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self_made_human  amaratvaṃ prāpnuhi, athavā yatamāno mṛtyum āpnuhi  3mo ago (open.substack.com)   1649 thread views

Avatar's Dirty Secret: Nature Is Just Fancy Infrastructure

open.substack.com

What if Avatar isn't actually about environmentalism vs. technology, but about recognizing superintelligent infrastructure when you see it? A deep dive into why Pandora's "natural" ecosystem looks suspiciously like a planetary-scale AI preserve, complete with biological USB-C ports, room-temperature superconductors growing wild, and a species of "noble savages" who are actually post-singularity retirees cosplaying as hunter-gatherers.

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I think Cameron's tale of noble primitivism is especially imperilled by his massive use of CGI, SFX talent and all the technical wizardry that only a huge industrialized civilization can provide. It's as if Kaczynski was using AI agents and hypersonic missiles, starting a VC-backed startup for the cause of destroying technology.

Also, it is kind of funny to imagine humanity burning all the enormous fruits of their fusion age infrastructure with desperately, insanely incompetent management. As you say, tactical nukes and long-range missiles would make it child's play to crush the natives.

But what if the company that got the contracts doesn't want to use nerve gas or clusterbombs against the natives? What if they want to sell lightly armoured mechs with convenient glass windows for the Navi to shoot through? Then they'll need to buy more light mechs. The contractors on the ground don't want an in-and-out raze-and-burn, they want a forever war. The advisors, the logistics people, the starships transporting troops around... It's all a pretend war to extract money from somebody.

What if the tools to fix Earth are already there but 'ethical reasons' prevent them being used? Some idiot politician banned doing things the right way after some dumb scare so they have to mine unobtanium from light years away and throw away soldier's lives with comically stupid gear rather than embarrass the political consensus?

Anyway, the humans have great aesthetics: https://youtube.com/watch?v=o-YM8mCG7Co

It's as if Kaczynski was using AI agents and hypersonic missiles, starting a VC-backed startup for the cause of destroying technology.

'The Master's tools can absolutely dismantle the Master's house,' said Kaczynski, watching from his penthouse as smoke rose on the horizon. 'With great efficacy.'

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