I haven’t done a whole lot of book reviews, but Andrew Torba’s Reclaiming Reality: is a rather difficult book to review. It was a longer work than expected, clocking in at nearly 300 pages. It’s a call to reconcile Christianity with a techno-optimistic view of the future, whereby Christians seize the opportunity to harness the good in emerging technologies, creating a parallel infrastructure that outlasts the decaying world.
This book can only be taken seriously because Andrew Torba has the credibility to speak on matters of faith and technology. Many ideas and suggestions in this book would be dismissed if made by a newb on the internet, but Andrew Torba, given his background in building the social media site Gab and the AI (and AI aggregator) Gab AI, has the credibility to make fantastical claims about the capabilities of technology in the near future.
Evangelism
The beginning of the book, especially, is surprisingly evangelistic. Andrew Torba does an excellent job at presenting the gospel to a reader who is disillusioned with technology and its impact on what it means to be human. Torba grounds humanity in the eternal soul and the Imago Dei.
There is an alienation that occurs when automation takes away the work that otherwise would give meaning to our lives, and this is a huge issue that is addressed in Reclaiming Reality. If AI and automation take away work, then what will people do and how will they live fulfilling lives? Torba’s answer is the cross, ultimately.
Interesting Ideas
Andrew Torba posits a lot of interesting ideas about the capabilities of AI and biblical responses to emerging problems. One solution he proposes is a universal basic income. This is controversial as a concept but Torba presupposes that this may be a necessity from automation taking away so many jobs that there emerges a class of people out of work. The idea rubs any American the wrong way, but, hypothetically, Torba argues that universal basic income could be executed in a way consistent with the biblical principles of work and also likens the sharing in commons. Torba appears to advocate a church administrated UBI as the ideal alternative to a state-administered UBI.
One area where Torba is not optimistic is space travel. There is a throwaway line in the book that dismisses the idea of humans colonizing Mars, as Torba is committed to earth.
In the latter portion of the book, Andrew Torba criticizes the 501c3 model for churches, instead advocating that churches adopt a Private Membership Association (PMA) model.
Long Game
Andrew Torba has an affinity for the Amish that is unmatched by me. He sees these communities as excellent examples of beating the system with parallel institutions. Torba has long been an advocate of the parallel economy, and this is worked into his latest work. In contrast, while the Amish are remarkable in preserving their way of live, their ability to influence the broader culture is dubious.
I find Torba’s solutions in a long game to be rather idyllic in that he wants Christians to create private homestead communities that are safe havens from the ravages of dystopian artificial intelligences. These homesteads will be equipped with artificial intelligence harnessed for good working in a network and building countercultural infrastructure that will outlast the natural decay of the secualr world.
There are many reasons to find this compelling. For starters, owning land is essential to having any leverage for a parallel institution. Secondly, being close to the food supply is natural and good. Third, and most importantly, the declining birth rates of the liberal world will see a demographic collapse that will allow Christian parallel institutions to reclaim humanity.
However, Andrew Torba seems to think these communities will be equipped to handle “refugees” from the dystopian world without these same refugees bringing the problems of Trashworld with them. But the problems Torba address happen only if we allow things to get this bad. We can just do things. We can start businesses. And we don’t need to retreat from broader society to preserve our way of life. Torba might be considered a retreatist, but his commitment to grabbing hold of technology and harnessing it for good dispels these notions.
I do believe the long game, but I believe the long game is taking back control institution by institution or building new ones. It is entrepreneurial in nature rather than byte by byte. But Torba is a tech entrepreneur. He is the right man to execute the ideas he is calling for.
Conclusions
Reclaiming Reality is not a book that uses applause lines or based talking points. Instead, it’s a book that will challenge you with ideas on how to wrestle with impending technology-induced problems. Andrew Torba is early in setting out to build a Christian basis for dealing with artificial intelligence and increased automation. He was early in anticipating the crackdown on banking, payment processing, and Big Tech censorship. He is the guy leading the effort on this, while people mocked and dismissed him for years. And to some degree, Reclaiming Reality is a recruitment pitch for people to join his effort.
Perhaps Torba’s correct in anticipating the future of technological possibilities. Reclaiming Reality is perhaps impossible to review in present, but in time, how the book ages will determine its legacy.
One Response
Andrew’s proposed solution reminds me of “Going Galt” in Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged. It’s a solution aimed at younger adults, still able to make big changes in how they approach life.
A further tweak would be to “Go Galt in place.” Those too old to, or otherwise unable to leave conventional society can still help build Andrew’s proposed parallel economy by using time and money intentionally to aid civilization. For instance, by donating to Gab.com and Gab.ai or your local church, rather than the Heifer Project (a former favorite of mine until it helped build the Clinton Library.) Similarly, instead of spending on cruises and golf in retirement, help ensure an at risk child you know gets a better start in life with the help of your time and money.
Our move in retirement was to help raise our grandchildren, a decision we’ve never regretted.