Examines the role that machines play in the struggle between “spiritual man” and “mechanical man” throughout the ages
Examines the role that machines play in the struggle between “spiritual man” and “mechanical man” throughout the ages
• Explores how we naturally project consciousness onto machines and how this is reflected in human culture, science, artificial intelligence, and literature
• Demonstrates a direct connection between consciousness and the history of machines in American history
• Looks at the contributions and influence of Grace Hopper, Richard Feynman, Philip K. Dick, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Elon Musk, David Bohm, Norbert Wiener, and Steve Jobs as well as the Nag Hammadi Gnostic gospels
Humans invented and constructed machines to aid them as far back as the Stone Age. As the machines became more complex, they became extensions of the body and mind, and we naturally began projecting consciousness onto them. As Luke Lafitte shows in detail, although machines complicate the already complicated issue of identity, because they are “ours” and “of us,” they are part of our spiritual development.
In this sweeping exploration of the history of the machine as a tool, as a transpersonal object to assist human activity, and as a transitional artifact between spirits and the humans who interact with them, Lafitte examines the role that machines play in the struggle between “spiritual man” and “mechanical-man” throughout history. He interprets the messages, archetypes, and language of the unconscious in the first popular stories related to mechanical-men, and he demonstrates a direct connection between consciousness and the history of machines in American history, specifically between the inventors of these machines and the awakening of our imaginations and our powers of manifestation. He examines the influence of Philip K. Dick, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Grace Hopper, Richard Feynman, Elon Musk, David Bohm, and others and shows how the Nag Hammadi gospels explain how we can take back our myth and spirit from the machine.
Although the term mechanical-man is a catch-all phrase, Lafitte shows that the term is also a meeting ground where extra-dimensional communications between different forms of matter occur. Every machine, android, robot, and cyborg arose from consciousness, and these mechanical-men, whether real or fictive, offer us an opportunity to free ourselves from enslavement to materialism and awaken our imaginations to create our own realities.
“"The ambition of Lafitte's Machine Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm is massive, provocative, and essential. It is a book that traces the emergence of the American character and mythos reflected in the form of the ever-evolving mechanical man. From the steam engine and the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz to the Darth Vader and the Matrix, the book is a whirlwind blending of scholarship and pop culture portraying a vortex of ideas, influences, and expressions that portend an epochal shift in how we live, perceive reality, spirituality, and self. We are immersed in a wide array of challenges, complexity, and opportunities, and Lafitte is our navigator."”
"The ambition of Lafitte’s Machine Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm is massive, provocative, and essential. It is a book that traces the emergence of the American character and mythos reflected in the form of the ever-evolving mechanical man. From the steam engine and the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz to the Darth Vader and the Matrix, the book is a whirlwind blending of scholarship and pop culture portraying a vortex of ideas, influences, and expressions that portend an epochal shift in how we live, perceive reality, spirituality, and self. We are immersed in a wide array of challenges, complexity, and opportunities, and Lafitte is our navigator." Thomas Riccio, former Creative Director at Hanson Robotics and Professor at University of Texas at D
“Machine Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm is a tour de force of mythological thinking on a reimagined hero’s journey. A brilliant insight into the potential of humanity and new mythic directions toward the ever-changing frontiers of discovery, innovation, and actualization.” Judd H. Burton, Ph.D., director of the Institute of Biblical Anthropology
Luke Lafitte, J.D., Ph.D., is a trial attorney, American history teacher, and co-founder of Dead White Zombies, an award-winning theater group in Dallas, Texas. Partner in a leading law firm in Dallas, he is the author of the three-volume series Chronicles of a Curious Mind.
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