[hiAndrewQuinn]

Ain't that the million dollar question, my friend. I am not about to slog myself through enough Immanuel Kant to explain how to got there, though. I already had one undergrad.

You're right to notice a connection to theism here, though. It sounds nuts to see but I actually see some distant parallels between Land and Omohundro's ideas and, like, old gnostic traditions, or the early 20th century process philosophy of Charles Hartshorne.

[gom_jabbar]

Land is also explicitly referencing Omohundro and his Basic AI Drives in his work, e.g.:

"Intelligence is escape, with a tendency to do its own thing. That's what runaway means, as a virtual mind template. Omohundro explains the basics." [0]

"Intelligence optimization, comprehensively understood, is the ultimate and all-enveloping Omohundro drive." [1]

[0] https://retrochronic.com/#pythia-unbound

[1] https://retrochronic.com/#against-orthogonality