So far I have been using religious language, which as I have repeatedly pointed out many people do not share. But one can avoid the language of Incarnation, and free oneself from the confines of orthodox Christianity by taking the human mind as one’s starting point. In taking this as one’s starting point, one is limiting one’s view of life; but one can still bring in religion, if one wants to, by saying that the spirit of God lurks in the depths of the psyche. And taking this starting point is surely more likely to lead to success in dealing with the problems of Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Space, than starting with the view that the soul is miserably sinful? It always surprises me that the Church does not champion Ptolemy’s astronomy as opposed to Copernicus, Kepler and Newton. But perhaps it considers views on astronomy irrelevant to life, as St. Ambrose did. If it considers the problems of Artificial Intelligence irrelevant to life, it is in for a rude awakening. You either solve them or perish. That is why I think that for the C.of E. to dismiss Jung’s offer of a conversation about his findings in regard to the human psyche was a most disastrous decision.
We are entering a new world, in which the very existence of human society is at stake, and the Church does not even know the vocabulary to take part in any debate. Even if one clings to the historical tradition of one’s country, as I do, is it not time to clear the decks and be prepared to tackle the problems of the future with as few preconceived ideas and as much ingenuity as possible? Are not two salient features of the mechanical world that threatens us, a demand to be able to communicate world-wide with everyone and everything, and a robotic push-button procedure to replace human contact? A belief in telepathy, and a working knowledge of archetypes in the subconscious, would seem the minimum knowledge necessary to begin to suggest a spiritual solution. Unless you believe Spirit is supreme, you are going to lose! So is not the best course to ask God himself how He proposes to out-trump these mechanical dangers? And for that, you need an indwelling with Him. You need Him deep in the psyche.