https://aneeshsathe.com/tags/baruch-spinoza/Recent content in Baruch Spinoza on Aneesh SatheHugoen-usSun, 08 Mar 2026 06:28:21 +0000https://aneeshsathe.com/the-end-of-identity-ai-plasticity-and-the-divergence-machine/Sun, 08 Mar 2026 06:28:21 +0000https://aneeshsathe.com/the-end-of-identity-ai-plasticity-and-the-divergence-machine/<p>Over the past year, the Contraptions club has been reading through history—from Giordano Bruno and Montaigne to Spinoza, Adam Smith, and Hume. We are now using using Venkatesh Rao&rsquo;s <a href="https://contraptions.venkateshrao.com/p/the-divergence-machine-ii">Divergence Machine</a> framework as a lens to make sense of the modern world.<br> For context, Venkat posits that human history operates through massive &ldquo;world machines&rdquo;. The &ldquo;modernity machine&rdquo; was constructed around 1200 and operated at a steady plateau of capability from 1600 to 2000. It is now in a state of rapid, partially scheduled disassembly. In its place, the &ldquo;divergence machine&rdquo; was constructed around 1600 and has been operating in fully deployed mode for about 25 years.<br> Looking at this transition through the philosophers we&rsquo;ve studied, my feeling is that over the centuries, we’ve witnessed a gradual peeling back of the layers of imagination that were once heavily layered on top of nature. We can map this peeling back directly to Rao&rsquo;s divergence concepts.</p>