#60 Who Were the Luddites, and What Can We Learn from Them in the Age of AI?

About this episode

The episode explores lessons from the Luddites in relation to the rise of AI and technology's impact on humanity and nature.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deathinthegarden.substack.com On this episode of “Death in The Garden,” we discuss what we can learn from the Luddites and how the true meaning of what they stood for can be instructive for how we deal with the rise of A.I. and in our time. In addition to discussing the Luddites, we discuss other works of fiction from the industrial age. We talk about humanity’s proximity to technology, toolmaking, and therefore, machines, and what that means for us moving forward in a tech-entangled world. We discuss the problem of striving for efficiency at all costs, and how humans, and nature, are not “efficient”… and shouldn’t be. We discuss the virtues of “adequate technology” or, as the Luddites put it, “technologies of commonality.” We talk about the awkward tradeoffs that come with all technology, and discuss which lines we personally don’t want to cross in the A.I. age. We talk about the mythic qualities of A.I. and the ancient stories it conjures, such as Prometheus, Kabbalistic Golems, Frankenstein, and the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. We discuss the pseudo-religious reasons for the development of A.I., the idea of creating a…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jake Marquez, Maren Morgan

Topics covered

• Luddites
• AI
• technology
• efficiency
• mythic qualities
• adequate technology

Keywords

• Luddites
• AI
• technology
• efficiency
• myth
• Frankenstein
• Prometheus
• Kabbalistic Golems
• Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Frankenstein, Prometheus, Kabbalistic Golems, Sorcerer’s Apprentice

More episodes of Death in The Garden

• The Score: How Quantification Has Shaped Society | BONUS EPISODE · May 22, 2026 · 18 min
• 28 Years Later: Embracing Zombies, Death, and the Gilmore Girls | BONUS EPISODE · January 12, 2026 · 25 min
• #65 Allan Savory - Our Collective Need to See the World Holistically · December 10, 2025 · 1h 56m
• Starting a Cosmic Commune: Inside Spaceship Earth and Biosphere 2 | BONUS EPISODE · November 20, 2025 · 27 min
• Andor, Star Wars, Rebellion, and the Reality of Our Global Empire | BONUS EPISODE · October 20, 2025 · 21 min
• #64 Helena Norberg-Hodge - Resisting the Machine World and Turning Toward Life · September 30, 2025 · 1h 23m