Are We Building a Tower of Babel?

What was the Tower of Babel?

According to Rashi, the Tower of Babel was a weapon built by the collective to wage war against God:

And one speech (11:1) — They came with one plan, saying: “He has no right to select the heavenly regions exclusively for Himself; let us ascend to the skies and make war upon Him”.

But according to Haamek Davar, it was a weapon whose creation was instigated by the powerful to use against their own people:

And we will make a name for ourselves (11:4) – people were set up to watch and be in charge of the thing, and they were army chiefs in charge of punishing those who would cross, since if this is not the case, there would be no need for the tower. And all that was due to fear/suspicion.

Haamek Davar, noticing the verse’s lack of specificity, suggested that it was the leaders who benefited from the total control over who left and entered the city that the tower gave them, and he suggested that they used that control to ensure the only ideas and ways of thinking that were allowed into their society were the ones that they wanted there:

And we will make a name for ourselves (11:4) – However, we must understand why they feared that someone might leave to another land. And it is understood that this was related to the uniformity that was among them. And since the opinions of people are not identical, they feared that people might abandon this philosophy and adopt another. Therefore, they sought to ensure that no one would leave their society.

This Tower was devised by people who sought control of their community, not its safety. Nonetheless, they weren’t slave drivers who forced others to do their dirty work — Everyone on Earth had the same language and the same words (11:1) — everyone was on board with their plan, but that is why God intervened. God knew what the Tower was really for and why it had to be stopped:

Then nothing that they may propose to do will be out of their reach (11:6) –  If they finish the tower, they will come to a second thought, to prevent by force other thoughts than this one. And this is a thing [that brings] killing, and violent destruction of the settlement, and it does not help that at this moment they are together with one opinion.

The Tower of Babel was something the people were tricked into thinking they’d benefit from, when it was actually the powerful who would have benefited from it. However, even though God stopped the project then, that wasn’t the last Tower of Babel. 

Whenever one person/group sways a generation, claiming they are working for their people when they are really serving themselves, they are building a Tower of Babel.

Whenever someone builds something they know will be harmful to others but beneficial to themselves, they are building a Tower of Babel.

Whenever someone tries to force everyone to think the same way, they are building a Tower of Babel.

History is full of powerful people swaying public opinion with grand promises of prosperity for all, when what they really want is wealth and fame for themselves. Whenever that happens — whenever we let that happen — a new Tower of Babel is built. But tragically, unlike the original population of the Tower, it’s often the consumers who primarily suffer most from the consequences of whatever they’ve been sold, while the inventors are left unharmed.

Right now, we are witnessing the building of a new Tower of Babel with Artificial Intelligence, fed to us by wealthy entrepreneurs who say they want to change the world, but behind closed doors are aware of the risks that these technologies pose to humanity. They want fame and wealth — to make a name for themselves — and have little to no concern for the consequences of their inventions.

The lesson of the Tower of Babel is that just because we can build something doesn’t mean we should, and just because someone says something they build is for us doesn’t mean it really is.

We should be skeptical of power. We should be critical of how people use and/or build products that promise things like pseudo-creativity and productivity but have drastic consequences for ourselves and society, and we should encourage others to do the same. We should think about the Towers we help others build for themselves, what the outcomes of those Towers may be, and if they are what we want for ourselves and our families. And if we don’t, we should, like God, do something about them or change the way we engage with them.

God created a beautiful world for us to enjoy, and we shouldn’t let ourselves be tricked into ruining it.