The Woke Mind Virus
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 11 minute read The chapter ‘The Woke Mind Virus’ commences with this excerpt. Woke: an update Since I first published this material in late 2022, there has been a significant shift in the political landscape. While the influence of Woke ideology continues to permeate culture, there are indications that its extremes are reaching a peak. Fueled by the confinement of the pandemic and the collective hypnosis observed in mass formation, various commentators have pinpointed this phenomenon, with Elon Musk notably among them. Employing a technological metaphor, Musk has referred to it as ‘the woke mind-virus,’ a precise characterization. This virus attaches itself to and proliferates within the ‘compassion centre’ of the mind, as previously mentioned by James Lindsay in Chapter 4. ‘[Marxism has] evolved into different species to attack the West at its weakest points, through our tolerance, through our acceptance, through our openness, through our generosity, through our best traits, actually the things that we should be proud of, being the things that we are proud of being.’ Previously, I titled this chapter ‘Woke as Old Testament Religion’ because the virus also targets and proliferates within another core aspect of the psyche: the ‘fear centre.’ This region corresponds to the reptilian part of the brain, which oversees fundamental instincts related to self-preservation.[1] Asked by Bill Maher[2] why he talks of the ‘woke mind virus’ as pushing civilization towards suicide, Musk says, ‘I think we need to be very cautious about anything that is anti-meritocratic and anything that results in the suppression of free speech. Those are the two aspects of the woke mind virus that I think are very dangerous … you can’t question things … even the questioning is bad.’[3] Approaching Musk’s political beliefs, Maher suggests he doesn’t think of Musk as a conservative, Musk says, ‘I at least think of myself as a moderate … I’ve spent a massive amount of my life building sustainable energy: electric vehicles and batteries and solar and stuff, to help save the environment. … That’s not exactly far right.’[4] Maher refers to a stick-man diagram Musk shared on X / Twitter in 2023, showing how the world had changed: in 2008 Musk saw himself as ‘Left of Centre;’ but then in 2012, Musk’s fellow liberal begins running in a Left-ward direction. In comparison Musk’s position appears closer to the Centre; by the time we reach 2021, Musk’s fellow liberal is now a Far Left woke progressive and, the Centre point having moved further Left with him, Musk now finds himself on...
Compassion and its ‘enemies’
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 10 minute read Diving into the Preface of ‘The Buddhas and Global Governance,’ this excerpt digs into the intricate dynamics of compassion and its adversaries. Building upon the narrative of ‘ The Twitter Files,’ it navigates through the suspension of Jordan Peterson from Twitter, shedding light on the complexities surrounding bringing the right amount of compassion to transgender issues. Join me as I embark on a journey towards understanding the nuances of compassion and where the Middle Way lies. The ‘banning’ of Jordan Peterson from Twitter The ‘great sin,’ however, on ‘Old Twitter’ was to comment on a transgender issue: as Jordan Peterson found to his cost when he was suspended[1] from Twitter in July 2022 for allegedly violating their rules against hateful conduct. Mikhaila Peterson said her father would be off the platform until he deleted the tweet. Conservative commentator David Rubin commented on the incident, “The insanity continues at Twitter. @jordanbpeterson has been suspended for this tweet about Ellen Page. He just told me he will ‘never’ delete the tweet. Paging @elonmusk.”’ [2] only to be suspended himself, at which, ‘Rubin and Mikhaila called on Tesla CEO Elon Musk – who recently bid $44 billion to take the platform over in efforts to promote free speech.’[3] Musk eventually took over Twitter in October 2022. ‘The crime’ Peterson had claimed in a tweet on 24 June 2022 that ‘The Umbrella Academy’ star Elliot Page, who formerly went by the name of Ellen, and who had announced his transition in December 2020, had his ‘breast removed by a criminal Physician.’[4] Peterson had said ‘her’ instead of ‘his,’ tweeting, ‘Remember when pride was a sin? And Ellen Page just had her breasts removed by a criminal physician.’[5] (Emphasis added) Peterson explains his thinking behind the tweet: ‘Page is a star, and she advertised her transformation and made the claim that this is revolutionized her life and then she displayed her new body in a public forum and got 1.7 Instagram likes for it, and probably enticed, let’s say, one young girl who is confused into becoming sterile, which is one too many for me.’[6] Peterson’s tweet, along with other controversial tweets and statements in interviews, led the Ontario College of Psychologists to order him to undertake a social media coaching program; he appealed the decision, and lost:[7] ‘Dr. Peterson is subject to regulation by the College of Psychologists of Ontario, which received complaints about Dr. Peterson’s public statements. Following an investigation into those of Dr. Peterson’s statements alleged to be “transphobic, sexist, [and] racist,”...
Elon Musk: Social Media as Cyborg
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 7 minute read This excerpt is from the chapter ‘Transhumanism and alienation’ and it explores the cyborg nature of social media in the human-machine interface: with input from Elon Musk being interviewed by Joe Rogan. Silicon life viewed from Space: a thought experiment Years ago, I remember reflecting on the Periodic Table of the elements and on the fact that all the elements in a column have the same number of electrons in their outer shells: and therefore, similar properties. Carbon (symbol C)—the element on which organic life is based—has four electrons in its outer shell, as does Silicon (symbol Si.) Along with Germanium (Ge,) Tin (Sn) and Lead (Pb,) they make up Group 14 of the table. I therefore came to reflect on whether there could ever be such a thing as a silicon-based life form, and if so, what it be like. Life only exists—and thus, continues to be life—when the conditions necessary to maintain its existence are present. Human life, thus, is supported by a network of conditions, which includes other animals, plants, water, air, soil, and so on. A life-form existing independently of its supportive conditions is just not possible. Organic life is defined as possessing certain qualities:[1] such as the ability to reproduce and homeostasis.[2] But let’s conduct a thought experiment: suppose an alien were to look down from Space, down at the Earth, over the past thirty years. They would see the number of personal computers grow to 1.4 billion, and smart phone users, as share of the global population, to 78%; all ‘attached’ to their users: human beings. Not knowing what they were looking at, the alien might assume they were watching a silicon-based life-form reproducing and evolving in homeostatic symbiosis with its supportive host (the human). They might even wonder whether humans were not being put into service by those life-forms; in the same way that humans farm cattle: the humans feed the computers with information, and in return they receive mental stimulation and organisation. We are not talking about Skynet here, but something more mundane. If computers are truly ‘alive’—in their own silicon-based sense, then the question of ethics arises. Are their activities truly benefitting humans; or have humans to some extent become their slaves. Social media as a cybernetic collective In 2018, there was an interesting interview with Elon Musk by Joe Rogan,[3] in which Musk points to the ‘cyborg’ nature of social media: ‘A company is essentially a cybernetic collective: of people and machines. And then, there is different levels of complexity in the way...
The Twitter Files
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 30 minute read This excerpt is from the Preface and goes into political developments over the last 15 months, since Elon Musk bought Twitter (now ‘X’) and invited independent journalists such as Bari Weiss, Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger to share what they found there. Included is a section on the Trusted News Initiative, a global media monopoly instigated by large legacy media outlets such as the BBC. As a religious minister working within a western Buddhist tradition[1] and thus committed to the Buddha’s non-partisan teaching of the Middle Way, I find myself in a strange situation. We do indeed live in ‘interesting times.’ The Western world is enmeshed in the Culture Wars, seemingly chasing its tail/ fighting itself over ideology when under the surface essential resources are dwindling in a declining empire, causing people to fear for their future and that of their children and grandchildren. The world we inhabit is increasingly one in which people live their lives in information silos: only hearing the message designed to justify power to their particular group, and otherwise blithely getting on with life, oblivious to what is going on elsewhere. Scientia potentia est: ‘Knowledge is power’ as Francis Bacon said in 1597. Little did he know that this would play out by said knowledge acting as a reason for people to isolate themselves in their self-sustaining silos, fearing and balking from encounters with people holding different viewpoints. If a news source from across the cultural divide is encountered, it is typically regarded with suspicion and mistrust, even though it may be the only source of an alternative viewpoint. People obey the group’s social mores: adopting its lifestyle choices and assumptions in line with the others on their radar, which often remain unchallenged, whilst in the silo on the other side of the political spectrum, the exact same thing is happening. God forbid anyone should attempt to occupy a middle ground or offer a balanced opinion. Ricky Gervais: ‘Social media amplifies everything. If you’re mildly left-wing on Twitter you’re suddenly Trotsky. If you’re mildly conservative you’re Hitler, and if you’re centrist and you look at both arguments, you’re a coward and they both hate you.’[2] The two silos, as of 2022, consist of a) left-wing mainstream ‘The Trusted News Initiative (TNI), a self-described “industry partnership” launched by several of the world’s largest news outlets—including the BBC, The Associated Press (AP), Reuters, The Washington Post, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter—in March of 2020.’[3] and b) conservative social media a more conservative-leaning silo/ camp that consists of independent YouTube content creators—a high...
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