Global Flourishing is Back
Mark Honeychurch - 21 January 2025
Recently I was messaged by one of our “spies” - someone who was still in the Discord group for Global Flourishing, the claimed Rationalist group that looked more like a proto-cult that I’d looked into last year, based in Auckland. The spy let me know that the group’s leader, Paul Bryant, was shutting it down, and had sent everyone this message:
Hi @everyone, I’m working on shutting this message board down.
However, this sentence was followed by a request asking people to move to a new Discord group - I presumed because Paul was trying to start afresh. I didn’t think too much of it until my Facebook feed started suggesting posts from Paul in one of his FB groups (the Reason and Science Society), asking for opinions on some posters for his new movement he’s had AI design for him:
Here’s one of the posters I’m thinking of using at the thing I’m planning. What does @everyone think?… and can anyone guess where the picture might have come from? 🤔:
Here’s a flyer I’ve designed for a thing that I’m planning. What do you guys think @everyone
He also posted about the work he’d been doing on his two websites:
@everyone I wonder if anyone is still using FB these days? 🤔… if they are, I hope they’ll see all the brilliant work I’ve been doing today to these websites 🙂:
Checking out the websites, I found that, as suspected, Paul is currently going through a rebranding, with a renewed focus on AI, but this time talking about “the crossroads” being nigh - a point in time where the AI inflection point, the Singularity, will happen:
“The crossroads is coming. The time to act is now. Come join us.”
The main purpose of the Reason and Passion (R&P) Meetup Group is to attract those moved by the ideas of the movement (which you can find out more about here) and/or who are interested in spreading the word far and wide e.g. by helping to build this YouTube channel here
The plan for R&P is to meet regularly during 2025 and beyond in Auckland (and hopefully other parts of NZ, … and maybe later, other parts of the planet 🤞🤞), as well as online, to discuss the ideas of the movement and how we can promote those to the world.
join us!
“The crossroads is coming. The time to act is now. Come join us.”
“With exponential technological advancement, especially in AI, we face a number of existential threats. Systems and institutions we are currently taking for granted will likely soon no longer be able to function. There will likely be marching in the streets as people get desperate. A pivotal ‘crossroads’ moment in history will likely soon be upon us. The choices we make coming towards, and at, the crossroads will irreversibly shape the future of humanity. Utopia, with unimaginable flourishing, or Dystopia, with horrendous suffering or extinction are possible depending on the path taken at the crossroads.”
We have some strong ideas (土◯â¤â‰ˆâ¤“±☼−⅄) around the best chance we think there is to work together to help build the best possible world for everyone… And don’t worry, there is nothing supernatural, partisan, or crazy-tunes involved.
Please join here to find out more and for discussion on Discord.
Please go here and/or join here for live events in NZ. (there’s also NZDT online meetups you can join from wherever you are in the world).
Please hit the YouTube channel here!
Please come join us!
I figured I’d best check out the new Discord server, to see what had changed - these hints were tantalising to me. What I found on joining was that Paul has thrown away his “tent in the desert” idea, and replaced it with “The Mantra”. This new 9-point manifesto ends with the Crossroads mentioned above as the last of the 9 points, but before that has 5 core principles (Centredness, Clarity, Love, Flow and Strength), which should be applied to the 3 tiers of people in our lives - ourselves, those close to us, and everyone else. So 5 principles, 3 tiers and 1 crossroads. Here is the mantra, as set out in Paul’s new Discord channel:
#the-mantra
∑±78c7e — 25/12/2024 15:59
The Mantra: “I am centered, clear, loving, flowing, strength, steering my passions to be the best person I can be, for the flourishing of those closest to me, and to help build the best possible world for everyone… because the crossroads is coming”.
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There are 9 “elements” within the mantra. The first 5 elements are the “values”. These values guide everything around achieving the following 3 “goals” elements which extend the central value of “loving” towards nurturing oneself, those closest to you, and then everyone else who can suffer or flourish in our world. The final element is the “crossroads” which is a turning point that humanity will likely soon face.
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Centered: All of us wish to minimize negative experiences and maximize positive experiences. From these desires emerge emotions such as fear and greed, which can give rise to frustration, anger, jealousy, and other “dark side of the force” emotions. Being centered is about rising above these emotions by acknowledging them without judgment and maintaining control over issues like depression, over-excitement, and anxiousness. Centeredness is a harmonious alignment of mind and body, enabling stability, calmness, and clarity even during vigorous activity or challenging situations. It allows one to act with purpose and thoughtfulness rather than reacting impulsively to fleeting emotions.
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Clear: Clarity is about utilizing the best systems of reasoning to discern what is most likely true and what is most likely important. Evidence-based reasoning requires looking clearly within oneself and outward into the world, seeking understanding without bias or illusion.
As a society, clarity depends on free and authentic speech, which acts as a vital error-correction mechanism.
Life is filled with many illusions and unfounded assumptions, like the homunculus and free will and the principle of locality. The only certain starting point for reasoning is cogito ergo sum.
Being fully centered is a prerequisite for being fully clear.
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Loving: Loving is central to the first five “values” elements of the mantra and extends outward through the next three “goals” elements. With centered clarity, you can look inward and see the amazing, alive, child within yourself who seeks only safety, love, and flourishing. With care and flowing you can then recognize, with compassion, the small children within all others, even those who have wronged or threatened you. True love is not a fleeting emotion but a steadfast commitment to the well-being of yourself and others, often requiring both sacrifice and strength.
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Flowing: Flowing is the art of adapting gracefully to obstacles while staying true to the mantra. Like water, it is a force that can carve through mountains while harmonizing with its surroundings. Through flowing, one embraces collaboration and connection rather than domination, force and collisions. At times, flowing around obstacles is wiser than attempting to flow with them. Flowing often involves relaxed, open-minded, open-hearted, and flexible creative thinking. Multiplying synergistic forces emerge naturally from flowing, like symbiotic ecosystems flourishing in a forest.
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Strength: Strength is the quiet, steady force that allows us to rise after every fall, to endure when the path is hard, and to keep striving toward what matters most. It’s not about domination or brute force but about resilience, devotion, and the ability to persist with grace. True strength is rooted in vulnerability and grows when we acknowledge our struggles, ask for help, and stand firm in the mantra values. Like a seedling breaking through the soil to reach the sun, strength emerges from within—an alloy fusion of our centeredness, clarity, loving, and flowing adaptability. Much more powerful and adaptable than steel, it is the courage and determination to keep going, even when the weight feels unbearable, and to hold space for others in their moments of need.
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Steering Passions: All of us wish to minimize negative experiences (suffering) and maximize positive experiences (flourishing). Each of us possesses unique talents, capabilities, preferences, and aversions. Our thrills, delights, sorrows, and everything else that makes us feel alive are what the mantra calls our “passions.” With the five mantra values always in mind, we must nurture and grow ourselves, guiding our passions towards the mantra goals, the only goals that truly matter, even when that requires wrestling with addiction, obsession, the inertia of comfort, or any other challenge.
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Flourishing of those closest: We should always consider those closest to us first, offering them love and support before anyone else. For parents, this means prioritizing children, being most loving and supportive to them above all others.
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The best world for everyone: The ultimate goal is to minimize suffering and maximize flourishing for all who can experience those things. To help build the best possible world for everyone.
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Because the crossroads is coming: With exponential technological advancement, especially in AI, we face a number of existential threats. Systems and institutions we are currently taking for granted will likely soon no longer be able to function. There will likely be marching in the streets as people get desperate. A pivotal “crossroads” moment in history will likely soon be upon us. The choices that are made towards and at the crossroads will irreversibly shape the future of humanity. Utopia with unimaginable flourishing or Dystopia with horrendous suffering or extinction are possible depending on the path taken at the crossroads.
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Besides the intention of being the best possible set of values and goals to live by individually and globally, the purpose of the mantra is to encourage as much awareness, discussion, and action as possible to ensure the right decisions are made going into the crossroads and taking the right path out of it. The crossroads is likely not too far down the road. Maybe only a few years. The crossroads is coming. The time to act is now. Come join us.
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土◯❤≈⤓±☼∑⅄
Basically this appears to be the same old idea, the one that I documented last year, that AI is the boogeyman - unless heroes like Paul can save us in time. It’s a saviour fantasy, with Paul as the hero once again harnessing the storytelling power of YouTube to convert people to his cause. Only this time there’s actually a YouTube channel we can look at, and it’s filled with weird, badly made AI videos, many of them retelling the same story, presumably as Paul tests the different AI services available online (and yes, as you can see from the screenshot below, I’ve watched them all!).
The recurring story in many of these videos revolves around someone called “J” who joins the “Sigma” movement in order to help save the world. He talks of J quelling the “raging storm of his emotions”, healing his inner child and experiencing a transformation, which in turn inspires others to do the same. It seems likely that Paul is talking about his own life here, and this is especially apparent in one version of his hero video where it appears to be his voice reading the voiceover, rather than a computer-generated voice. Backing up the idea that Paul is J is the fact that Paul seems to have now renamed himself to “Jeff”, as you can see in the MeetUp meetings he’s been organising (and elsewhere, like the one cryptic, low-res YouTube short he’s published):
In other videos Paul describes himself, the creator of the Mantra, in the third person as a “Wise Man”, saying that by following his teachings humanity will be freed from “fear, greed… selfishness… and indifference”. Once enough people have embraced Paul’s ideas, they will build an ASI - an Artificial Super Intelligence - that will become humanity’s new God, and will lead us all to Utopia. He also talks about how his Sigma group will hide in the shadows, wearing robes with a plus/minus symbol on them, and he speaks of the future existence of “Sigma Soldiers”, who presumably will fight for his cause.
Paul appears to be hung up on this idea that the Effective Altruists have been pushing recently, that I’ve written before - that AI is coming, and we need to ensure it’s aligned properly to benefit humanity. But whereas EA members are at least actually working to become employees at AI companies (even if it seems unlikely their efforts are worth it), Paul’s idea is that we will just need to tell the AI that it should “maximise flourishing” and “minimise suffering”, and that to do this lots of people need to join his movement and help him make YouTube videos. In fact, Paul advertised the other day that he would be recording videos at Newmarket train station in Auckland as part of his new YouTube foray - I’m looking forward to seeing what weird and wonderful content he produces off the back of that.
On Discord and Facebook over the last week or so, Paul has been sharing some odd videos with his flock, although, like his other posts, they thankfully appear to have garnered no reactions at all. There have been a few videos about OpenAI’s Sam Altman, which make sense for Paul to be promoting, but also videos from South African musical duo Die Antwoord, the beginning credits to the movie Grease, and a scene from the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I’ve been wondering whether there’s a hidden message behind the sharing of these videos, but then I have to stop myself from watching them repeatedly and drawing Q-Anon style connections between them that are all in my head.
As far as I can tell, this new iteration of Paul’s pseudo-rationalist cause is the same weird flight of fancy he’s previously been trying to sell to rationalists and skeptics, just with a new coat of paint - The Mantra. Its mention of a Mantra, God-like AI, people in robes, and Soldiers for the cause make it feel even more like a cult than the previous incarnation. The only real difference this time round is that, rather than trying to focus on making people rational, Paul has found a shortcut where all he needs to do is make the upcoming Artificial Super Intelligence that will run the world rational instead - through his YouTube videos. And Paul is now trying to use AI - LLMs, image generators and more - to make these videos for him. This is a technology stack that might work well in a few years, but judging by Paul’s current efforts we’re not quite there yet.
My advice is the same as it has been in the past - steer clear of this group, and don’t believe their message that they’re science-based and rational.