robots were first invented by engineers of the early Roman Republic. These robots were used for commerce, in agriculture, as a police force, and as executioners. The secret of how to build these spirit-engines was fiercely protected. If any engineer dared to take the designs out of the city, one of his own executioner robots would come after him and kill him. At that time, in Pataliputra (then in the kingdom of Magadha, now Patna in the state of Bihar), there lived a young man who had heard of the Romans’ magical androids. He became so determined to learn the secrets of their manufacture and share them with the people of Magadha that he arranged his own death. Then, on his deathbed, he vowed to be reincarnated as a Roman. This indeed took place. In his new life, the man grew up to join the Roman guild of engineers. He even married the daughter of the Master Robot-Maker, and had a son by her. Once he learned the secrets of the Bhoota Vahana Yanta, the man resolved to transfer the information back to Pataliputra. But he was well aware that now, since he was a member of the guild, he would be killed as soon as he left. So he cut a gash in his thigh, inserted the plans in his flesh, and sewed the wound back up.
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
This is Boston coffee nerd excellence
Map of Somerville divided into 21 "coffeehoods," each named after coffee shop in that area. Massive debates to ensue, but I like "Tamper Hillside."
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Liaising between religious studies and computer science has only become more fraught as tech claims religious connossieurship with the unblinking assuredness of Zuckerberg with Sweet Baby Ray's, making me all the more grateful for pieces like this.
laurabullard.bsky.social
Laura Bullard @laurabullard.bsky.social · 8d
Taking a brief break from sporadically posting photos of my pitbull to shout this into the void:

I’ve spent the last seven months thinking about the Antichrist, and now those thoughts are published over at @wired.com.

www.wired.com/story/the-re...
The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession
Thirty years ago, a peace-loving Austrian theologian spoke to Peter Thiel about the apocalyptic theories of Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt. They’ve been a road map for the billionaire ever since.
www.wired.com

Reposted by: Thomas Arnold

laurabullard.bsky.social
Taking a brief break from sporadically posting photos of my pitbull to shout this into the void:

I’ve spent the last seven months thinking about the Antichrist, and now those thoughts are published over at @wired.com.

www.wired.com/story/the-re...
The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession
Thirty years ago, a peace-loving Austrian theologian spoke to Peter Thiel about the apocalyptic theories of Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt. They’ve been a road map for the billionaire ever since.
www.wired.com
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Faculties kept inside during recess

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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Build It Or Not, You Are Still Going To Die: Ernest Becker's Chaplaincy To AI Ethics
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
And Eco echoes

by Thomas Arnold

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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Reverse Turing car
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
The cost of Omelas is but one small prediction machine.
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by Thomas Arnold

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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Yeah I like yours better
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Reposted by: Thomas Arnold

whstancil.bsky.social
The issue is that we don’t know what “personhood” or “consciousness” is or means, so when a machine is able to talk and think in ways that seem very human, it starts raising uncomfortable questions about ourselves.

“This robot lacks the innate quality of being human!”

“What is that?”

“Uh, well”
samonika.bsky.social
Samantica, The Exiled @samonika.bsky.social · Aug 8
Goddamit, you can be impressed by this tech and not ascribe conciousness to it!

This is just a machine, we know that is just a machine, and people who don't know are so awestruck by its complexity they need to give it personhood in order to cope.
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by Thomas Arnold

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by Thomas Arnold

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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Bezos and MAHA are turning Jonah Goldberg's "You know Whole Foods and obsession with healthy eating is fascist" from laughable NR cruise banter to grounded analysis.
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Mr. Murdoch said he would take care of the flowers himself.
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
I don't remember the exact words of his risotto video but every five seconds he seemed to drop a cooking bar with clear objective correlates to life, leaving me bereft for not having already learned all of them.
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
It is a theater movie, almost self-referentially so in one immersive scene.
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
When Big Fun Broke
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
The Gritts
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Reviewers keep asking how well @lioneltrolling.bsky.social's "When The Clock Broke" explains Trumpism. They almost all miss how deftly it denudes H. Ross Perot's corrupt, conspiracy-addled, balcony-seeking fraudulence, revealing a Musk avant la twittre.
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Reposted by: Thomas Arnold

melaniemitchell.bsky.social
Excellent!

In the same spirit, here's a piece on AI hype I wrote in....1985 🤯

melaniemitchell.me/EssaysConten...
melaniemitchell.me
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by Thomas Arnold

thomasarnold.bsky.social
Helen exemplified so much of what philosophy (or living well together) desperately needs: honesty, vulnerability, integrity, wonder-sharing, courage, determination, decency.
helendecruz.net
Helen De Cruz @helendecruz.net · Jun 20
Dear all,

Helen passed away at 13:21 local time. Helen would not have wanted us to be sad for a long time. All they wanted was to be remembered. They looked forward to being rid of pain and to being at rest. Helen took great comfort in you, their friends and readers.

pt. 1/2
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by Helen De Cruz — Reposted by: Thomas Arnold, Nigel Warburton, Sarah Bracke , and 3 more

helendecruz.net
Dear all,

Helen passed away at 13:21 local time. Helen would not have wanted us to be sad for a long time. All they wanted was to be remembered. They looked forward to being rid of pain and to being at rest. Helen took great comfort in you, their friends and readers.

pt. 1/2
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