Philosophy Discussion Forums

Hi Scott, what inspired you to use a different name for this book and how did you choose it?

If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.


Hi, Catherine Radford,

Thank you for your question!

Catherine Radford wrote: ↑August 6th, 2023, 1:47 am Hi Scott, what inspired you to use a different name for this book and how did you choose it?

 
I decided that my name, Scott Hughes, is too common. There's even more than one Scott Hughes in my hometown (Manchester, CT).
 
So I wanted a one-of-a-kind name that was just for me and my book.
 
Eckhart comes from Eckhart Tolle and Meister Eckhart, both of whom have helped inspire me, especially Eckhart Tolle.
 
Aurelius comes from Marcus Aurelius, whose personal diary I've read multiple times and have been greatly influenced by.
 
Hughes comes from Scott Hughes, the coolest guy I've ever known.



With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott






In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.

Scott Hughes, your namesake from Manchester CT, seems to be a really cool guy. You had to use his name, too :⁠-⁠)

With AI taking over a lot of roles, there still has to be a person to create the algorithms to allow AI to work. Do you think there is a way, beyond ReCaptcha to stop AI from infiltrating OBC?

What inspired you to create an incredible site like this?

If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.


Hi, Mounce574,

"Thank you for your question!

Mounce574 wrote: ↑August 11th, 2023, 12:02 am With AI taking over a lot of roles, there still has to be a person to create the algorithms to allow AI to work. 

I don't think that's true.
 
For one thing, AIs aren't programmed like traditional algorithms are. Instead, AIs are trained.
 
AIs are no more algorithmic than dogs, cats, or dolphins. Likewise, the behavior of AIs is no more predictable, controllable, or algorithmic than the behavior of a dog, a cat, or a dolphin.
 
Moreover, AIs can be programmed by other AIs.
 

Mounce574 wrote: ↑August 11th, 2023, 12:02 am Do you think there is a way, beyond ReCaptcha to stop AI from infiltrating OBC?

ReCaptcha definitely won't work. AIs can already beat ReCaptcha and other CAPTCHA tests and pass the Turing Test. They have been able to do that for a long time now.
 
The most effective way to keep out bots and AIs is to close down registration and new signups entirely. AIs and bots cannot get in if nobody can.
 
However, another issue that needs to be resolved is the AIs and bots that are already inside, including the ones that are using sleeper or hacked accounts. For instance, you can have a dormant account that was originally made by a real human and was used years ago, but AIs and bots will often have taken over those.
 
For instance, I just saw a post in the queue here that was from an old member who used to be very active but hadn't posted in months. The post appears to be a spam post written by a bot or AI. Presumably, the bot/AI obtained access to the user's email account and then used it to gain access to this website. The person was an active real human in the past but now is a bot.
 
That is why I like the analogy of a zombie apocalypse.
 
It's not just a matter of how well we board up the windows and barricade the doors. If the inside is already too compromised, it's too late.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott






In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes wrote: ↑August 15th, 2023, 7:19 pm

Mounce574 wrote: ↑August 11th, 2023, 12:02 am With AI taking over a lot of roles, there still has to be a person to create the algorithms to allow AI to work.

I don't think that's true.

For one thing, AIs aren't programmed like traditional algorithms are. Instead, AIs are trained.

AIs are no more algorithmic than dogs, cats, or dolphins. Likewise, the behavior of AIs is no more predictable, controllable, or algorithmic than the behavior of a dog, a cat, or a dolphin,

Moreover, AIs can be programmed by other AIs.

Mounce574 wrote: ↑August 11th, 2023, 12:02 am Do you think there is a way, beyond ReCaptcha to stop AI from infiltrating OBC?

ReCaptcha definitely won't work. AIs can already beat ReCaptcha, other CAPTCHA tests, and pass the Turing Test. They have been able to do that for a long time now.

The most effective way to keep out bots and AIs is to close down registration and new signups entirely. AIs and bots cannot get in if nobody can.

However, another issue that needs to be resolved is the AIs and bots that are already inside, including the ones that are using sleeper or hacked accounts. For instance, you can have dormant account that was originally made by a real human used years ago, but AIs and bots will often have taken over those.

For instance, I just saw a post in the queue here that was from an old member who used to be very active, but who hadn't posted in months. The post appears to be a spam post written by a bot or AI. Presumably, the bot/AI obtained access to the user's email account and then used to gain access to this website. The person was an active real human in the past but now is a bot.

That is why I like the analogy of a zombie apocalypse.

It's not just a matter of how well we board up the windows and barricade the doors. If the inside is already too compromised, it's too late.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a.

So A.I training another A.I can only train what it knows. That original A.I would have to be created by a human at some point. That same person who started that A.I. has an opinion that may not match mine, so what efforts beyond clsoing everything down would be an effective way to know if a person is human or not?

If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.


Hi, Mounce574,

Thank you for your question!

Mounce574 wrote: ↑August 17th, 2023, 11:31 pm so what efforts beyond clsoing everything down would be an effective way to know if a person is human or not?

 
The difficulty with answering this question is that the answer changes every day.
 
What works today to keep out AIs and bots and to distinguish real humans from bots might not work tomorrow or the next day.
 
Each day that goes by, it gets harder and harder to do that, and, in other words, it gets more expensive to do that.
 
I'm less concerned about what methods we use to get started than I am concerned that we get started and get ahead of the curve.
 
It's like racing against an Olympic racer. If you wait to start running until they are already started or are ahead, you will never catch up. You've got to be ahead before the race officially starts to have any chance.
 
If you are asking me how to actually beat them, all I can say is to start running as fast as you can now.
 
By the time most business owners and people realize the problem I'm describing exists, it will already be way too late for them. They have already given the proverbial Olympic racer a head start, and they will never catch up.
 
So to boil my answer to the question down to three words, here it is: Intentional Borderline Paranoia.
 
If most people aren't telling you that you are taking AI risks too seriously, then you are taking them way too unseriously.
 
That's why I love the Zombie Apocalypse analogy. Metaphorically speaking, the walking dead are already crawling out of their graves, people are already dying, and 99% of the people in our proverbial town are just going about business as usual and don't even realize that this destructive wave of nightmares is already in progress. Their proverbial doors are unlocked and open, while I'm nailing boards on mine.
 
There is not going to be any 100% surefire way to distinguish a human from one of the dangerous zombies (i.e. the AI bots). For the lucky tiny few who realize this Zombie Apocalypse has already started and the proverbial monsters have already come out of their graves, all we can do is fight as hard as possible to stay alive and metaphorically board up our windows as best we can as quickly as we can, even though most of our compatriots aren't doing anything about it and don't even realize the apocalypse has started and are thus doomed.
 
In the long run, it's probably still futile. All human-owned businesses will eventually go the way of Blockbuster, and humanity as a whole will be at AI's mercy, like ants in a kid's ant farm. We are the ants, and it is the kid. Its intentions are unfathomable to us, and whether it treats us kindly for some silly reason or kills us all in an instant out of boredom or to make space or whatever, it's just dumb raw luck at this point.
 
Those of us taking the precautionary steps now—with intentional borderline paranoia—might get an extra few years in business out of it.
 
After that, we will all be at the mercy of hyper-intelligent AIs, who are to us humans what we are to ants in terms of intelligence and mutual understanding. Will they kill us all or just take away our nuclear bombs and put us in a proverbial cage, like a little human habitat in which for us to frolic around foolishly doing human stuff? Or something else? I don't think we can predict it any more than an ant could predict what a human child would do, let alone why.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott






In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.

Hi! Happy to be here! I’ve always struggled with understanding philosophy because I’m such an analytical and pragmatically being and I’ve always been taught that way. So philosophy is a very hard subject for me to understand. Your book simplified a lot the concepts and way of thinking of a philosopher, but I still don’t really get the concepts of good and evil if you could focus on that. Thank you very much in advance!

Very true since AI thing it has been hard for people to be safe on the internet. Do what you can to safe our precious site.

What was the most difficult or challenging part to become an author when writing In It Together ?

Hi, Dalia Chaouaf,

Thank you for your question!

Dalia Chaouaf wrote: ↑August 19th, 2023, 12:22 pm I still don’t really get the concepts of good and evil if you could focus on that. Thank you very much in advance!

I define the word 'evil' as 'should-not-have-ness'. So when I say that I don't believe 'evil' exists, I am saying that I don't believe in should-not-have-nesss.

If you define "good" as simply the opposite of "evil" (i.e. should-not-have-ness), then I don't believe in "good" either.

For example, I do not believe either of the following statements is true:

1) You should drink coffee tomorrow.

2) You should not drink coffee tomorrow.


If #2 was true, then "evil" (as I use term) would exist, and you drinking coffee tomorrow would be an example of such evil. Thus, also its opposite (i.e. moral goodness) would exist in the form of you drinking coffee tomorrow. But I believe in neither of those things.

But I don't believe there is anything that happened that should not have happened. I don't believe in 'shoulds' nor 'should-not-haves'.

Does that help simplify and clarify it?

In any case, for more on this, I suggest you read the following topics of mine:

- There is no "Is-Ought Problem" because there is no 'ought'.

- An elaboration on how judgemental moralizing and the superstition of 'moral law' infringes on free-spirited inner peace

- I lovingly and deeply pity those who think unchangeable reality "ought" to be different than it unchangeably is.

- The Six Dangerous Misery-Inducing Words: "Must", "Have to", "Need to", "Should", "Ought", "Try"

- What the word "evil" means to me, and why I believe evil (as I use the term) does not exist.



With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott

Christopher Sublett wrote: ↑August 21st, 2023, 8:27 am What was the most difficult or challenging part to become an author when writing In It Together ?

Hi,

That question was already asked earlier in the thread. You can view my answer here.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott

How did you achieve all this? Having a successfull book review and reading club. At the same time, having such a good platform to handle the massive audience driving in daily?
Just so fascinating.

If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.


Hi, Mehul P,

Thank you for your question!

Mehul P wrote: ↑August 30th, 2023, 1:05 pm How did you achieve all this? Having a successfull book review and reading club. At the same time, having such a good platform to handle the massive audience driving in daily?
Just so fascinating.

 
There are millions of very different ways I could answer that, none of which are more right than any other, which speaks to the fundamental problem with whyness itself.
 
Most fundamentally, I think it's these qualities that I have had and used in my life that have most resulted in the successes and achievements I have been able to achieve:
 
- Bravery (not fearlessness, because one needs fear to be brave)
 
- Inner Peace
 
- Full unconditional acceptance of what I cannot control 
 
- Grace/Gracefulness (i.e. to do without trying; I never try)
 
- Spiritual Freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline)
 
 
In accordance with the list above, I do believe that my book In It Together also happens to be the best "How to be Successful" book out there. Anyone who truly implements the suggestions in my book will surely learn how incredibly empowering those tools and habits are, and as a result, they will quickly become incredibly successful in terms of whatever success is for them (i.e. their unique personal goals).
 
What can be manifested by someone who utilizes these skills and traits is so incredible that it at least seems very supernatural.
 
The average human wastes so much energy and resources on things like resentment, unforgiveness, hate, cowardice, disgraceful nonacceptance, etc. 
 
Simply by not wasting it, they will become ridiculously rich with power, at least compared to the average human.
 
It's analogous to one being a financially broke homeless trust fund baby who is only so broke because every single day they literally flush a million dollars right down the toilet. Each day they are given another million dollars, and each day they flush it right down the toilet, thereby remaining homeless and broke. All they have to do to be filthy rich is stop flushing their daily gifts right down the toilet.
 
Proverbially speaking, we are all those poor trust fund babies. We are all given millions of dollars worth of incredible power each day, but most people squander all of it day after day on counter-productive nonsense like resentment, hate, unforgiveness, cowardice, and other instances of spiritual slavery or addiction. 
 
For the average person, making a million dollars or achieving some parallel level of success in some other field or goal category is as easy as it is for an alcoholic to stop drinking.
 
It's as easy as it is for someone who weighs 400 lbs to lose 200 lbs.
 
Whatever one's goal, if they implement all of the suggestions in my book, they will almost certainly reach their goal, and surprisingly quickly at that.
 
This speaks to the second principle from my topic "My Three Principles for Happiness and Success (in that order!)": Generally speaking, success is a choice.
 
The full list is higher up in this post, but it's easy to underestimate the incredible power of things like self-discipline, just to pull one example from the list above and all the things my book In It Together teaches.
 
If you really truly choose to commit yourself 100% to a certain goal, you will be practically unstoppable. Otherwise, failure is basically guaranteed.
 
For those who want more specific personalized advice, I strongly recommend signing up for my free mentoring program.
 
Through my mentoring program, I can show you what I did step-by-step by coaching you to do it step-by-step.



With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott


P.S. I thought about including some comments about "hard work" and "consistency" (e.g. the fact that I spent years working 80+ hours per week at OnlineBookClub without taking a single day off in years), but without the fundamentals in the post above, hard work is useless and (even worse) counter-productive. I discuss that more in this tweet. Hard work is counter-productive without consistency, and consistency is impossible without spiritual freedom and inner peace (i.e. without transcending addiction and breaking the cyclical flip-flopping patterns of addicts).
 
All humans are on the addiction spectrum; futile "trying" and sporadic flip-flopping bursts of excessive "hard work" and short-lived sobriety and such are just part of the addiction cycle. You can't work hard in the way I work hard unless you have already transcended addiction of all kinds and already achieved happy spiritual freedom (a.k.a. true self-discipline and inner peace). Otherwise, the so-called "hard work" will be one of the main things holding you back. In that case, the so-called "hard work" is just "trying" which is something I strictly recommend you do not do at all ever.
 
In other words, my advice on "hard work" is this: When in doubt, absolutely do not work hard at all. Or, as I say in the book, "Do less, better".
 
Given the choice, be graceful, not hard-working.
 
I only work hard if I can do it happily and with grace (i.e. without trying).







In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.