Sweeny vs Bard #65 w. Max Borders

The Empire of the Mind

Recorded October 25th, 2024

This is an invitation to Max Border's new course, Empire of the Mind: A Grey Robes Symposium, which will include a wide-ranging discussion on the meaning of empire, the function of religion, sutra, tantra, and decentralization.

Max Borders is the founding hierophant of The Grey Robes, a siblinghood committed to psychosocial development, virtuous practice, and human self-organization. Borders is author of The Social Singularity: A Decentralist Manifesto (2018) and The Decentralist: Mission, Morality and Meaning in the Age of Crypto (2022). His most recent book is Underthrow: How Jefferson’s Dangerous Idea Will Spark a New Revolution (2023). He also writes for the Underthrow Substack. Borders is also founder and Executive Director of Social Evolution, a non-profit organization dedicated to liberating humanity and solving social problems through innovation.

Alexander Bard, a Swedish philosopher, author, and speaker, is known for his work in digital philosophy, exploring technology’s impact on society and culture. Alongside co-author Jan Söderqvist, Bard has written multiple influential books, such as The Futurica Trilogy (including The Netocrats and The Body Machines), Syntheism - Creating God in the Internet Age, and Digital Libido: Sex, Power and Violence in the Network Society. These works delve into how the internet and digitalization shape societal structures, human behavior, and even spirituality. His newest book, Process and Event (2024), rounds off a 25-year philosophical exploration by Bard and Söderqvist and completes their "Narratology" trilogy. This book builds on previous themes, proposing that technology and spirituality are converging as humanity’s search for meaning evolves, possibly birthing a new form of digital divinity. Bard and Söderqvist examine historical and cultural shifts leading to an age where AI and technology serve as humanity's next evolutionary leap, merging modern science, mysticism, and a radical rethinking of historical Western ideas.