[T]he Tolkien nod is particularly salient given some backward interpretations of Middle-earth mythology by right-wing billionaires like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk …. One might even think Leo is trollng. …
Clearly, the pope is somewhat concerned about the motives of tech oligarchs racing to develop artificial general intelligence that surpasses human capabilities. … Leo borrows an insight from Tolkien’s famous wizard, Gandalf: “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.”
That lesson is miles away from what Musk and Thiel apparently see in Tolkien’s masterpiece.
Thiel named his data analytics firm Palantir, after the crystal ball used as a spying device by the traitorous wizard Saruman … he reportedly calls his venture capital firm, the Founders Fund, “the precious,” which is what … Gollum calls the One Ring, a magical means of totalitarian power. …
Related on the SLP
Musk, for his part, has suggested that Tolkien’s epic can be read as an anti-immigration, build-the-wall parable ….
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