More random information doesn’t necessarily promote truth, wisdom, and happiness
Fiction can be as simple, quick, and painless as one creates it
Truth is often complex, laborious, and painful to get to.
Fiction, fantasies, and mass illusions connect people more easily than costly truths. [But lies leave people more detached and lonely, I’d say.]
Listen to Professor Yuval Noah Harari to grasp why more information often brings more confusion and less clarity. But he doesn’t leave us there. He explains what can be done to bring down the noise of nonsense.
The narrative is often not determined by what makes the most sense but by the powerful promoting a certain viewpoint. They might want to spread certain ideas to stay in power and make more money.
The rich used to determine who gets published. Now it’s the algorithms. Their interest is not to make you informed, wise, and happy. Rather, they push what makes you addicted, ever wanting more junk info that angers, scares, excites, confuses, and falsely reassures (that you’re special). [They also create information bubbles that say that only you can be right.]
Democracy needs not censor lies but should prioritize truth spreading. The problem is not free speech but the promotion of what addicts: hate, greed, and fear. [Presenting all ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ in equal portions just confuses.]
Information society (the Internet) is always on. That is not good for humans. [Too bad he doesn’t advocate unplugging and keeping Shabbat. But, like many US Jews, he practices Buddhism, a lifestyle close to Judaism. Learning Buddhist meditation and its awareness are central to him, but he doesn’t exactly realize he’s spreading Buddhism. Too much self-reflection makes you a prisoner of yourself. Only an Ezer kenegdo can set you free.]
People very obsessed with AI go bunkers just because he mentions it. He says very little about AI. He talks about automatization taking over. That’s not something new either. It used to be: ‘You have to/you can’t because of the law,’ will become ‘You have to/you can’t because of the bots.’
Dangerous Nonsense
As trailblazing as the above, as stupid and uninformed is the below!
Different from QAnon, his nonsensical definitions and conclusions come with tons of good insights. Thus, they are more confusing and dangerous.
I’ve heard him about the war. But, just like most rabbis, he’s too connected to reason, decency, truth, and optimism to understand that the sole reason for the wars against Israel is antisemitism. This is a case where the truth is easier than the sum of the stories because Gentile religions have spent centuries constructing and maintaining vicious lies about Jews.
He employs multiple false equivalences between the Jewish People and the Palestinian People. It sounds ‘fair’ and ‘humble,’ but he hides what is so uncomfortable to many Jews: that others deeply hate us for no reason.
He’d do well to meditate less and spend more time humbly listening to people outside of his information bubble who’d make him uncomfortable.
(His Neanderthal dating (speaking from prepared notes) is a factor 10 off.)
Two years ago, his Hebrew accent in English must have been so confusing to most English speakers. When he says ‘low,’ he means ‘law.’ When he says ‘flowed,’ he means ‘flawed.’ When he says ‘deifer,’ he means ‘differ.’
He defines consciousness as the ability to suffer. That would mean that an ant has consciousness, making it nothing special. No one told him. Though he talks like a philosopher, by training, he’s a historian. And it shows. He’s a sort of gloomy Steven Pinker, who dabbles outside of his training, too.
Terrified Opponents
And then, of course, there are the people who don’t understand his new book but are completely petrified about what ‘he wants to do to us.’
Conclusion
He’s a brilliant, shy, but courageous man with a good sense of humor.
His new book about the fight between bots and people, between easy fiction and complicated truth, is very worthy. That’s no reason to accept everything else this author claims. In fact, that would be irresponsible.
About the Author
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1