So Strange They Agree

In September 2024, I was in a meeting with our groundskeeper Tsültrim, fellow training resident Namgyal, and head teacher Soryu Forall, who telephoned in from San Francisco. He was on a speaking tour there, meeting many people in the AI field. In this meeting, we discussed how to move forward with a project to incorporate technological components into a meditation space in order to create an AI out of our clear minds.

As the meeting was near its end, Soryu appreciated us for our work, emphasizing that it’s more real and important than what people are doing at AI companies, then shared this about his conversations with them.

“What is most strange is that they agree with what I just said. I sit down with them at dinner or at their offices, and I say, ‘What we're doing is more important than anything you're doing at Gemini.’ 

“And they say, ‘It's true.’ 

“And I say, ‘Then why don't you quit your job at Gemini and join us at MAPLE?’ 

“And they say, ‘I should. You're right, I should do that.’

“I say, ‘Then do it.’ 

“And they say, ‘No, I like money and status. Yep, I'm not going to do it.’

“And I say, ‘But that's insane. You're completely insane. You would be happier at MAPLE. And your life would be more meaningful. And you would be more proud of yourself. The whole world would be better.’

“They nod and agree with all these things, then they say, ‘I prefer to live in my really nice apartment.’”

By this point I had put my forehead in my palm, and asked, “Was this all recorded? Because right now it sounds ridiculous.”

“I know, I know. But you know, the guy who offered you that job—that's why I said you should take him out for coffee.”

A week earlier, the CTO of an AI tech startup in NYC had contacted me, proposing a coffee meeting in Manhattan to recruit me for an engineering position. Having been a software engineer before starting this training in January 2020, I still often get such recruitment emails. When I emailed Soryu about this, that was the suggestion he gave.

He continued, “Do not let him take you out for coffee. You fly down there, take him out for coffee, and have this conversation. I predict that the same thing will happen if you argue these points, which I did with people here:

“If you take the time to make each of those points without holding back, but also without rushing, then in under an how they come to agree with each of them. They’ll say, ‘Okay, that's very reasonable.’ Then you say, ‘Okay, then act according to what you just said.’ Then they will say, ‘Haha, no.’

“It has happened again and again. They all say the same thing, ‘But I don't want to.’

“It's amazing. They say they don’t want to give up the apartment, but that’s just what they say. What they really don’t want to do is face their own minds. Because they’re not willing to face themselves, they're willing to kill everyone.

“So go down, give him a coffee, explain the situation. I predict that by the end of it, he'll say, ‘I see your point. I have no arguments against it, but no.’”