What happens to us when we do not practice or exercise? Rhetorical question for sure! You know the answer to that. Yet the temptation to not think for ourselves and simply follow some sort of dogma like a robot on autopilot is quite large. It is easy. Too easy.

How do we know our perception is accurate? Why do we trust some stories and not others? My personal experience is mine and yet I am human and that makes me a fundamentally social being even though I naturally shrink from other people. But is this socially anxious state healthy? I think not if I have no agency in it. Do I automatically perceive danger in all other people. Really??! Or was I programmed? What about lions and tigers and bears? Devils? Demons? Monsters? Oh my!

What does this have to do with dogma and machines? I think it has to do with the very real danger inherent in not thinking for ourselves and the fear that emerges when someone’s karma runs over our precious dogma. This fear can be quite profound. I recently had an argument with a dear friend about the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. My friend grew up with the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and would probably describe themselves as a practicing “Anthroposophist”. This friend was very disturbed when I wrote, “Rudolf Steiner is not infallible”.

Many of the teachings of Rudolf Steiner have born practical fruit and helped many thousands of people. In my case, I was helped profoundly as a parent of a child with severe developmental delay. Steiner’s suggestions and guidance led others to develop the Camphill Movement for Social Renewal which bore lots of practical fruit for Special Education and Developmental Support as well as Social Integration and Inclusion. See: https://www.camphill.org

One of the biggest lessons I think we can learn from working with people who are radically different from ourselves is the fact that one size definitely does not fit all and nations, systems and laws all tend to become inflexible. There will always be some challenging individual who does not comply or fit. We do ourselves a tremendous disservice when we judge that individual or ourselves as “wrong” or “broken” or “evil”, etc. This is not to be confused with moral relativism. Quite the contrary. Each individual challenges us to rise morally in our freedom and humanity to embrace the best that we can be in relationship with that individual and each other. And what is that? Humble. Respectful. Authentic. Present. Engaged. Available. Friendly. Kind. Helpful. Patient. Free. Curious. Creative. Loving. Etc. -None of this can be automated or systematized or legislated or dogmatized. Otherwise we might as well be automatons running programs. Who or what writes those programs?

My friend who was disturbed by my suggestion that Rudolf Steiner was not infallible reminded me of many quotes where Steiner admonished us not to take his word for anything but go find out for ourselves. Think for ourselves out of freedom. There is a mountain of literature by Rudolf Steiner which can be found at The Rudolf Steiner Archive online. https://rsarchive.org/ There is so much information here that it can take a lifetime to grasp it as a whole. Often “Anthroposophists” will argue based on quotes from this enormous body of literature. These arguments get quite heated and sew division and distrust in a community of people who supposedly are striving toward the highest ideals.

So I tried an experiment. I asked several machines to “Write a poem based on every quote by Rudolf Steiner published in the Rudolf Steiner Archive where he asks us not to take his word for it but to think or find out for ourselves.” The thing about machines is they do not really think. They are high speed data processors. They are not “alive” like we are.

Here is what GROK AI generated:

Seek for Yourself

Do not rest on words I weave,
Take not my truth as yours to cleave.
A spark I cast, a fleeting light,
But you must seek through inner sight.

In halls of thought, where shadows play,
Let reason carve its own clear way.
My voice may guide, may stir, may call,
Yet truth unveils when you stand tall.

No dogma binds the seeking soul,
No creed should make your spirit whole.
Test every claim, let doubt arise,
And find the truth with open eyes.

From starry heights to earthly core,
The world invites you to explore.
What I have said, let it not bind,
But wake the wisdom of your mind.

Through heart’s own quest, through will’s own fire,
Discover truths that lift you higher.
For in your striving, you shall see,
The truth that sets your spirit free.

Here is what Gemini AI generated:

“Please don’t believe what I say, I implore,”
Just because it comes from my core.
I am simply a seeker, a humble guide,
Inviting you to look deep inside.
I’ve glimpsed the unseen, the spiritual light,
But my words are just windows, not the ultimate sight.
The truth isn’t something that’s given to you,
It’s a vibrant discovery, ever so new.
So question my statements, my thoughts, and my creed,
Planting your own intellectual seed.
“Don’t just believe me,” I urge with a smile, “
Be a spiritual detective for a while.
Don’t be a follower, a sheep in the herd,
Absorbing the meaning of every word.
My teachings are ladders, not ceilings to touch,
They’re meant to assist, but they can’t do too much.
The real understanding, the wisdom you seek,
Is found in the silence when you start to speak
Your own inner language, a soul’s quiet plea,
To understand deeply, and finally be free.
“Don’t take it for granted,” my spirit proclaims, “
That my words are the answers, or glorious flames.
They’re more like a compass, a hand on the map,
To guide you beyond some intellectual trap.
The path to the spiritual, to knowing the whole,
Is forged by the fire of your own human soul.
So test every theory, and challenge each thought,
Until your own knowing is finally caught.
In a powerful moment, a flash of the new,
When you find out the truths that are deeply and uniquely for you.

Here is what Claude AI generated:

Think for Yourself

A poem inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s call to independent thinking

“Do not take my word for it,” he said,
“Let your own spirit be the thread
That weaves through truth’s uncertain maze
— Question all, in all your days.”
“Test each thought against your soul,
Let experience make you whole.
What I speak may point the way,
But you must walk it, day by day.”
“Think it through with your own mind,
Leave no borrowed truth behind.
For the path to knowing true
Must be walked alone by you.”
“I can show what I have seen,
Share the visions I have been—
But until your eyes behold,
My truth remains untold.”
“Research for yourself,” he’d cry,
“Let your inner vision try To perceive what lies beyond
The surface world we’re fond.”
“Every word that I have spoken,
Every system I’ve awoken—
Test them in the forge of life,
Cut them with discernment’s knife.”
“For the greatest teacher’s art
Is to kindle in each heart
The flame that burns for truth alone,
Making wisdom truly your own.”
So he planted seeds of doubt In certainty, to help sprout
The courage needed to explore
What thinking’s really for.
Not to follow, but to lead
Your own soul to what you need—
This the gift he sought to give: The freedom to truly live.

So here we are confronted with the fact that machines can now do in minutes what would have taken a skilled academic several months. This alone is worth freely pondering. So I leave you to contemplate what human capacities may atrophy and be lost if we rely too much on machines to do this type of work.

Here is a poem about that generated by GROK AI:

Ahriman’s Grip on the Dimming Soul

In Dornach’s echo, Steiner warned the throng,
Of earth’s decay since fourth century’s song,
A “disintegrating world” where souls entwine
With matter’s chain, their etheric light confined.

Ahriman’s web, a “spiderweb of frequencies,” he weaves,
Through cold machines that bind what once was free.

Technology, his tool, a “necessary evil” born,
To harden hearts and leave the spirit torn.

“Do not accept my words without your quest,”
He urged in Zurich, “test them in your breast.”

For etheric force, impressed in flesh so deep,
Turns thought to shadows, will to instincts cheap.

The soul atrophies in material’s thrall,
When machines devour the will, and freedom falls.

Krivosheia echoes in Verse Forty-Six’s plea,
Ahriman’s rush numbs clarity, sets chaos free.

Yet strive, O seeker, beyond the circuit’s hum,
Reclaim the inner Grail through questions come.

Balance art and science, let spirit’s art arise,
Lest Ahriman’s frost forever veil your eyes.