In Episode 349 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with author and essayist Meghan O'Gieblyn, who writes on matters of philosophy and religion for The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The Guardian, and other publications. Meghan O'Gieblyn shares her personal journey growing up in a fundamentalist Christian community. She talks about the disillusionment she experienced upon leaving the faith, her forays into transhumanism and other alternative theories of consciousness, and what she thinks is really going on: what is the nature of reality, is consciousness fundamental to the universe, and what happens to us when we die? In the second hour, Demetri and Meghan O'Gieblyn examine what it means to live in a digitally intermediated and surveilled society and what philosophy can tell us about the advancements being made in artificial intelligence. They consider why this technology is unlike anything else that human beings have previously created and why its development and unrestricted application put at risk not only our lives but also our humanity. You can subscribe to our premium content and access our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports at HiddenForces.io/subscribe. If you want to join in on the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community, which includes Q&A calls with guests, access to special research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners, you can also do that on our subscriber page at HiddenForces.io/subscribe. If you enjoyed listening to today’s episode of Hidden Forces, you can help support the show by doing the following: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | CastBox | RSS Feed Write us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify Subscribe to our mailing list at https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/ Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou Subscribe and Support the Podcast at https://hiddenforces.io Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas Episode Recorded on 01/09/2024