Thinking Machines Banned in "Dune"

A priest and chaplain, Father John Jimenez serves in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, California for 23 years, and has taught in parochial and public schools for 30 years, writes of the effect of social media and smart phones on young people, and now software and AI technology in shaping thought and manipulating behavior, an issue that Frank Herbert foresaw in "Dune", and how shaping thought and mass behavior through scapegoating of chosen groups, and ginning up conflict is a means of social controlHere is his quote, "once men turned thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free, but that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."

Franklin Foer adds in his book "World Without Mind"The Existential Threat of Big Tech", tech monopolists aspire to mold humanity into their desired image, that humanity is simply a subject that can be endlessly manipulated to a desired end."

Is not this the mass psychosis and censorship of information about the covid pandemic, manipulation of elections, and even ginning up regime change wars are really about?

Algorithms Continue to Shape the World

Father John Jimenez is a San Francisco priest, chaplain, and teacher. Alongside instructing high school students in mathematics, he often contributes to the San Francisco Chronicle. In his articles, Father John Jimenez has talked about the “expanding bubble of desire” that is fueled by social media, and the development and use of algorithms that reward pleasure-seeking behavior.

Algorithms are digital programs that independently tackle problems with mathematical logic; one could be programmed to sort a million social media posts by topic, for example. They are considered tools that have the potential to solve a variety of problems. Engineers wonder if algorithms could be used to block harmful content in social media, predict the future, and prevent disasters. However, algorithms already play a massive role in our lives and provide direction to human behaviors, for better or worse. Platforms like TikTok have fully embraced the use of algorithms, using them to foster an addictive model that provides an endless stream of content for users to consume.

Platforms like Instagram and Facebook are increasingly under pressure to admit the ways that their products are addictive and unhealthy for users, and that they have purposely been designed that way to maximize profits. By playing into their user’s desire for more content, they create an environment that acts as a positive feedback loop: the more time a user spends online, the better the algorithm gets at providing engaging content to that user. Rather than a solution to a problem, the algorithm has itself become a problem that persists, even without human intervention. Once activated, such algorithms continually modify in a feedback loop fashion, thus expanding the bubble of desire, without a moral conscience, a force that often times ends up displacing people, or cancelling them, or censoring information, in the end, taking away our freedom. To say it simply, Liberty without Morality becomes Oppressively Libertine

Analyzing the Worldwide Impact of the #MeToo Movement

 Father John Jimenez is a priest and chaplain in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. In his sermons, Father John Jimenez talks about how people can become dehumanized when seen as objects of desire and mentions the #MeToo movement that has brought many examples of this dehumanization to light. The #MeToo movement had existed in some form since 2006 and gained global recognition in 2017 when Alyssa Milano encouraged its use as a hashtag, which peaked in October 2018. The movement went global simultaneously and has had varying impacts in different countries and cultures. In China, for example, the #MeToo movement was only briefly popular in mid-2018, with even high-profile cases such as former tennis star Peng Shuai being swept under the rug as the victims have spoken up. At around the same time, Japan saw a brief period of public outcry against public officials. Top finance bureaucrat Junichi Fukuda resigned following accusations of making inappropriate comments towards a female journalist and other claims of harassment. Meanwhile, in Denmark, the movement continued to have an impact well into the 2020s, with an open letter calling for sexism in the Danish media to be addressed. 1,600 women signed the letter.

Memorial Day and the Spirit of Truth that Jesus Sends

On the 6th Sunday of Easter our readings give us many images to dwell on... Jesus not leaving us orphans, Jesus sending the Spirit of Truth, Phillip evangelizing Samaria, Peter and John laying hands calling the Holy Spirit upon those who were baptized. These images remind me of a seminarian, Ben, who helped me in my travels in Sudan, a war orphan, forced to be a child soldier, who found the Spirit of Truth in the Lord Jesus and sought to serve His Peace.

One memory I have is of him, like Phillip in the Acts of the Apostles, assisting the Bishop in a Confirmation for about 100 enthusiastic youth and adults, whom, after many years of war and privation, were now able to celebrate receiving the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

As we remember those who lost their lives in war during Memorial Day, let us reflect on what causes such wars and devastations.

False ideologies and the push to accumulate power are the evil forces which cause war and cause such suffering of innocent people.

Yet, peace cannot endure unless there is a moral order. A moral order is the result of the Spirit of Truth that Jesus sends, the Spirit of Truth that Jesus speaks of in the gospel (John 14:15-21). It is moral order that allows us to work cooperatively, to be of one heart and one mind, to be at peace with one another.

If we take time to pray about what the tragedy of war really is, and remember the pain of all those suffering, soldier and civilian, then love will impel us to want to live by the commandments of God, the holy order of God, for only in this way can we ever have peace.

If we really want peace,then we will obey, out of love, the Spirit of Truth that Jesus sends. I see in Ben an example of a person who, out of great suffering, came to live this truth.

Reflecting on the suffering of war victims, of the poverty and disregard that soldiers live, of his own time in an orphanage...he realized that the only choice now is between a world where people continue to fight over false ideologies, people who cheat and manipulate the system, people who seek selfish desires and create havoc in society, or a world where peace endures, a moral order. The source of that moral order is the Spirit of Truth that Jesus gives.

Whom will we serve? The world of power, pleasure, and posession, and the damage that it does, or the Spirit of Truth, the Peace that only the Lord can give.

The Lord of the Rings Exemplifies Hope for Dark Times

A priest, chaplain, and teacher in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Father John Jimenez preaches against dehumanization and Rene Girard's idea of the “expanding bubble of desire.” Through his writings, Father John Jimenez points to powerful stories of hope, such as The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Evil and darkness often lead to feelings of hopelessness, but in those times, a story such as the one written in The Lord of the Rings provides a powerful illumination of the true Christian virtue of hope. This virtue means neither expecting all suffering to vanish nor achieving instant victory. Rather it means being willing to strive onward, step by step making the right choice, trusting in God's providence to bring good out of all things.

Frodo and Sam illustrate that reality beautifully. When they venture into Mordor it seems certain that they must be captured by the orcs and the ring of power taken to Sauron. They have nothing to protect them but their humility and their hope. Those virtues allow them also to resist the temptation to seize the power of the ring for themselves.

In their journey toward Mount Doom to destroy the ring, they seek the good of others rather than looking for their own pleasure. They trust in that beyond themselves. That hope carries them through immense fear and suffering, leading to a victory that no army or technological advancement could ever achieve.

The Poor Widow Shows How to Overcome The Dragon of Accumulated Desire

Three cross Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

Father John Jimenez, a catholic priest who grew up and has served in San Francisco, and also in Mexico, Ecuador and Sudan, in response to working with so many families and long time residents displaced from their homes and lands, spoke recently of the analogy with the Dragon in the Book of Revelation as a real entity that represents the tech driven accumulation of desire that crushes and displaces the innocent. Jesus teaches us how to overcome this destructive force through the lesson of the widow.

The poor widow that Jesus points to in Matthew's gospel, chapter 12, is the true disciple who gives all she can in reverence to God and all of God's creation. She is an example of how to combat the Dragon of History (shown in the Book of Revelation chapter 12), of whom is the continual expansion and destruction caused by the accumulation of all of human freedom, deceived by the desire for power, vanity, pleasure and greed. This becomes the Dragon that tries to devour the innocent Child, born of The Woman, forced to flee in the desert.
The way of the widow shows us that authentic worship of God will dispose us to God's revelation, to guide us to true freedom and cooperative service.

Consider the parallel of our own times to that of 100 years ago, the unintended forces, a simple skirmish, that rapidly became the uncontrollable, illogical logic of years of trench warfare for a field of mud and blood, innocent farm boys and civilians calling out for their mom in their final moments of suffocating breath.

The "War to End All Wars" began ina similar way to our own uncontrollable, tech driven forces today, groups projecting blame onto other groups, driven by envy, #metoo exploitation of the innocent, soft target mass shootings, disoplacement of peoples from their lands and homes, forced migrations, and objectification of the human person. The widow, then is the one victimized by this envy, vainglory, pleasure seeking desire for power.
Left with nothing except God's Spirit, she is sustained, and disposed to God's revelation, like the prophet Elijah, when he was sustained in a time of exile by the meager offerings of a widow, foreseeing that, "there will be enough for everyone if we live by poverty of spirit."

So, 100 years ago, what began as a simple chess game of geopolitical strategy, combined with the expanding bubble of desire, fueled by technology....the lesson of history that those with superior technology dominate, sword over stick, tank over horse....then became uncontrollable, like fires raging recently here in California or in Australia, burning with a life of their own.

Then it was arms and weapons. Today, it is social media, avarice, and concupiscence, combined with algorithmic investment calculations and Artificial Intelligience. This is the Dragon of our own times, the genocides, civil wars, and scandals of the 20th century, and multiple mass shootings of the 21st century. We look to the widow, the lesson of Fatima for response

Solving the Rising Rent Cost in California

Room for Rent
Photo by Alex Block on Unsplash

For more than 20 years, Father John Jimenez has served the Archdiocese of San Francisco as priest, chaplain, and teacher. In a letter published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Father John Jimenez expressed his support for Proposition 10, a measure that would give local renters some ability to protect themselves.

Proposition 10 was a ballot initiative whose purpose was to give leverage to cities and counties across California to expand rent control law. However, in November 2018, about two-thirds of voters voted against this measure. As a result, lawmakers are now proposing several bills that will protect renters across California.

Assembly Bill 1482 - David Chiu (D-San Francisco). This bill applies to units that have not been covered by local ordinances. Listed as CPI+__%, AB 1482 has yet to determine the allowable rent percentage every year.

Assembly Bill 36 - Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica). This bill attempts to loosen the Costa Hawkins state law. Under this bill, cities could place rent controls on single-family homes, condos, and apartment buildings aged 10 years or older, except for landlords who rent out only one or two units.

Assembly Bill 1481 - Rob Bonta (D-Oakland). This bill aims to expand the rent control regulations by requiring landlords to provide a reason why a tenant is subject for eviction through a policy called “Just Cause for Evictions.”

Assembly Bill 724 - Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland). This bill seeks to provide lawmakers and the public with crucial information regarding rental units, such as eviction rates and rent increases, by creating a statewide rental registry.