Below is a summary of my most recent post from Hot Springs, Arkansas. It just goes to show how fragile our perceived “reality” is in a world increasingly governed by the physics of information. It truly is a fascinating time to be alive.
With digital media working overtime to keep everyone in their assigned “reality tunnels” it may be hard to contemplate new wrinkles to the story that are so bizarre as to appear over-the-top spectacle. And yet, Elowyn, a blockchain Decentralized Autonomous Organization, with bottom-up game mechanics and in-game token economy linked to “peace,” “healing,” and “sustainability” has been designed with financial support from Ben Goertzel (the creator of Sophia the robot’s brain) and Michaela Ulieru (Singularity.net’s Chief Alchemist) to generate psychological data that will supposedly train “benevolent AI.”
The leader of the Elowyn initiative, Anneloes Smitsman, based on the tiny volcanic island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, has also been involved with educational programs in partnership with systems theorist Alexander Laszlo and Russian transhumanist Pavel Luksha. Both are affiliated with Global Education Futures that has footprints, through Tom Vander Ark’s former ed-tech investment fund Learn Capital, on Powder Mountain, Utah and in Arena Hall in Austin, Texas.
The backer of Smitsman’s education initiative, piloted in several Catholic schools on the island, was backed by Investec, an Australian bank that is deeply involved in human capital bets on children. Smitsman has conducted research in South Africa and Australia, and both countries are hotbeds of blockchain impact finance. One of the advisors to Smitsman’s “Earthwise” organization and promoter of the archetypal card game to “fight Moloch” is Laura George, ordained priest of the interfaith order of Melchizedeck, human potential movement advocate, and leader of the “Peace Pentagon” situated along the ancient New River in the mountains of Virginia. Laura George and Glen Martin, philosophy professor at Radford College, are working to develop a worldwide constitution in coordination with Smitsman’s benevolent AGI program through the Peace Pentagon’s umbrella organization “The Oracle Institute.”
Imagine my shock that when pulling this thread I find Philadelphia housing rights activist, Cheri Honkala, listed as an advisor to George’s Institute. Cheri’s photo is featured in the same row as Anneloes Smitsman. When I contacted Cheri with documentation of the Elowyn DAO and the planned AGI world constitution, the only response I received was a brief text thanking me for the information. When I requested a follow up, so that I could accurately represent Cheri and the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign’s relationship to this effort I received no further response, which leaves me presuming tacit endorsement.
The beginning of this video also discusses author Robert Anton Wilson’s ideas, in partnership with Timothy Leary’s research on Eight Circuits of Consciousness, about “reality tunnels.” Reality Tunnels are the stories we live inside to make sense of the world. I personally am not comfortable with a reality tunnel where housing insecure people are sponsored by impact investors to acquire crypto card decks to fight Moloch, bend time, and train Sophia the Robot on blockchain while being subjected to behavioral hazing, but I suppose to some that model may seem appropriate. It certainly wasn’t what I signed up for when I worked with PPEHRC in Philadelphia to try and raise awareness about digital twins, blockchain, social impact finance and cybernetics.
Jason Bosch also had close connections to Cheri and PPEHRC for many years. In fact that is how he connected with me after seeing a poor quality video I had made on my research topics during a PPEHRC-sponsored presentation at the Wooden Shoe bookstore in the spring of 2019. Throughout the lock downs Jason attempted to set up a conversation with Cheri Honkala about our findings on Web3 and our concerns about how the planned digital governance layer would impact poor communities and vulnerable populations. He was never able to pin Cheri down for a time to talk about it privately or on video.
Looking back on my past experiences, I am having a very difficult time making sense of this development. I think most people lead their lives trying to have agency and make the world a better place. Does Cheri truly believe in gamified “benevolent AI” psychological profiling and a planned world constitution for universal “peace” even when it is clear that all of the players are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (the structure for cybernetic systems engineering of people and populations into recursive fitness landscapes to improve their human potential)? At this point I can only guess, because communication channels are jammed.
As the events of this week unfold, remember there are many things happening in the background that won’t make it into the main current of the media feeds for years to come. Nonetheless it may very well be those things are are most important to comprehend as we navigate the unbelievable developments that are unfolding. At the end of the day was it just one big Live-Action-Role-Play performance art piece? I close scratching my head and thinking again about the inversions in the plot of John Fowles’ 1965, “The Magus.”
Addendum:
After I published this post, which I sent directly to Cheri and the associate mentioned in the video, she texted me back to say that she was no longer involved with The Oracle Institute. I had hoped that she would have conveyed that information to me when I contacted her twice last week to ask for clarification in advance of sharing this research publicly. It was not my intent to skewer Cheri or PPEHRC, but this project is too important to simply be set aside as something to be considered on another day, especially for people ostensibly organizing vulnerable populations at a grassroots level. I wrote back to Cheri stating that I would be very interested in reading her take, or listening to a video of hers, on Laura George’s organization now that she has the larger context related to Smitsman, Earthwise, and Elowyn. The Oracle Institute’s “Peace Pentagon” identifies as an eco-village, a concept with tentacles going back to Findhorn in the UK and the origins of the New Age movement. Cheri was Jill Stein’s VP running mate on the Green Party ticket in the 2012 presidential race. When I was associated with PPEHRC we drove to Chicago and attended a day-long event hosted by the eco-socialist contingent of the Green Party, including Kali Akuno of Cooperation Jackson (a non-profit that has a Fab-Lab funded by MIT) and David Cobb who is involved with Cooperation Humboldt’s solidarity economy. I personally would be interested in hearing more from Cheri or other Green Party affiliates about how the Smitsman, Ulieru, Goertzel plan to use crypto gaming to train “benevolent AI” may intersect (or not) with the party’s platform around cooperatives, the environment, and “peace.”
Anneloes Smitsman has co-authored two books with Jean Houston from a Trilogy called Future Humans Trilogy. Jean Houston is the wife of Robert Masters who wrote a book called THE
GODDESS SEKHMET: Psycho-spiritual exercises of the Fifth Way. Aleister Crowley’s disciple and founder of the Typhonian Order Kenneth Grant wrote a foreword in which he says: “Here are valuable insights and practical formulae for establishing contact with other worlds and lucid descriptions of the magical
bodies formulated by the Adept who explores them. The author’s
unswerving devotion to the Goddess Sekhmet as a Gateway to alien
realms is captivating and infectious.”
Why am I bringing this connection? Because I think the Occult/Paranormal aspect of the directed morphogenesis of the Biocybernetic Planetary Superorganism is very important. In his new book “The Consciousness Explosion” Ben Goertzel says: “What I suspect, though, is that ESP and precognition and so forth actually do work
already; they are just mercurial and their functionality depends on a lot of obscure
factors we don’t currently understand. So, I suspect that we could engineer minds
that would genuinely manifest these phenomena—not just emulate them—and do so
much more reliably than people do.”
They’re trying to create AGI Wizards.
Alison, thanks for this. As usual I’m fascinated and impressed by the deep, many-layered work you do as a historian. I posit this question for your consideration, though, when you say no one is interested: What if it’s not that people are uninterested in your work or your ‘reality tunnel’ or story, but have no framework to integrate it into their ‘reality tunnels’ – yet? That we don’t know how doesn’t mean lack of interest. I don’t think you are on your own; especially when you believe in God or a benevolent universe – you have supporters and followers.
Listening to your video, I had to look up Cybernetics and Qualia – because even this language is so far from anything with which I am familiar. I have no reference point for it. On my own limited level of understanding, I too am uncomfortable with going forward with a structure being built when most of us don’t even know what it is or what we’re agreeing to by participating (knowingly or unknowingly) and how we would want to respond to it – or if.
Maybe it’s not disinterest in being in your reality tunnel. Maybe we too don’t know how, or what. It’s a lot. Words can’t always cut it, and I’m probably failing to get across here with these words.
If nothing else, I and others are with you – we don’t want to be in a ‘one world culture.’ keep on tunneling for truth.
BRILLIANT WORK ALISON!
AI is designed to be anti-human/anti-life programmed by technocrat control freak psychos – garbage in = garbage out. Everyone got along just fine without all these absurd and downright satanic electronic gadgets that did not exist until recently. NOBODY NEEDS THIS AI CRAP!
EW! GROSS! HELL NO! https://www.technocracy.news
NOT MY BRAIN/MIND! NOT MY BODY! NO WAY, NO HOW, NOT PLAYING YOUR AI QUANTUM STUPID-ASS VIDEO GAMES! I AM LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD CREATING ART AND PERFORMANCES!
The more I learn about this stuff, the more sickened, nauseated and horrified I get, and I wonder what kind of inhuman psychopath loonies make this crap and want to use it!?
Personally, I am not too comfortable (as you said,) with a lot of this, either. It’s good to be cognizant of this stuff, I would say. At the risk of seeming “unintelligent”, I *will* say that these prople and their activities are greedy and evil. Love to you, and thanks.
Hi sweet Alison! As usual, you have managed to show me another fascinating perspective and it never gets old! I really loved how you said you were in the reality tunnel that accepts that there are many reality tunnels! I wish we could all go on a retreat together and chat around a big bonfire the entire time! Can you imagine how much fun our hungry brains would have together?! Thank you for continuing to explore and teach!
As always, your research helps me put thoughts into words, you’re an educator and I’m an analyst. If you have problems communicating your thoughts, then I’ll never have a chance to explain the architectures I am working with. I think it’s apt that I read your post given the current political spectacle, as it provides a perfect example of the very subject matter being discussed, especially Robert Anton Wilson’s concept of reality tunnels, which offer a potent lens through which to examine the complexities of gamified activism and its potential pitfalls. While digital platforms offer unprecedented opportunities for engagement and mobilization, the algorithmic curation of information, coupled with the inherent biases of gamification, risks trapping individuals within echo chambers of their own making. This creates a troubling paradox: the very tools designed to connect and empower can inadvertently reinforce existing prejudices and hinder genuine dialogue.
Wilson’s notion of reality tunnels highlights the subjective nature of perception. Our experiences, beliefs, and cultural contexts act as filters, shaping how we interpret the world. When activism migrates to the digital sphere, these pre-existing filters are further reinforced by algorithms designed to maximize engagement. The pursuit of likes, shares, and points becomes a self-perpetuating cycle, rewarding conformity and reinforcing existing narratives. This creates a feedback loop where the most engaging content, often the most emotionally charged and least nuanced, rises to the top, further solidifying pre-existing reality tunnels. The result is not informed citizenry, but rather, digitally enabled tribes, increasingly isolated within their respective ideological echo chambers.
The gamification of activism, while potentially increasing participation, raises serious concerns about the quality of that participation. Is clicking a button, signing an online petition, or sharing a pre-packaged infographic truly indicative of genuine engagement with complex social issues? Or does it simply offer a superficial sense of involvement, a low-effort form of virtue signaling that ultimately reinforces pre-existing biases without fostering critical thinking? The danger lies in mistaking activity for action, engagement for understanding, and validation for truth.
Furthermore, the emphasis on gamified metrics can distort the very nature of activism. The focus shifts from genuine social impact to achieving high scores and accumulating digital trophies. This can lead to a performative activism, where the primary motivation is not to effect change, but rather to be seen as engaging in activism. This performativity risks trivializing important social movements, reducing complex struggles to simplistic games with easily achievable goals.
Well, Elowyn the game I don’t think really centers activism as we currently understand it. I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear. I know Cheri and I was involved in local activism in person, on the ground – in jail for a night even. Cheri is still doing good work assisting people in need, but her history as a high-profile housing rights activist I think makes her a target for people who might like to put window dressing on a rather unpalatable – from my reality tunnel at least – enterprise. What I found distressing was that none of this really made sense – seeing her listed as an advisor to Laura George who is promoting occult crypto noosphere card games. It made me very sad, that even though we were never close, I did donate money and time to her cause over the years and yet even with that level of connection she did not feel compelled to respond to my inquiries about what exactly was going on. That is, until I sent her the post, and then she got very angry – not about what was happening, but that I besmirched her digital reputation I guess. I can see a future where activism is gamified. In fact, I think that UBI will be linked to digital impact investment schemes where a portion of your allotment will be set aside for you to “gamble” on natural capital investments, etc. and on the back end there will be some quorum sensing mechanics going on. Now that I think about it the other “sustainability” crypto game I discussed with Jason in the long talk about opportunity youth directed at Derek Broze’s promotion of Splinterlands crypto gaming for poor kids in the Global South is more in line with your comment. https://youtu.be/J_2sBImR9-A?t=15581 https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/edutech/brief/evoke-an-online-alternate-reality-game-supporting-social-innovation-among-young-people-around-the-world
I tried to put a link to a Robert Anton Wilson documentary on your YouTube channel but I guess the algorithm didn’t want that, so here you go
https://youtu.be/A7N6TOFyrLg?si=f2ht0yRyUYIP0jVs
Thank you. I enjoyed that.