Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are the limitations of AI?“

AI will be able to do a lot, but its ultimate limit is that it will never be able to be like a developing human being. It is impossible, because there is a greater force of nature that is above us humans, which created us, and which cannot be programmed. AI would never be able to realize the level of that higher force, because it would require a certain connection to it that AI lacks. The connection to the higher force is a point that exists in the person from that source. This point is called “a part of Divinity from above.”

This point is a tiny desire among all of our desires, which is connected to a higher altruistic nature, one of love and bestowal. We cannot program technology to develop these kinds of qualities just as we cannot program desires. All we can program are actions that stem from those desires, but not the desires themselves.

Programmers working with AI explain that we can build smart systems that learn and develop over time, becoming much smarter than how we initially built them. However, there is a limitation that AI will never be able to cross: it will never become truly feeling and sensitive. It could perform several actions that would make it seemingly become sensitive and feeling, but it will never truly be able to feel because feeling belongs to desire.

Technology cannot feel or be made to feel. It could simulate feelings but true feelings would elude it. Therefore, all AI will remain robotic in the end. Its brain and its reactions have potential to make it a trillion times smarter or more useful than people. People, however, will end up on top, just as long as we will not program AI to finish us off.

In order to secure a better future for ourselves, we will have to reach the realization that AI and other new technologies do not matter. What matters is the soul’s development. By developing the point within us that has the potential to resemble the higher force of love, bestowal and connection, then we develop something that is truly unique, and which has the power to improve, enhance and even upgrade our lives.

Nature will always be more supreme than any AI or other technology that we create. When we learn that nature itself—the force of love, bestowal and connection—has no interest in our dabbling with AI, but that it has only one demand for us: to become similar to it, and to realize the total harmony, happiness, peace, confidence and love that comes from our achievement of this resemblance.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash.

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Question: The basis of the spiritual world is the importance that we ascribe to it. It is written in the sources that there is only a gram of light and a gram of desire, and everything else is determined by the way we treat this, what importance we give to certain phenomena. How does this happen?

Answer: We are accustomed to the fact that in our world, desires and fulfillments have some kind of standard of proportional measurement: meters, cubic meters, parsecs, distances, tons, etc.

However, in the spiritual world, there are no material dimensions. Everything there is measured only sensorially, by the relationship of one to the other. Therefore, if I care about a gram of some material that may be more precious to me than the entire universe and my entire life because, let’s say, this gram is the beginning of a new life, then I treat it as something that fills the entire universe. To me, it is greater than anything else. This measures the spiritual value of an object.

In other words, a spiritual object has no geometric or metric dimension, and is determined only by the size of my attitude, my attention, and the greatness of the object in my eyes. These are purely subjective measurements.

Question: In principle, does a person who is in spiritual attainment or a Kabbalist enjoy not from what the Creator gives him, but from the importance of the Creator in his eyes?

Answer: He does not feel what the Creator gives him. He feels only to the extent of the greatness of what the Creator gives to him.

Question: Let’s take an example from our world. Let’s say that a cup of coffee is also from this unified force. I can just have coffee. But if some important person made it for me, I will naturally be fulfilled not only with the drink, but also with the importance of this person, how great he is in my eyes and in the eyes of the society. Is that how it works?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: But still, there must be some kind of material.

My Response: There must be material in our world. That is why we start from the corporeal world, which is created so that we can move from it to other, more abstract categories.

Question: Does it mean that I should treat all the pleasures of this world in the following way: This is given to me by the Creator, and the only thing I lack is the importance of the one who gives this to me?

Answer: Yes, but when I begin to develop importance for the one from whom I receive, and to me it is more than the importance of the received object, then I move to other dimensions.

That is, the object itself no longer matters in my eyes. The only thing that matters is the importance of the one who gave it to me. Then I pass from the sensations of our corporeal world to the dimensions and sensations of the upper world: I received this from the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States”

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Zohar for All, VaYikra, Item 80: Who saw the glory of the queen at that time, and the king’s requests of her? Finally, the king held her in his arms, raised her, and brought her to his palace. And he swore to her that he would never part from her again and will never be far from her.

The queen is the gathering of all souls. Take both hands, that is, for the right and left lines, for the egoistic and altruistic qualities, for everything that is in our souls.

Question: To do this, we need to be brought to the state of dust?

Answer: Certainly! Only then will we match the greatness of the Creator when we can become His partner. Because the difference in the states of complete connection with Him and complete disconnection from Him is necessary and must remain in us. In it, we will feel all His qualities, all His power, and they will become ours.

Question: Do people need to learn that it is necessary to reach the state of “in the dust” in order to reveal the upper force?

Answer: It’s not up to us. They may or may not know, but we will come to it anyway.

Comment: It sounds pessimistic.

My Response: Not at all. If I know in advance that a state of disconnection will soon arise in me, and I will feel bad, but this state is good and, having experienced it, I will rise to the best, to light, infinity, eternity, perfection, and harmony, then it will be a pleasure for me.

Question: When in the dust, do I understand what is happening to me?

Answer: If you prepare for it, then yes. To do this, you need to read Kabbalistic books. They contain everything necessary for preparation.

The fact is that we are not one person who is in front of the Creator. We are deliberately separated and are in different states. Therefore, by properly supporting each other, we can connect our minds and feelings in such a way, even before the physical fall, by realizing this fall in advance, that we will not need it at all.

We are not required to physically be in a state of complete powerlessness and decomposition. It is enough to realize and feel it internally. That is, now as a normal person in this life, I can call upon myself such a manifestation of the Creator that will give me the maximum distance from Him. Therefore, two worlds were created: the spiritual and the material.

We exist in a body, in some physical volume that does not change. Nothing happens to it, so that in our souls we can feel the lowest possible state, distance from the Creator, and lead an ordinary life, not lying physically in the dust and lowering ourselves to a comatose state, but mentally, with understanding, we realize this within ourselves. And then normally, reasonably, sensibly feeling, knowing and measuring everything, we will begin to rise from this state.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #14

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Comment: The pain that we feel physically goes all the way to consciousness through the brain. And the intensity of the pain depends on my attitude to it.

In the burn department of a hospital in Illinois, virtual reality is used: When changing bandages for patients, the patients wear virtual glasses. And instead of thinking about burns, they play with snowballs, and the pain is reduced.

Right now, humanity is in pain. It becomes physical. What should a person think about in order to reduce this pain or somehow cancel it? What “virtual glasses” should I wear?

My Response: I think the best thing is to think about how nature is leading us to a brighter future. The most beautiful thing in our time is that there are no personalities in history here, but nature itself takes us and kneads us like this, like dough.

Question: So in order to cope with this pain, what do I have to realize?

Answer: Realize what nature does. It leads us by its plan. For the first time in the history of mankind, nature simply takes us by the ear, like a boy, and leads us forward to the right place.

Question: That is, if at the moment of this pain that I am experiencing now, I begin to build this reality that it is nature that leads us all to a very bright future, to a good relationship, to a world of light, a world of warmth, then my pain will begin to decrease?

Answer: It will stop! Because the pain depends on the fact that you do not see the goal ahead. And if there is a goal, then the goal must absorb the pain.

When we do things, they can be pleasant or unpleasant. If we examine our body, we will see that there is no difference between pleasure and suffering. In the feeling inside the person, no difference. It is only in his idea of what it leads to, what it is.

Question: And then the suffering begins, that it all leads me to the end, I will disappear and that’s it?

Answer: Absolutely. And if you imagine that this leads you to a huge gain, to pleasure, then you are ready not only to endure it, you are ready to prolong it and even enjoy it.

Why am I saying this? It all depends on how we set up society. We have a relatively small problem here. If society is set up in such a way that nature itself leads us to a good future, to an arrangement, to a life without problems, if we show such films, such pictures of the future, then people will be able to experience all this relatively easily.

Question: So the pain will stop then and they will start moving toward this future?

Answer: Yes, and we do not deceive them. People went into battle to the death for the future, for the sake of imaginary values that people invented. And here is nature itself.

It is a movement toward the equivalence of nature. To the integral universal relation, connection. This means that a person will exist in the most comfortable environment. It’s a billion times better than in the womb, because you know it.

All of nature, all of humanity, all that exists in the cosmos and in all the worlds, all this surrounds you with a good wrapping.

Question: And this scenario should be built?

Answer: We are approaching it, in fact, but we can accelerate this movement.

Question: Is this what pain is given to a person for?

Answer: Otherwise, he wouldn’t have realized. A person can only attain one thing from the other. Therefore, now we feel confusion, pain, and so on, in order to rise above it and feel truly connected, love, and perfection.

Question: Is this what it is called to rise above the pain?

Answer: Yes.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/29/20

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Question: In Kabbalah, there is a concept called Lishma or for the sake of the Creator. However, if we consider the Creator as nature, the upper mind, and not some person, then it is not clear what “to do something for His sake” means?

Answer: In Kabbalah, the Creator is regarded as a quality, a law, a force of nature, not a person. It is not a personified individual but a force such as gravity or electrostatic forces operating around us as fields.

The wisdom of Kabbalah says that there are only two forces in the universe: one of them is the force that operates for its own sake. As a rule, there is attraction and rejection in nature. This, however, is not the point. The point is why I attract and why I reject. That is, there must be some thought, some intention, behind this force.

I can attract and I can reject. Both can be for my own benefit and for the benefit of someone outside of me, for the benefit of others. The action outside of me, when I take into account not myself but only the benefit of others, is called the action of Lishma (not for my own sake, for the sake of the Creator).
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States. Lishma (For The Sake Of The Creator)”

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic “To Bestow Contentment to the Creator”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 1, ‘Histaklut Pnimit,’ Chapter 8, Item 31″

Selected Highlights

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The Creator deliberately collides opposites so we would need a third force to connect good and evil, right and left, any contradiction at all levels and in any form. This third force, that is, the force of the Creator, is revealed as reconciling all opposites.

We will see how hatred in our world is growing day by day. All connections that people have established until our time will now begin to break, crumble, and expose our separation and hatred.

This revelation will be so substantial that it will become clear that we cannot establish connections between us on our own. There is only one upper force that prevents our connection and the good existence of all of humanity, of every family. Relations between countries, between people, and man with himself will explode, revealing the shattering more and more so that it becomes obvious that only with the help of the upper force is it possible to connect everyone and cover all crimes with love.

Yet, we do not know how to do this because, from the point of view of our common sense, it is illogical since it is above our degree. Only the wisdom of Kabbalah explains how to make such a connection, come closer to each other, and establish peace so that humanity does not crumble and scatter in different directions like animals fleeing from beatings.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/20/21,” Justifying The Creator”

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My new article on Linkedin “The Crime of Being Jewish”

“Dirty Jew,” shouted a man in New York’s Times Square while he punched, kicked, and pepper-sprayed a young Jewish man who ended up in the hospital as result of the recent unprovoked attack. “I would do it again” said the pro-Palestinian aggressor after being arrested and briefly held in custody, according to prosecutors. That is today’s America. Rampant widespread antisemitism aggravated by the latest escalation of the Israel-Gaza conflict. It is a turning point for the Jewish people to either wait for the worst to happen or unite and survive and live happily and safely.

As humanity progresses and becomes more enlightened, hatred of Jews becomes less logical and at the same time expands and deepens. Hatred no longer belongs to a people or to a transient union of peoples, but it is spreading throughout the entire global world almost at once. Never has the condemnation of Israel and hatred of the Jews been as open, unequivocal and extensive as it is today. If once hatred was hidden, except in times of particular outbursts, today it roams shamelessly in the streets; Jews are brutally beaten simply for being Jews and no one seems to even try to stop it.

What would be considered inconceivable in the past is now a reality: American Jews are afraid to wear yarmulke in public, as confirmed by the Jewish Federations of North America. Unfortunately, history has shown us that our enemies will leave no stone unturned until they fulfill their goal: to cause harm or annihilate Jews wherever they are. To hide, assimilate, and try to become like everyone else will not help.

Why? Because Jews are not like everyone else. We must carefully study our history and exemplary sources and stop repeating the same mistakes of continually minimizing the threats with blind and unconscious stubbornness that brings us murderous blows.

The people of Israel are different because they are not a group of people born in a common region. We do not share a common culture, mentality, and similar tendencies. We are a collection of people from every nation, descendants of Mesopotamia, ancient Babylon, who gathered around the ideology developed by our ancestor Abraham: a connection between human beings over differences that divide us.

Abraham came up with the idea of unification from the deep confusion and discord that prevailed in the kingdom of Babylon. Abraham trained us to unite as one man with one heart, not only to discover the positive, good and benevolent power that would improve our lives between us, but to become a model of a reformed society that would pass the idea of unity and in this way to radiate light into the nations, the peoples of the world. This is our fate; we have no other purpose and no possibility of escaping from it.

This is why the Jews in the Diaspora will not be able to assimilate into their homelands no matter how hard they try. And we in Israel must not think that we are any different or more united than them. We are also in exile. Not in body, of course. We are physically on the land of Israel, but the spirit, the mentality, the thought, are all completely in exile.

“Exile” is first and foremost a departure from the commandment to connect, a flagrant disregard for our destiny. When Jews live an egotistical routine, for their own benefit only, they become the greatest egoists in the world, exactly against their potential to be pioneers of the global connection.

In this mission there is no difference between us and the Diaspora Jewry. We all have one fate and we are currently very far from it. Everything can change at the speed of light. Change depends on a modest understanding that life has a purpose and it does not end with corporeal achievements, which only are accompanied by suffering and war. A little understanding that we were not born just to survive around seventy years in perpetual existential fear and then die, will help us to live differently, safely, peacefully, happily, purposefully. Only a little understanding, a subtle inclination, a good thought toward connection between us, will make a huge difference toward a more promising future for us and our children.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Who won the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas, and why?“

Israel might have won the battle militarily, but it is losing the war for the world’s support.

With each conflict between the two, public opinion grows stronger against Israel, making it lose face more and more on the world stage. Israel also might win future military battles, but the world has tilted in favor of the Palestinians. If Israel continues focusing primarily on its military defense while making no key changes on an ideological level, then it can expect increasing delegitimization to reach levels where the world will wish for its elimination.

How, then, can Israel win the world’s support?

Israel can win the world’s support if its people understand that their strength is in their unity, and only in their unity. When united, the people of Israel realize their roots, the foundation that made them the people of Israel to begin with. The unity of the people of Israel draws a special unifying force and example to humanity, which in turn makes humanity feel that there is a reason and benefit for Israel’s existence. However, when divided, as the country currently looks, for instance, as it cannot even form a government over multiple elections while having 120 members of parliament scattered across dozens of parties, then the division and hatred projecting from this small country causes the world to frown upon it. More and more people then latch onto an anti-Israel stance in order to justify the deeper hatred they feel toward us.

Thus, in addition to boosting Israel’s military defense systems, Israel needs to remind and educate its people that its strength is only in its unity. While, on the surface, it appears as if more and more people hate Israel because they view Israel as oppressing and abusing human rights against Palestinians, at a deeper level, the core reason for the hatred of Israel is due to today’s people of Israel failing to live up to what made them the people of Israel to begin with: they give into their divisive drives, desires and thoughts instead of uniting above them. The hatred among the people of Israel today projects subconsciously onto humanity as a whole, and as humanity feels increasing suffering and perceived injustices due to increasing division, then more and more people hate the people of Israel, and the hatred becomes expressed increasingly as hatred for the State of Israel.

The growing hatred against us is an indicator that we need to return to our roots and reason for our being here. Our nation was founded on principles of love, unity and mutual responsibility. We became a nation when we applied the law of “Love your neighbor as yourself” to our relationships above our divisive drives. Therefore, by not exercising unity above our divisions, we fail to live up to what made us the people of Israel to begin with, and as a result, people around the world increasingly feel no justification for this people holding a land of their own.

In order to validate our claim to the Land of Israel, we need to revive our unity. By doing so, we will become a positive conduit for the unifying force to spread throughout humanity, i.e., as it is written, we will become “a light unto the nations.” While divided and hateful of each other, people around the world feel that we project division and hatred to the world. They feel us as the source of all evil, of every problem in their lives. If we thus rise above our divisiveness and unite, the world will support us, including the Palestinians. If we, however, let our divisive drives run us, then the world will eventually expel us from this land.

About the people of Israel being founded on following the law of “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes the following in his article, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee).”

All of Israel are responsible for one another (Sanhedrin, 27b, Shavuot 39). This is to speak of the Arvut (Mutual Guarantee), when all of Israel became responsible for one another. Because the Torah was not given to them before each and every one from Israel was asked if he agreed to take upon himself the Mitzva (precept) of loving others in the full measure, expressed in the words: “Love thy friend as thyself.” This means that each and every one in Israel would take it upon himself to care and work for each member of the nation, and to satisfy all their every needs, no less than the measure imprinted in him to care for his own needs. And once the whole nation unanimously agreed and said, “We shall do and we shall hear,” each member of Israel became responsible that nothing shall be missing from any other member of the nation. Only then did they become worthy of receiving the Torah, and not before.

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