We should all endeavor to be as wise as the penitent Mr. Beaver – the symbol of Reason in C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Lewis, in a children’s novel, uses Mr. Beaver to cast a vision for how Christians ought to interact with reality. In the modern world, Mr. Beaver’s simple teaching is aptly applied to the movement of “digital” reality — an idea progenerated from Silicon Valley.
Mr. Beaver – surprise! – is a beaver, who aids four siblings as they enter into the enchanted world of Narnia. He recounts the history of Narnia, recalling how a grave evil befell the land. He knows all too well that Narnia is under the curse of the White Witch, Jadis. When the rest of the kingdom is spellbound to the sorceress, gradually believing the lie that the joyless Winter shall last for eternity, Mr. Beaver says no. He simply refuses to grovel at the present deception.
The furry paragon of wisdom holds onto hope that there is a greater force at work than evil. As one of the children then asks if this sorceress is human, the beaver immediately confirms that she is not. Rather, she endeavors the Luciferian and is merely taking human form. After his response, Mr. Beaver also posits this fascinatingly brilliant statement:
“Take my advice, when you meet something that’s going to be human and isn’t yet, or used to be human once and isn’t now, or ought to be human and isn’t, you keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.”
The hatchet is the most underutilized of all the modern gardening tools. Resembling a handheld ax, it is perfectly suited for debranching select trees as you walk about your garden. Hatchets are fundamentally pruning tools. It cuts down what is dangerous so that life may flourish. Moreover, the sturdy tool can be an effective weapon in a time of need. In the present day, however, Christians seldom stroll about their garden – let alone tend to a garden. The average American Christian scarcely wields a hatchet in any form of self-defense. But they should.
Modernity grows morally ambivalent as it advances digitally. Silicon Valley lies at the heart of the encroaching chaos. They preach a Gospel of the digital, and how their digital can save the world. Rumors of transhumanist successes are emerging, thus posing an extreme medical ethics question. Is it moral for humans to technologically elevate their bodies? If it is, when, if at all, does technology go too far? What are the lines of the real body and the digital body? Further, the internet itself has become an echo chamber. Truly a marketplace of ideas, one’s mind can now be so easily flooded with prompts and suggestions that are nothing but evil. Any appetite, no matter how craven or perverse, can now be instantly fed.
The longer one stews in the realm of the digital world, the longer they withdraw from society and social interaction. Consider the citizens who arguably spend the most time on the internet: the archetypal basement dweller or a Silicon Valley developer. Both are secluded from society in a myriad of ways. The basement dweller spends his day abdicating responsibility and traditional social interactions, and instead pursues social interaction over the internet. Via digital chat rooms, video games, phone calls, and FaceTime, the typical cave troll neglects the outdoors in favor of the digital world. Dr. Jordan Peterson often denounces the like as Cheeto-dust-covered-manchildren who waste their lives. They are addicted to the drugs of Silicon Valley. No one aspires to be the lifeless internet junkie.
Now reflect on the stereotypical Silicon Valley developer. While comparatively the more socially adapted of the two, they are still very secluded from the average American. For starters, the kings of the internet dwell in the eerily utopian Silicon Valley. While they do have high goals for their lives (unlike the basement dweller), they also pursue unhuman means of attaining those goals.
It is now substantially documented that Silicon Valley elites employ “biohacking” methods to extend their lifespan. This means blood transfusions, organ transplants, DNA research, and several other morally ambiguous tactics. Silicon Valley CEO Bryan Johnson is an apt example of this “biohacking” mentality. Johnson’s venture is to gradually implant and re-implant every part of his body to stay forever young. As his body naturally decays, he replaces it organ by organ, limb by limb. The centimillionaire’s goal is simple: don’t die. In true alchemist fashion, Johnson seeks immortal life by means of sheer technology. Indeed, the pursuit of earthly immortality is not new.
Yet, it is one Christians have denounced for centuries. Man cannot make himself, nor can he make himself live for eternity. Ironically, Christians recognize that we are all eternal creatures. Whether in the glory of Heaven or the darkness of Hell, every human soul shall last forever. Thus, this pursuit is like that of Lucifer’s lie in Eden: let me make myself God, blinded to the fact that we are already like God. Yet modern man is consumed by the temporal world. This is Bryan Johnson’s danger. Ignorant to the immortal life he already possesses, he is eating the forbidden fruit and will taste bitter death.
The race for efficient artificial intelligence is the latest to join Silicon Valley’s digital contests. Elon Musk’s Grok-2 proclaims its radical desire to accelerate human understanding. Google’s new AI initiative explains that its primary mission is to help humans “unlock scientific discoveries” and “tackle humanity’s greatest challenges and opportunities.” Likewise, Apple has announced their soon-to-be-released Apple Intelligence will exponentially assist users in communication of all sorts. We must grant that, on face level, these efforts seem benign, if not beneficial. When it’s all said and done, their products will work. Their tasks, however, are strangely human. Human understanding, scientific discoveries, saving humanity, advancing communication, etc. — these endeavors are all innately human. But now they’re not. Because now, they can be completed by an algorithm.
We’ll reap the blessings of AI’s work, but it is not attained by any human means. How often do we ask ourselves why we call it “artificial intelligence?” Indeed, “intellect” is what elevates humanity above animals. Intellect is described by Plato as an essential element of the soul. Surely, intellect is distinctive only to those made above mere animals – an ideal which is distinctly Christian. AI offers synthetic falsification—one where humans actually don’t reason at all. Instead, we chose efficiency and expediency and let the robot reason on our behalf. While we can safeguard, innovate, and utilize AI as a supplement, we ought to be careful that we never give up our reason as a sacrifice to that hubristic machine.
Our response, therefore, is not extremism. We mustn’t overcompensate and act in brazen rejection of everything digital. Nor must we remain apathetic and stagnant in the face of such advancements. Instead, we must hearken back to the brilliance of Mr. Beaver. Silicon Valley is accomplishing tasks that used to be human, but aren’t anymore, and that ought to be human, but currently are not. When presented with this very dilemma, Mr. Beaver’s reaction was not to disavow all use of digital technology and live as a hermit in the Narnian equivalent to Montana. He simply said, “Keep your eyes on it and feel for your hatchet.”
Navigating modernity requires scrutiny and leadership. Christians ought to spearhead this navigation. As we progress towards a digitalized future (and it may very well be for all our benefit), we should be vigilant. Alertness will stave off disaster. And should disaster come, we mustn’t lose hope. There are far greater evils that exist than a few men in Silicon Valley. No matter what efforts the Silicon Valley types conjure, we are fully capable of preserving our reason. Therefore, as society strays toward chaos, be ready to prune weeds that threaten the beauty of our garden. Fret not, Christian, and be about your hatchet.
