{"id":27501,"date":"2024-10-25T23:06:09","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T23:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=27501"},"modified":"2024-12-27T15:06:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T15:06:52","slug":"we-were-warned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=27501","title":{"rendered":"we were warned&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>UPDATED from October 25,2024<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Court Painter offers an honorable portrait of Hannah Arendt.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong> Also five portraits of current influential <strong>technology<\/strong><\/strong> <strong>billionaires who should be viewed as subjects of caution in the context of her analysis<\/strong> contained in <strong><em>The Human Condition<\/em><\/strong>.(1958)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-Hannah-Arendt.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27507\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9;object-fit:cover;width:1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-Hannah-Arendt.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-Hannah-Arendt-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-Hannah-Arendt-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hannah Arendt<\/strong>&nbsp;(born October 14, 1906,&nbsp; Hannover, Germany\u2014died December 4, 1975,New York, New York, U.S.) was a German-born American political scientist and philosopher known for her critical writing on Jewish affairs and her study of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/totalitarianism\">totalitarianism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What You Can Learn from Just Seven Pages by Hannah Arendt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>She wrote this book in the 1950s, but it&#8217;s frighteningly relevant right now<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/profile\/4937458-ted-gioia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@tedgioia\">TED GIOIA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OCT 25, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-Hannah-Arendt.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28203\" style=\"width:1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-Hannah-Arendt.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-Hannah-Arendt-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-Hannah-Arendt-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/open.substack.com\/pub\/tedgioia\/p\/what-you-can-learn-from-just-seven?r=1sx7vz&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=email\">https:\/\/open.substack.com\/pub\/tedgioia\/p\/what-you-can-learn-from-just-seven?r=1sx7vz&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=email<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Today I turn my attention to an extraordinary analysis from Hannah Arendt\u2019s book&nbsp;<em>The Human Condition&nbsp;<\/em>(1958). It\u2019s so accurate, it\u2019s almost scary.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arendt is a constant source of inspiration for me. In this book, <strong><em>she warns us about technologists who are dangerous because they are so completely out-of-touch with their humanity<\/em><\/strong>. She wrote this book in the mid-1950s, but you might think she was living in Silicon Valley today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s what she says about these dangerous individuals in the opening pages of her 1958 book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>On page one she says that people who are disconnected with the human condition are obsessed with outer space and want to \u201cescape man\u2019s imprisonment to the earth.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On page two, she says that these people are \u201cdirected towards making life artificial\u201d\u2014sort of like virtual reality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On page three, she claims that they will eventually want to create \u201cartificial machines to do our thinking and speaking\u2026.we would become the helpless slaves\u2026at the mercy of every gadget which is technically possible, no matter how murderous it is.\u201d&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On page four, she warns us that scientists have already shown (with the development of the atomic bomb) that they create dangerous things but are \u201cthe last to be consulted about their use.\u201d So any prediction a scientist makes about the use of new tech is totally worthless\u2014politicians and tyrants will decide how it is used.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On page five, she explains that in this kind of society, freedom becomes almost worthless, because people are deprived of the \u201chigher and more meaningful activities for the sake of which this freedom would deserve to be won.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On page six, she says that the people pursuing this escape from the human condition are thus creating \u201cmodern world alienation.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On page seven, she says that they inhabit \u201can \u2018artificial\u2019 world of things distinctly different from all natural surroundings\u201d\u2014so that their tech innovations will lead to an inevitable degradation of the environment, and a detachment from the real world.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-P-Thiel.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27510\" style=\"width:1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-P-Thiel.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-P-Thiel-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-P-Thiel-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portait of Peter Thiel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Zuckerberg-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27517\" style=\"width:1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Zuckerberg-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Zuckerberg-1-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Zuckerberg-1-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portrait of Jeff Zuckerberg<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-E-Musk.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27508\" style=\"width:1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-E-Musk.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-E-Musk-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-E-Musk-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portrait of Elon Musk<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Bezos.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27518\" style=\"width:1000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Bezos.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Bezos-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Bezos-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portrait of Jeff Bezos<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-sam-altman.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-sam-altman.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-sam-altman-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-sam-altman-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portrait of Sam Altman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UPDATED from October 25,2024 Court Painter offers an honorable portrait of Hannah Arendt. Also five portraits of current influential technology billionaires who should be viewed as subjects of caution in the context of her analysis contained in The Human Condition.(1958) Hannah Arendt&nbsp;(born October 14, 1906,&nbsp; Hannover, Germany\u2014died December 4, 1975,New York, New York, U.S.) was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=27501\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;we were warned&#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-images","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27501"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28206,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27501\/revisions\/28206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}