The Problem with Efficiency
Viewing Musk's mission through a Genesis Lens
My sister sent me this 27-min video about two hours ago. After watching, troubled in my soul about the content in the last third of the video, I decided to ask God about the 3D transport, “scary-smart” Groc 3, and humanoid robots (min 18:00) updates that Musk shared.
Delete unncessary beaurocratic departments, Elon! End millions of tax-payer dollars going to ridiculous ventures and corrupt people! Digitize the retirement records that have been stored in an old mine shaft. Yes!
My support for Musk’s efficiency ideas stops there. When this technocrat shares his opinions on a “better” earth, which he says is “unavoidable’’, I jumped ship. After hearing him explain that ”human intelligence will be dwarted by machine intelligence”, I quickly sensed God reminding me that Elon is not a Christian. To my knowledge he has never affirmed belief in an Intelligent Designer. Because of this, boundaries of technological evolution do not exist for Elon. Man is in the driver’s seat of progress, at least, until AI-powered robots become CEOs and world leaders. Of course, these robots, according to Musk, must be taught curiousity and the value of seeking truth. So with those virtues, they should lead the planet just fine, right?
The idea of efficiency sounds great. The luxury of convenience sounded great back in the mid-20th Century, when we began to trade fast food and mass production for home cooking, health, and the gift of effort. Many of us have walked away from the god of convenience because we have recognized its lure and its de-humanizing end. Human beings were not meant to be a lazy, impatient, and screen-fed race. Hopefully RFK Jr and the MAHA mission will invigorate the benefits of home gardening, organic local farms, clean ingredients, physical exercise and non-geo engineered fresh air, all of which will lessen the need for Big Pharma’s goods and services.
So what is the lure of the god of efficiency?
Standing near my bathroom sink, God reminded me of a character in my book, Abba’s Lament, a speculative fiction account of the pre-Adamic world. Michael was a member of the Council of Kaelin, a group of high ranking Enoiki who governed pre-Adamic earth. Each Councilmember governed a province—think continents—and has a gifting that aided the whole group. Michael’s gifting was innovation and efficiency. Here is an excerpt:
Finally, Michael saw the High Kaelin staring at a tall crystalline and limestone transmitter that had been recently installed to allow communication between Earth and the other planets in the cosmos. Michael smiled. Strong and resilient, Helel was Michael’s favorite brother. He had been appointed High Kaelin once Earth was formed. Standing eight feet in height, bronze in complexion, his wings usually concealed behind his arms, he was the epitome of perfection. Every Enoiki had wings and stood seven to eight feet, but Helel’s beauty was entrancing. He sparkled. His body was covered with precious stones: topaz, jasper, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emeralds…
“Brother, it’s good to see you!” Michael embraced Helel, who smiled down at Michael and ruffled his hair.
“Likewise, little brother. You are looking great. But you need to gain some weight. You are about as skinny as this communication tower.”
“Better skinny than bulky like you. Carrying all those rocks weighs you down, old man.” Michael referred the High Kaelin’s muscles and the fact that Helel had never beaten him in a race.
“I’ll take my good looks over your speed any day. So would every other brother we have.” They laughed. Helel nodded for them to sit on a large rock next to the river. “I don’t have much time, though. Fill me in on how things are going in Ophek.”
Michael filled him in. Although he was second Kaelin in command over all of Earth, he led the province of Ophek. His ability to make the Enoiki in Ophek work with maximum efficiency was highly regarded by many. Michael regularly visited each manufacturing town and city in his province…
“You see,” Michael leaned back on the rock, “if we begin a new circuit of trade from the Southern Islands to the North Territory, then we may have a shortage of captains. My captains are great, and I don’t want them to have to leave their current projects. The builders say that a new fleet will be ready soon, so I believe we need to secure Enoiki from other parts of the cosmos to come and command this fleet.
What is the lure of the god of efficiency? I believe God led me to Genesis 1 and whispered these words:
When efficiency is idolized, the transhuman agenda increases in importance—creating a “need” for mechanisms that replace human agency. This is misplaced function because I created human beings to have dominion of the earth—not human-made machines.
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The earth is to be subdued. We cannot allow technology to subdue us.
