In the News (CNN.com): “Elon Musk warned in a new interview that artificial intelligence could lead to ‘civilization destruction,’ even as he remains deeply involved in the growth of AI through his many companies, including a rumored new venture.

“’AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production, in the sense that it is, it has the potential — however small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivial — it has the potential of civilization destruction,’ …

“Musk said Monday night he supports government regulation into AI… . Once AI ‘may be in control,’ it could be too late to place regulations, Musk said.

“’A regulatory agency needs to start with a group that initially seeks insight into AI, then solicits opinion from industry, and then has proposed rule-making,’ Musk said.”

Question: What do you think about it?

Answer: He deals with it. Obviously, we should at least listen to him.

Question: Do you think it is possible that a machine would suddenly turn against a human?

Answer: Of course. We may not even feel it, but it will be perhaps directed against us.

Question: So, do you think there could be a conspiracy of machines?

Answer: Not in such a crude form as a “conspiracy of machines.” It is hard to point to anything that we invented that was only positive.

Question: Because we invented it?

Answer: Yes, we did. And we always turn it to the negative side.

Question: You do not find much positive in a human, do you?

Answer: Man is an egoist. I do not find anything positive in it at all. We see in ourselves how uncontrollable we are. And artificial intelligence will also eventually be uncontrollable. Whatever man invents, it is still for his harm.

Question: What can be done and how can we make man invent something for good? In order to squeeze something positive out of us, what needs to be done?

Answer: There will always be something negative about it. Always. Look at what humanity is doing to itself.

Comment: Yes. It goes little by little…

My Response: To self-destruction.

Question: But it will not come to it, right? It will not happen?

Answer: I don’t know if it will come to it. It seems to me that there is a possibility of it, and a big possibility that we can begin to self-destruct.

Question: Yes, but can we rely on the upper force to somehow bring us to our senses? You always talk about upper management.

Answer: The upper force is not ultimately the higher intelligence that we mean. The higher power is something that may be above our egoism, and we have absolutely no contact with it. We have no connection with what is higher than our egoism.

Question: And before this abyss that is right in front of it, can we suddenly slow down and realize that we must rise above egoism, that it was it that brought us to this?

Answer: How can we know this?

Comment: It will come from above somehow. There is no other way, you say.

My Response: I have no idea.

Comment: You don’t want to give us a small chance.

My Response: I would not give man a chance.

Comment: After all, it is God’s creation.

My Response: No, no, we are not God’s creatures, and we cannot hope that the Creator will always protect us and always somehow separate us. I personally do not hope so.

Of course, He is ultimately good that does good. But maybe we achieve this good through huge, huge failures, suffering, and wars.

Comment: We see that this is indeed the case.

My Response: But that is not all. What the Bible says and so on could be much worse.

Question: But the reason that things could be worse, maybe it will still somehow enter us?

Answer: No, we see that this does not calm the human.

Question: I am always trying to find some way out of this situation from you. And you say that a human is still a negative system?

Answer: Yes, of course. Man is a negative system, and is constantly moving toward self-destruction, and before that, practically nothing can stop him.

Question: Can we attract positive things? We can at some point, right?

Answer: We hope so.

Comment: Another idea about artificial intelligence is that it will lead to humanity not having to work.  Then the main question will be the search for the meaning of life. That is, we will come to the meaning of life from boredom, from the fact that we will not have a job.

My Response: Is the meaning of life now to work?

Comment: Yes, it looks like it, correct. 🙂

My Response: It is not clear: now the meaning of life is to work, and then the meaning of life will be not to work.

Question: So you do not accept this logical connection?

Answer: No.

Question: Are you saying that we need to look for the meaning of life now?

Answer: We must develop in such a way as to understand that work itself also has meaning. And we definitely need to make our work as high as possible, that is, one that would raise man, turn him into a reasonable human. It is true.

Comment: In principle, work to earn money, work to support the family…

My Response: No, no. It is all going to go away soon.

Question: And if, let’s say, the work in which I had the meaning of life ends. How do I not lose the meaning of life with this job ending?

Answer: When you feel that you do not need to work in order to live, then you have the opportunity for another goal in order to live.

Question: So if I grasp the goal, then any changes taking place at a lower level are no longer important. I do not work or I do work, it does not matter. The main thing is to grasp the goal. What is it about?

Answer: I think that this work will be so that we rise all the time and get closer to the Creator in our unity.
Our job will be in how much each of us will refine ourselves every day to rise above ourselves.
[322371]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/9/23

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Dimitry writes to you:

Michael, I have been enraged lately. Why do we succumb to politicians and propagandists who are throwing us off? They are the reason there is so much grief. You see clearly blood spilling, people killing each other, and hating each other. It is all because they are egging on, but everything is, after all, illusory and fake. We die for this lie while they get fat. They make lots of money off this bloodshed, their children roll in luxury, and they too are doing well. Why are we giving in? Where is our basic reasoning? Where is the fear?

Answer: We do not have basic reasoning. As for the fear, we are so lost we do not feel it.

Question: So they can steer us?

Answer: They can do anything.

Comment: But a person still feels it, Dimitry writes here with so much pain in this letter that people feel it and still fall for it.

My Response: Of course.

Question: What is this mechanism that steers us?

Answer: It is politics. They are not just steering a person, but entire nations and countries by any means. They know how to brainwash people who follow them as if to the slaughterhouse.

Question: What do they pinpoint in us that they can turn on and throw us into hell?

Answer: They control our little egoism, and thus we succumb to it.

Question: It turns out they are specialists? That is, they know what you keep saying, that a person is an egoist. They know it.

Answer: Yes, they know it very well and use it.

Question: Is there a way to resist? Dimitry is actually hoping you may have a solution, a way to resist all this, what to do.

Answer: Only if we truly understand our nature and how we are led will we be able to see their work for ourselves and not be on board with them.

Question: You pointed to egoism. You said: “This is our vice we need to work with.” How do you work with it to break free from them?

Answer: I think for this we just need to understand that good relations between us, between people, are above all other benefits they try to bribe us with. After all, it is always about buying and selling.

Question: So, if I have great relationships, will they not be able to steer me?

Answer: If I cherish these good relationships, they will not be able to.

Question: What kind of relationships are these?

Answer: When I realize that the best thing is to live in peace with my neighbors, when I say neighbors, I mean from everyone around me to other countries.

Comment: But it is not a secret, there is understanding in us that it is really good to live in peace with neighbors.

My Response: These are just words. There are so many ways and methods to pit one country against another, and it is very hard to stop.

Question: What should I imprint on myself, which rule or law to never circumvent?

Answer: To live peacefully is above all. This should be clear to people.

Question: Can it be imprinted, let’s say, in laws, in man?

Answer: It can be imprinted in society so if someone wants to lure one society into a war against another society, they will not succeed.

Question: Do you think it is possible to accomplish?

Answer: Yes. Peace above all. This should be the direction of our most important aspiration.

Question: Let’s talk a little above the corporeal. You have always said the Creator is associated with the word “Shalom“—peace. You tell us we are somehow attracting this state here?

Answer: Yes, you can attract a good state to yourself, gain confidence in yourself and others, and unite to never be separated or crushed. This is called the upper force dwelling among us, the upper one.
[322117]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/20/23

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I think that the coming 2024 year will be better than previous ones.

Humanity is slowly but steadily approaching the understanding of how to get out of this dangerous state it has brought itself. Everything will be fine!

We must remember that everything depends on us, on how we are connected with each other, and from this connection we turn to the Creator. This is the main force in the world that will defeat all wars and all the forces of evil.

Let’s all hug together, unite from heart to heart, and then we will see how silence, tranquility, and peace descend on this world from above.

I wish you all the best! Good luck!
[323065]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “What Are Three Things that Broaden One’s Mind in the Work?”

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Question: Why is money the basis of all problems in the world?

Answer: Because it is the equivalent of our investing in each other. I give something so I am supposed to take something.

Question: If we remove money, would there be no problems?

Answer: If everything that is common were removed, completely does not belong to anyone at all, and when everyone is concerned about each other as one common whole: either I will receive, or I will give, or another will receive, or will give to me, and all this is equivalent in my feelings, only then can we talk about removing money completely.

Money is a cover for my attitude toward others. There is nothing you can do about it.

Question: So in our world, will the problems disappear even if the money disappears?

Answer: No. Only when we rise above ourselves in our feelings will this world itself simply disappear because it exists only in our sensations.
[322267]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. It’s All Because of Money.”

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Of course, our duty in the corporeal world is to protect ourselves and, as commanded, to kill one who is trying to kill us. But we must understand that by doing this we are only buying ourselves a short delay for the correction of our souls, which is entrusted to us.

However, a soldier of the Israeli army who is at war should not fear that if he dies, he will not be able to complete his final correction. War is arranged in such a way that if he is destined to die, it means that he has already completed his correction.

This correction affects not only those who were killed or injured, but all the circles around them: family, friends, and acquaintances who experience this trauma. Desires, thoughts, and actions caused by the tragic event of the death of soldiers correct the thoughts of their loved ones, the entire nation, and all humanity.

After all, all souls are, in essence, one soul, and through the mutual inclusion of souls, they influence everyone.

There is a big difference between dying from a natural disaster like an earthquake and dying as a soldier in war. An earthquake is caused by the inanimate level, and death in battle is caused by the human level, and the difference in the correction of souls is enormous.

War comes to shake people up and shorten their time of correction. After the war, thoughts and relationships are usually renewed. Therefore, until the end of correction, it is impossible to completely avoid wars, and history continues. The purpose of war is to awaken a new response in desire so that with new desires, with the experience of war, people acquire the ability to make decisions that are closer to the final correction.

In the end, only the Creator always wins in war because in the end we are convinced that we cannot have any victory unless we unite and receive power from above. All our perfection and peace lie only in the Creator.

The Creator wants us to understand that only the unity of the people of Israel without any borders will help us save ourselves and the whole world from the abyss into which we are all gradually sliding.

Therefore, let us be strong in spirit, let us not cry, and, as they say, let us meet the coming day with a new song in our hearts.
[322712]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/23, Writing of Rabash “And It Shall Come to Pass When You Come to the Land that the Lord Your God Gives You”

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Question: A man saw in a dream that the king is in heaven and the sage is in hell. He asked the Creator, “What is the reason for this? I thought it would be the opposite, that the king would be in hell and the sage in heaven.” And he received the answer: “This king was accepted into heaven for his attachment to the sages. And the sage was sent to hell for his closeness to the kings.”

The question is, what qualities should a ruler possess in order to bring sages closer to himself, and not politicians?

Answer: He must have great respect for sages. The most important thing in his life is that he must understand that he needs to surround himself with sages.

Question: What do you mean by the word “sage”?

Answer: It is a person who strives to understand the meaning of life.

Question: Is this a sage? So for a ruler who has to take care of the people, security, the economy, etc., the main thing is to surround himself with those who talk about the meaning of life and think about it?

Answer: Yes, and then everything will work out.

Comment: In principle, for us it all stopped with the king-sages who embodied wisdom themselves: King David, King Solomon…

My Response: Oh, those were the first colossuses! They embodied wisdom themselves and surrounded themselves with sages.

Question: Should the ruler be like that today?

Answer: It is ridiculous to assume that. But in general, yes.

Question: The sage was sent to hell because he was too close to the rulers. There is some kind of contradiction here. How can a sage not bend under the power of the rulers?

Answer: He must be independent. Absolutely! Independent from everyone! And then the rulers will listen to the sages. That is, the independence of the sage will attract the ruler to him.

Question: That sage who ended up in hell, did it turn out that he was not very wise?

Answer: Of course, he bent under the ruler.

Question: What is the conclusion? What is a true ruler and what is a true sage?

Answer: A true sage is one who prefers wisdom to any other attributes and places it above everything else. And a true ruler is the one who bows down to the wisdom of the sages and places them above all.

Question: Beautiful! This view that professionals should be in power—economic professionals, security professionals, political professionals—in your opinion, is this view incorrect?

Answer: No, they are pulling humanity in absolutely the wrong direction.
[321877]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/9/23

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Question: What should be the conditions for people to be ready to solve the task of their development? There must be some conditions under which this will happen.

Answer: Since the goal of our development is concealed from us, because no matter how philosophers struggle with it, we cannot clearly define this goal, and everything that we define collides with our internal disagreement with it, it is too early for us to pose such questions. Humanity still needs to develop perhaps for many centuries.

But as we develop naturally, we will gradually come to the point that we will be able to solve global issues more and more. But, again, at what threshold we will begin to master solutions to questions about the meaning of life is not yet even approximately visible. We do not know what the meaning of human existence is.

Question: Does the fact that humanity, as we see it, is moving toward, God forbid, its destruction, delay its movement toward revelation or not?

Answer: No, I believe all this is interconnected: it is impossible to move forward without falling, without looking back, without disappointments. All this is one path. But we are still in the early stages of development.
[321974]
From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 11/27/23

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Arkady writes:

Dear Michael Laitman,

As I understand it, the Tower of Babel is the root of all troubles. There was one nation, they built a Tower, and the Creator broke it and mixed their languages.

What for? All the terrible things that are happening today are from there.

Please explain these actions of the Creator. You keep saying that He is good. Why did He break the tower, mix the languages, and cause a quarrel between everyone? What for? It all started so peacefully.”

It is written in the Torah (Bereshit, Genesis, 11:4): “And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered upon the face of the entire earth.”

This is how it all started. What is wrong with that, please tell me.

Answer: There is nothing wrong. The Creator did not want it to be like this.

Question: Later it becomes clear that He did not want it to be like this. But what was their transgression? They wanted to build a tower.

Answer: They wanted to be all together, build, and live, be one commune, respect and love each other, and so on. But the Creator wanted it to be according to His conditions and not theirs. This is why He disrupted it all.

Question: What is the Tower of Babel in the spiritual sense?

Answer: It is an egoistic elevation of corporeal life, which is elevated to the state of love for one’s neighbor based on egoism.

Question: Are you saying that this is the main mistake?

Answer: Of course! They do not need the Creator, they do not need anyone: “neither God, nor king, nor hero.” Just us, the common people.

Question: In principle, was this construction of the Tower of Babel by and large at the heart of communism and all revolutions, “peace to huts, war to palaces,” that is, “we will manage?”

Answer: Yes.

Question: When does a person build this inside himself? He is building a career for himself, he is making money, is this when he is gradually building the Tower of Babel?

Answer: Yes, but this is to a small extent. This is not the highest goal. Because in the case of the Tower of Babel, they built it for themselves forever. But here, even though a person is building a career and everything else, he knows that he will die.

Comment: And there, if they could do it, then, as they say, we will reach the heavens.

My Response: Up to heavens, yes. This “up to heavens” is a big problem; the main one. That is, you can build a tower, but do not touch the Creator. You will not reach Him.

Question: Arkady further asks: “What is it that the Creator does not like here?”

“And the Lord said, ‘Lo! [they are] one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they have commenced to do. Come, let us descend and confuse their language so that one will not understand the language of his companion.’

“And the Lord scattered them from there upon the face of the entire earth, and they ceased building the city” (Bereshit, Genesis, 11:6-11:8).

That is, Arkady believes that all the problems began with this.

Answer: Yes. That is, they will not be able to come to a common egoistic result. This result should be: we are all together and therefore we all feel good.

Comment: When we say the phrase: “United nation, we are together, and we will defeat everyone. One nation is invincible”…

My Response: No, this is not enough to defeat egoism. There is also a need for a Creator here. This is the desire of the Creator.

Question: Then on what basis can a tower be built so that it does not collapse?

Answer: Bestowal and love for each other and for the Creator.

Comment: When you say “and for the Creator,” this is difficult. A person does not see or feel Him.

My Response: No, “for the Creator” does not mean some kind of God, somewhere there, so high up that he is not visible. “For the Creator” means a connection between us that we raise above ourselves.

Above yourself, that is, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Then above all this, you raise the ideal of the Creator, who created all this above our egoism.

Question: That is, my nature is “I, and everything is for me,” and here, on the contrary, I want to rise above this so that everything is different, everything is for the other. Is this called building a real tower?

Answer: Of course. Then it will stand forever.

Question: Why do we build towers all the time? After all, it collapsed a long time ago, historically speaking, and we continue and continue to build these towers.

Answer: Humanity needs this. Towers, pyramids, mausoleums—all this is necessary, a person needs it.

Question: Even though they are all falling apart and will definitely fall apart?

Answer: Yes, but we are still building.

Question: Why do we have this in us?

Answer: We need this symbol. We are building a house for our egoism.

Question: So we need a symbol that we can pray for all the time. Is this what they call “praying to other gods”?

Answer: Yes. It can be temples, it can be pyramids, no matter what form it takes.

Question: In what case will we stop building them?

Answer: Only when the Creator is revealed to us.

Comment: At the same time, we do not know when He will be revealed.

My Response: We do not know, but only in this case. Revelation will completely cover our dreams, plans, future, and everything! That is, when He is revealed to us, we will understand that all this was complete nonsense and that we built it all in vain.

Question: You say that the Creator is mercy, kindness, and love all the time, and so on. Why is this such a cruel mercy that it lasts for a long time, that blood has been shed for centuries? Wars have been going on for centuries, but He still does not reveal Himself. Why?

Answer: He is revealed under certain conditions! What do you want from Him? He must be revealed in the state of His absolute unity with people. But it does not exist. And so far, there are no inclinations for this.

Question: The unity of the Creator with people? In which case?

Answer: If we are similar in qualities to Him, that is, if we are like Him, He will be revealed.
[320892]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/30/23

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Comment: Igor asks questions about Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom.”

Somehow this quote does not quite match with what you are saying. It is written in the article: “It turns out that there is no such thing as selfishness in the world, since no one here is free or stands in his own right.” How is there no egoism? You are saying we are all egoists.

My Response: No, this egoism is not ours, it is not our choice. It is our nature that is imposed on us. And of course, we have to seek ways to get rid of it and correct it.

For this, the science of Kabbalah exists. And if we gradually correct our nature, we will see that there is a way to rise above egoism and live according to different laws.

Question: So, when it is said that there is no egoism in the world because there is not a single free person here, does it mean that we should want to approach freedom? Otherwise, if you stop a person on the street, as you’ve been saying all along, and say, “You are an egoist,” he will say, “What do you mean, I am an egoist?” He has no awareness of evil.

When does this awareness come?

Answer: To achieve this, you have to start studying Kabbalah. And gradually, over the course of just a few months, a person begins to understand that selfishness guides him and he cannot escape from it anywhere, he is enslaved by it, and therefore the only one to blame is the Creator.

Question: Not myself, but the Creator?

Answer: Yes! Who created the ego?! So, it is said:”I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice.” So, the only thing we have to do is to reveal our nature as selfish and to reveal the method of correcting our nature as Torah.

Question: Meaning that when I feel bad and I understand that this is because of my egoism, I blame the Creator for this and not myself?

Answer: You can blame the Creator. But, in principle, the Creator does not run anywhere from this responsibility. He says: “The light in the Torah reforms him; the Torah is the light of Torah, which reforms a person,” and why I have made you egoists; and for you to correct yourself, you must study yourself and agree that it is precisely this attitude toward the world as evil and the opportunity to correct the world that are in your hands.

Question: Why does it take millennia for humanity to get to this form?

Answer: It does not want it. It does not want to look in this direction.

Question: It does not want to look within itself? And millennia of wars, suffering, blood, everything, everything are needed?

Answer: All of this is part of the correction process. It is us who count everything by days, hours, weeks and so on, but the Creator has no time.

Question: So, you are saying that there is no history as such? History does not exist?

Answer: There is, but all of it eventually is connected to the general correction nonetheless.

Question: Meaning, it is a force that accumulates? And only for this one solution: The evil is in me and I should correct it?

Answer: Of course, and nothing else is needed besides that.

Question: It is amazing of course! All historians and archaeologists are engaged in history, archaeology, and sciences digging out how we came to be: the Big Bang.And, in essence, it turns out that everything converges to one point.

Are all these sciences necessary, in your opinion?

Answer: No. If we had right away engaged in what is necessary, correcting ourselves and uniting, then we would not have needed all of this.

Question: In other words, we don’t really need all the knowledge?

Answer: No. We would have learned everything from nature itself.
[321183]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/6/23

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Now we are in the world of infinity in which there are an infinite number of images, connections, and all kinds of properties. But we perceive it as our world. We build some kind of “toys in it, and do things because we do not want to expand our perception of it.

We have fenced ourselves off from the infinite, special world we actually live in, and instead of expanding our perception and feeling what it is, we keep ourselves busy with playing and talking to ourselves, practically lying to ourselves, and that is how we exist.

We are given some segment of existence called our life. Within this framework, we are given the opportunity to expand the boundaries of our perception so much as to go beyond the limits of the bodily sensory organs and begin to perceive the world around us differently from how it is depicted to us through the five corporeal senses. Our vision and hearing are so limited that they give us a very small picture, which we call our world.

Kabbalists do not consider it to exist at all. They say it is “an imaginary world, a contrived world,” because in fact, it has nothing to do with the true picture, which is revealed if you begin to expand your perception and reveal the real universe.

But what do we do? We deceive ourselves throughout our lives. Inside the small picture of the world that we perceive, we begin to play with all sorts of toys and movies. It is a pity!

But since there is a program of creation from which we cannot escape, in this limited picture of the world, which is screened to us through our five senses, we gradually begin to feel an acute lack: “It is not enough. We want more. We feel bad. We need to get out of this state.”

Yet we are trying to somehow talk ourselves out of it, spinning around in order to stop feeling the crisis. In fact, this is a crisis in our perception of the universe. Nature pushes us to rise, expand our perception, and begin to feel the eternal perfect picture of the world that exists outside of us.

But we do not want to do that; we resist until we go through such suffering that will no longer let us remain in this picture, and we begin to associate our suffering with the limitation of our perception. Then we will have to change ourselves.
[321481]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Limitations of Vision and Hearing” 11/29/11

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