What We Fear

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

What we choose to fear, and not to fear, is sometimes astonishing.  I started thinking about this yesterday when I wrote about AI.  AI is a thing – a thing we made – any mischief or evil that might flow from it is of our creation.  The thing to fear is us, not it.  That applies in a lot of situations.

Yesterday I said, “I am not willing to buy into anthropomorphizing these AI “agents” that much just yet….”  There are a lot of reasons for that, but let me lay some statistics on you.  AI is a monstrously large and brutal imitation – imitation mind you – of a human brain.  Lately ChatGPT is running TV ads of old ladies talking to ChatGPT with their phones – cute, but consider what is going on there.  One, their phone is simply a communication device, the “brains” behind the AI is far away in multiple data centers. The best AI’s require multiple data centers networked to achieve the necessary computing power, but single campus centers are currently in the works.  Such a single campus situation would cover 1000 acres, give or take, and consume roughly 14 billion (14,000,000,000) calories of energy per minute.  Now, compare that to an actual human brain which is about the size of your two fists put together and the entire human body consumes about 2 thousand (2,000) calories of energy PER DAY.  Large and brutal imitation indeed.  AI has a very long way to go before it can rival human capabilities – for good or for evil.

Another thing we are really afraid of – nuclear energy.  If we take human-induced climate change seriously, nuclear energy is an absolute must.  Also yesterday I wrote, “Potentially dangerous tech, but a lot of tech is.  We just have to deal with it and learn to use it better.”  We have suffered two nuclear explosions in anger and hundreds in testing.  The globe is dotted with nuclear power reactors both stationary and mobile.  Most have worked without a hitch, but there have been a few accidents as well.  The world is still here and by-and-large, unaltered.  Yes, there are scars from this activity.  But those scars are minimal and the world continues about its business on a daily basis without regard to them. And we have learned from each incident and use.

Where I live, near Oak Ridge, TN – where it all began – they are terribly proud of how well they have been able to clean up the supposed mess that was left behind.  Interestingly that mess is microscopic compared to what some other nations did in pursuit of nuclear weapons.  Just like a power tool – it is not the tool that is at issue, it is the operator.  In that clean-up they have created a natural area in which to revive newer, safer, more efficient nuclear power.  Yet, the fear persists.

And that persistent fear of things overrides what we truly ought to fear – people – evil, wrong-headed, nasty people. We live in an amoral age and we have a terribly hard time deciding who to fear.  As of yesterday, Hasan Piker, made my list.  Yesterday he moved past mere antisemitism:

“I think Israel in its current formation, given that it’s a settler colonial operation that’s seeking out the expulsion or complete extermination of the indigenous population as an apartheid state does not have a right to exist,” he said. “It’s like, for me, it’s like saying does Nazi Germany have a right to exist or does apartheid South Africa have a right to exist? Does Rhodesia have a right to exist? No, of course not.”

His premise is entirely false, but that is the least of the problems in that statement.  That statement is justification for the destruction of the nation of Israel.

That is to be feared.  We don’t need to fear nuclear power, but we do need to fear someone that would use it to destroy a nation – particularly on a false premise.  Likewise AI.

Even more, I fear that this man that holds such evil sentiment has been stood up by legitimate candidates from the Democratic Party.  These hateful and destructive views have been given air, not by the creepy corners of the internet, but by people standing for election to the Senate of the United States.  Most of all, I fear people that do not fear people like this.

Fortunately, “I fear no evil, for You are with me….”  Amen and amen.