“There’s nothing new under the sun.”

Are we modern Kabbalists?

Scientific and technological advances are often cited to refute the statement “There is nothing new under the sun.” Technically speaking, there is indeed much that is new under the sun, but if we consider the phrase in terms of “a new discourse” or “a new inquiry,” the question arises: is it really possible to claim that there is something truly new?

It seems that when it comes to scientific and technological discoveries, we are always revisiting old topics. Gene editing, for example, is a new technology. But what is the ensuing debate about? It revolves around rights, freedom, equality and other related ethical considerations.

From this perspective, this technology seems to be making us rethink an existing inquiry in a different way, rather than creating an entirely new discourse.

In the book “God, Human, Animal, Machine”, a researcher in the field of artificial intelligence said: “We are trying to create intelligence and life with numbers; in fact, we are modern Kabbalists.” Despite the novelty of the technology, he wanted to emphasize that the search for it is ancient.

It seems that even if our arguments evolve on the surface, we tend to cling to certain questions and concepts because the pattern that makes sense of being human has not changed significantly.

When does this change? -In my opinion, it changes when the pattern that creates the meaning of being human changes. It is certain that on a level where we are cyborgs, we will create different narratives.