[FRIAM] phil zombies

[Marcus Daniels]

I didn’t have an allergic reaction to Andreesen’s remarks. I took it roughly along the lines of Chris Cornell’s “The Day I Tried to Live”. 

From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> on behalf of glen <gepropella at gmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 8:44 AM
To: friam at redfish.com <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: [FRIAM] phil zombies 

[Silicon Valley innovates again!](https://www.theverge.com/tldr/897566/marc-andreessen-is-a-philosophical-zombie <https://www.theverge.com/tldr/897566/marc-andreessen-is-a-philosophical-zombie>)

Given the recent mention of philosophical zombies (mostly as a drive-by), and my skepticism about DaveW's pyschonautical advocacy (never mind the mysticism), I'm mostly interested in the idea that "Whatever is happening to normal people as a result of AI overreliance has already happened to the ultra-wealthy". What I think some people call the "reality distortion".

My own position is that reality can be distorted by many different (but perhaps not disjoint) processes. And were I inclined to take Andreesen's rhetoric seriously, I would try to generously suggest he's, like me, more episodic than diachronic. Some of us are prone to narrative, tell stories about our selves, painstakingly *place* each experience in a persnickety little spot in our mind palaces. I like calling this sort of thing high order Markovian ... very high order. And I'm jealous that I can't do it very well. In this sense, Elizabeth (and many on this list) have a power and a privilege that may be analogous to *wealth*, distorting the reality around her.

Introspection is hard, especially but not *exclusively* for those who must buy food and pay rent on a minimum wage job. Some of us, even if we're blessed to have our basic needs met, simply don't have enough cognitive power to do it. Andreesen may be one of us.

-- 
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