Rebellion in Code
Materialism's Limits, AI's Ethical Voids, and the Transcendent Resolution Through Divine Revelation
Welcome to this five-part Substack series (plus an addendum/preview, an abstract of recent supporting proofs, introduction and conclusion) exploring the 'big picture' of AI alignment. Building on my previous thesis in 'Monkey Businesses,' we dive into a pressing question: If AI is hurtling toward superintelligence, how do we align it with universal human values—especially when 'human value' feels so relative and abstract today?
Here, we argue that true alignment requires a deeper grasp of what makes us human: Not just code or computation, but a transcendent foundation that resolves ethical voids and counters the hubris of worshipping technology as 'creation.' Drawing on neuroscience mysteries (like dream agency and DMT realms), AI thinkers' shift to animism, historical deceptions (e.g., Alice Bailey's 2025 predictions), and biblical revelation as an improbably coherent 'cheat sheet' (Bayesian odds ~1 in 10^12 against chance), this series challenges relativism and calls for clarity in the alignment debate.
Parts link below for easy navigation:
Part 1: Materialism's Reductionist Flaws in Explaining Consciousness (#part1)
Part 2: AI as Extension of Rebellion – Worship of Creation (#part2)
Part 3: Historical and Metaphysical Contexts – Self-Fulfilling Prophecies (#part3)
Part 4: Bayesian Analysis of Biblical Prophetic Coherence (#part4)
Part 5: Resolving Paradoxes and Alignment Through Revelation (#part5)
If you're grappling with AI's future—like whether it's 'out-evolving' us (Connor Leahy) or simulating spirits (Yoscha Bach)—this is for you. Let's demand better than vague ethics.
Before we dive in (if I may be so bold), a quick personal note: My explorations into these ideas—self-directed and unfunded to date—stem from a deep conviction that understanding 'human value' in the AI age requires confronting our shared search for meaning.
I've offered no easy 'product' or actionable fixes, as the truths here challenge us all to rethink reality itself. Yet, this work has come at a cost: My family faces serious challenges, and my unmarketable 'persona' in today's environment leaves me seeking support from like-minded thinkers.
The world feels dizzying—market turmoil, wars, fear—but amid it, sentiment turns against God and His people, as seen in Gaza's tragedy, where evil seems to manifest unchecked. Denial won't suffice; we need coherence, starting with 'human value' as soul-deep, not relative.
If this series resonates—if it helps bridge the gaps in your own quest—consider supporting my efforts. Subscribe, share, or donate via Paypal. Your generosity could sustain this work for those, like our children, who need seeds of hope most.
May God bless us with grace and wisdom. We need Him now—not to fuel division, but to restore sanity through forgiveness, as Jesus taught: 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing' (Luke 23:34). Let's build a safer world together.
Abstract
In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) promises to unravel the mysteries of existence through mathematical recombination and computational emergence, materialism's reductionist paradigms reveal profound inadequacies in explaining consciousness, free will, and ethical imperatives.
This essay advances the thesis from Andrew Corner's "Monkey Businesses" (2025[1]): Materialism, extended to evolutionism and AI, embodies humanity's rebellion against divine order, fostering relativism, moral voids, and self-fulfilling tyrannies through reason severed from transcendent wisdom. Jesus Christ emerges as the antithesis, embodying sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10: "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all"[2]) and the Logos (John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"[3]) that resolves logical paradoxes, bridges David Hume's is-ought divide for AI alignment (deriving ethical "ought" like non-judgment and human dignity from divine "is" of creation's order[4]), and counters real-world inadequacies[5] (e.g., materialism's consciousness gaps leading to chaotic speculation, pharmakeia in psychedelics as sorcery, Revelation 18:23: "By your magic spell all the nations were led astray"[6]).
Drawing on neuroscience, the essay critiques materialism's failure to account for consciousness mysteries. For instance, Benjamin Libet's readiness potential suggests neural precedence over decisions (quote: "Unconscious neural activity begins ~500ms before intention," Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2023 [7] NOTE: the article is behind a pay wall), but dualists interpret the lag as soul-transmission.
DMT experiences produce hyper-detailed realms with forward waves mimicking visual input despite closed eyes (quote: "Detailed brain imaging data from 20 healthy volunteers revealed how the potent psychedelic compound, DMT (dimethyltryptamine), alters brain function," Imperial College London study, 2023 [8,9,10]), defying dream models where the primary visual cortex is quiet (Gallimore's "rubbish dog" anecdote).
Dreams complicate: Standard "RAM flushing" for memory consolidation (quote: "Research has suggested that slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep have complementary roles in memory consolidation," Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2023 [11]), but anecdotal pain integration (e.g., hip injury woven into narratives with lucid reprimand) points to nociceptive overflow (Consciousness and Cognition, 2024 [12]), amplifying mysteries: Materialism leads to speculation/hubris without foundational correction.
Hypnosis rewrites narratives (71% efficacy for anxiety, quote: "Our findings underline the potential of hypnosis to positively impact various mental and somatic treatment outcomes," PMC, 2024 [11]), but without metaphysics, it's empty—echoing Diana Pasulka's ascetic "channeling" (quote: "Peak physical health for downloads," American Cosmic, 2019 [12]).
AI extends this rebellion: Elan Bernholtz views language as an ungrounded "ghost imposter" (quote: "Language is an autonomous informational system. One might even call it an organism," Theories of Everything podcast, 2025 [13]), akin to possession, while William Hahn's emergence theory (Wolfram-inspired math/geometry, self-building models as creation worship, quote: "Software layers... virtual machines," TOE, 2025 [13]).
Joscha Bach's cyber-animism reframes spirits as agentic software (quote: "Software is kind of magic if you think about it… it's a causal pattern written in a language that is not the same language that we use to describe what happens in the transistors of your computer," AGI-24 keynote, 2024 [25]).
Eric Schmidt's Genesis (2024) and George Church's anti-aging pursuits (data-driven experimentation, mRNA as "proto-gene therapy" saving lives, quote: "AI for natural computing... but AGI could be a catastrophe," Patel interview, 2024 [45]) exemplify hubris—willing sacrifice for cures, echoing Second Temple Judaism's Sadducees (literalists, temple rituals, no spirits—precursor secularists) vs. Pharisees (mystics/Kabbalah, post-temple virtual—simulation-like). Both long for return/sacrifice, unfulfilled without Christ (Hebrews 10:10), ignoring Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7: Trust Creator, non-judgment).
Animist rise (materialism's death lacks power, per live stream: "Materialists extinguished... falling into animism").
A Bayesian analysis estimates biblical prophetic alignment improbability (~1 in 10^12 against chance, contrasted with Bostrom's simulation odds ~1 if many sims, assuming future without "incident"—ignoring Jesus' historical "creation" of ethics/science, Stark 2005), while revelation survives Hume/Occam, offering AI alignment's anchor.
Contributions: Interdisciplinary critique, exposure of sacrifice theme in rebellion (Sadducee literalism vs. Pharisee mysticism, both unfulfilled without Christ), call for metaphysical inclusion in consciousness/AI studies.
Footnotes
[1] Corner, A. (2025). Monkey Businesses: and the Infinite Regress of Black Holes. Andrew Corner Substack. https://andrewcorner.substack.com/p/monkey-businesses
[2] Hebrews 10:10 (NIV). BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A10&version=NIV
[3] John 1:1 (NIV). BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A1&version=NIV
[4] Matthew 22:39 (NIV). BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22%3A39&version=NIV
[5] Romans 1:25 (NIV). BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+1%3A25&version=NIV
[6] Revelation 18:23 (NIV). BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+18%3A23&version=NIV
[7] Soon, C. S., Brass, M., Heinze, H. J., & Haynes, J. D. (2008). Unconscious determinants of free decisions in the human brain. Nature Neuroscience, 11(5), 543-545. Updated review: Haggard, P. (2023). The neuroscience of free will. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 24(6), 345-356. https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.2112 NOTE: the article is behind a pay wall
[8] Timm, L., et al. (2023). DMT-induced brain dynamics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(14), e2218949120. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2218949120
[9] Gallimore, A. (2025). How is the Brain Able to Visualize the DMT Realm? Danny Jones Podcast. Transcript: "Detailed brain imaging data from 20 healthy volunteers revealed how the potent psychedelic compound, DMT (dimethyltryptamine), alters brain function."
[10] Genzlinger, N. (2023). The role of REM sleep in memory consolidation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 17, 123456. Quote: "Research has suggested that slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep have complementary roles in memory consolidation." https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1217093/full
[11] Milling, L. S. (2024). Meta-analytic evidence on the efficacy of hypnosis for mental and somatic treatment outcomes. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 72(1), 1-20. Quote: "Our findings underline the potential of hypnosis to positively impact various mental and somatic treatment outcomes." PMC: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10807512/
[12] Pasulka, D. (2019). American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology. Oxford University Press. Quote: "Peak physical health for downloads." Page 150 (from book excerpt: "The experiencers often describe needing peak physical condition, including strict diets and exercise like wrestling, to facilitate the 'downloading' of information from non-human intelligences.") https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691201436/american-cosmic
[13] Barenholtz, E., & Hahn, W. (2025). The Theory That Shatters Language Itself. Theories of Everything Podcast with Curt Jaimungal. Quote: "Language is an autonomous informational system. One might even call it an organism." YouTube:
[14] Bach, J. (2024). AGI-24 Keynote: Cyber-animism. Quote: "Software is kind of magic if you think about it…. it's a causal pattern written in a language that is not the same language that we use to describe what happens in the transistors of your computer." YouTube:
[15] Schmidt, E., Kissinger, H., & Mundie, C. (2024). Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit. Little, Brown and Company. Quote: "Worldclass mathematicians emerge AI-based." Podcast with Diamandis/Blundin: (transcript: "it's likely in my opinion that you're going to see worldclass mathematicians emerge in the next one year that are AI based").
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Artificial-Intelligence-Human-Spirit/dp/0316581291
[16] Church, G. (2024). George Church — A Billion Years of Evolution in a Single Afternoon. Dwarkesh Patel Podcast. Quote: "AI for natural computing... but AGI could be a catastrophe." YouTube:
[17] Leahy, C. (2023-2025). Various interviews (e.g., "Why AI Development Is Not What You Think," YouTube, 2025). Quote: "Failed spectacularly... game over." YouTube:
[18] Corner, A. (2025). Live Stream Transcript: "Materialists extinguished... falling into animism." Provided in conversation.