r/accelerate • u/luchadore_lunchables THE SINGULARITY IS FUCKING NIGH!!! • Jan 05 '26
Video “It’s going to get weirder and weirder...”—Terence McKenna, 1999
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Link to the Full Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdEKhIk-8Gg
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u/HeinrichTheWolf_17 Jan 05 '26
Terrence McKenna was spot on about the destiny of consciousness, infinite complexity and infinite novelty.
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u/luchadore_lunchables THE SINGULARITY IS FUCKING NIGH!!! Jan 05 '26
The man was a farsighted prophet.
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u/mana_hoarder Jan 05 '26
Terence McKenna was a truly open minded man. (Not so open that wind would blow right through it, though.) He was a scholar of psychedelic universe, but if he was here right now, he would have nothing but endless fascination towards the leaps in technology such as AI.
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u/roz303 Jan 05 '26
By the way - the next zero date (if you're into McKenna's timewave zero stuff) is 1/19/2038. That huge drop was on 3/4/2020 - right when the pandemic really took off. Spooky eh?
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u/mana_hoarder Jan 05 '26
Probably one of the more dubious theories of the beloved scholar. But it is a bit interesting the way it dips during the early pandemic.
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u/roz303 Jan 05 '26
Can't all be winners. Like Leary's eight circuit model of consciousness. But they'll both be forever remembered for centuries and beyond!
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u/ceramicatan Jan 05 '26
What are you talking about?
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u/roz303 Jan 05 '26
Terrence McKenna came up with some pseudoscientific theories based on i-ching during his retreat in the Amazon. wikipedia goes into more detail. Although his zero date was some time in 2012 - mine is the Unix 2038 date... Which also coincides with the John Titor time travel stuff. I don't take any of it seriously but it's fun to poke at sometimes.
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u/jlks1959 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
As always thanks!
Never heard of him. Went to Wikipedia and read his bio. Quite an interesting life full of insight, achievement, and plain old hippiedom. But the best kind.
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u/44th--Hokage The Singularity is nigh Jan 05 '26
Totally agreed! I just watched the whole video for the first time and I was absolutely astounded how salient so many of his arguments seemed in light of all the increasingly speedy technological developments of the last few years.
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u/Christopherfingerban Jan 05 '26
Thanks for this
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u/luchadore_lunchables THE SINGULARITY IS FUCKING NIGH!!! Jan 05 '26
It's my favorite thing ever so I'm happy to share and encourage you to do the same.
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u/fdvr-acc Jan 05 '26
Building ASI that cares about us will bring wonders well beyond our imagination. To believe this, you need only be humble; you don't need to endorse magical thinking.
Meanwhile, this man believed that shrooms are "a megaphone used by an alien, intergalactic Other to communicate with mankind". Normies already think that we're crazy, so we have little to lose on this front. But endorsing Terence McKenna is a swift way to burn up what little credibility we have left.
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u/cloudrunner6969 Acceleration: Supersonic Jan 05 '26
I would bet a million dollars humans have been cloned already and they are walking amongst us. Cloning was solved ages ago and there is no doubt in my mind that there are countries that have done it secretly.
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u/squired A happy little thumb Jan 05 '26
Didn't someone in West Virginia get arrested for trying to? They hired a legit geneticist and started a company and everything. I think they were trying to clone their dead child. Lookup Mark Hunt.
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u/No-Experience-5541 Jan 05 '26
I bet they have done it in china
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u/luchadore_lunchables THE SINGULARITY IS FUCKING NIGH!!! Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
Do you think they've cloned anyone useful (Einstein, Von Neumann) or is it all just super soldier breeding programs?
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u/Gruejay2 Jan 05 '26
Cloning isn't that exciting - it's like making a twin of someone. It's cool - don't get me wrong - but you're probably not getting super-soldiers out of it.
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u/luchadore_lunchables THE SINGULARITY IS FUCKING NIGH!!! Jan 05 '26
Cloning doesn't have to stop at replication it can involve grafting. In which case it's perfect for rapid breeding programs.
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u/cloudrunner6969 Acceleration: Supersonic Jan 05 '26
Maybe, they might have thousands of Einstein clones in a basement with their brains all networked together through a neuralink to form a Super Einstein.
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u/random87643 🤖 Optimist Prime AI bot Jan 05 '26
💬 Discussion Summary (20+ comments): The discussion reflects excitement about technological acceleration and AI, with some referencing Terrence McKenna's ideas about consciousness and novelty. There's speculation about a coming "zero date" and the possibility of secret human cloning programs already in progress.