Artificial Intelligence, Mock Apple Pie, and Man-made God

Mock Apple Pie Looks Real WIX Images 2023

When I was growing up, from time to time my mother would talk about a mock apple pie she had made sometime before I was born. She went on and on about how good it was and how you could not tell the difference between real apple pie and the mock version. My cousin would echo the sentiment. In truth, mock apple pie did not use apples at all but used crackers. My mother and cousin were amazed that baked crackers could taste so much like authentic apple pie. I always wondered why someone would want an apple pie that did not have apples, apart from the surprise of that. Maybe I have always leaned toward appreciation for things that are real. WIX Photos 2023

It seems that during the 1800s mock apple pie was created as a response to apples being unavailable or being too expensive to buy for a pie. Mock apple pies were made from either stale bread or crackers along with water, sugar, and various spices. Crackers and old bread were much less expensive and readily available. The recipe was the result of someone wanting apple pie so badly that they determined how to satisfy their longing with a substitute. It was a solution (Troy, 2015).

Fake apple pie is not the only thing we have available to us that is not exactly like the original. We can buy artificial flowers, fingernails, eye lashes, grass, and even artificial rocks to place over unsightly pipes in the yard. Fabricated leather, commonly known as pleather, provides those who do not want to harm animals with a substitute that gives the look of animal hide without the cost to animals or the wallet.

We can build a home and utilize laminate and ceramic countertops, as well as linoleum, vinyl, or laminate flooring. We come to admire the look of faux stone, brick, or wood telling ourselves that it looks fairly good for a fake. Such coverings typically require little or no maintenance and are durable enough to be an arguably savvy choice in place of wood or stone. The strength and durability of natural materials can be replaced by an amalgamation of wood fiber and resin. Countertops of wood or stone can be replaced by layers of kraft paper fused with plastic on a thin board.

Like mock apple pie, imitations have been considered as workable and even viable solutions to challenges people have. Sometimes things that are fabricated supply an alternative where the original simply cannot be used because of moral conscience or physical limitation such as allergies. Most often the use of substitutes is because they are less expensive and, like stale bread, are more readily available.

Such is the case with artificial intelligence, for example. Artificial intelligence machines are technologically advanced in that they have been engineered to operate in ways that humans operate. They seem to perceive, to reason, and to learn much as humans do. This has been the premise of a few thrilling and fantastical movies. However, the cost for their abilities makes them the exception to the rule that simulated things are less expensive. On the contrary, artificially intelligent machines are extremely costly, but for some companies, who inflated cost compensates for the shortage of employees and operation gaps in which human workers are either not available, are better used at a different task, or are more expensive to hire and keep employed.

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The abilities of machines with AI were made possible by the original, the human mind that figured out a way of simulating that which God created...to some extent. But simulated intelligence does not and cannot possess authentic emotion, spirituality, morality, values, creativity. Those things can only be mimicked to a minimal extent. Artificial falls short. We recognize a counterfeit by what it cannot do, by how it falls short of the real thing.

Authenticity Is Valuable

I recognize and can even appreciate how fabrications can give the appearance of something valuable and do so fairly consistently and affordably, but is appearance enough? Might we be better served by buying what is best and will last?

What about our relationship with the self and with others, including our relationship with God? Might it be better to seek within ourselves and in our relationships that which is of high value, betters our lives, and endures? Is it truly savvy to pursue relationships with individuals who are unable to be a strength and benefit to our lives? Is it shrewd to find ways to exchange a healthy, transformed personal character for unbridled reaction to situations that alarm, hurt, or angered us as they always have before? Is it of personal spiritual advantage to spend energy engaging in perfunctory religious activities? While millions of people engage in church activities, is that always the result of an authentic relationship with God or a token or cursory nod to religion? Is that the best approach to spiritual authenticity?

There are no adequate or even desirable substitutes for authentic interactions, collaborations, and exchanges with God and other people with whom we encounter or invite into our personal lives. The same is true of being honest and truthful with ourselves. Seriously evaluating how we present ourselves, how we treat others, and what is healthy and fulfilling for ourselves is of utmost value. How many times have we acquiesced when we probably should have set a boundary or limit and maintained it? How often have we bargained with God as if he were a Help-broker? How have we settled in our friendships and marriages because we wanted the ease, as it were, of not having to maintain the growth of the relationship, much as you must care for fresh flowers in the planter, or how we would need to pick apples for a fresh apple pie? Sometimes the effort required is what makes 'real' so rare.

Authentic is rare.

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How much easier a plastic tulip is to keep alive; how much easier it is to grab stale bread for your pie and fool your guests into believing your marriage is the real thing. Unlike vinyl and laminate, honest, authentic relationships with oneself, with God, with other people are superior, are durable, and maintain their beauty when they are real, genuine. When we have superficial relationships, we may be able to skate by and recover from the day-to-day impacts to our lives, but there is little ability to recover from heat and scratches to the surface, and substances that make their way beneath the veneer.

In authentic relationships inherently cannot be tested for their merit because they withstand little. They may look appealing on the outside, but there is little in the way of substance to maintain the look of the thing. The burn of infidelity or unforgiveness, the scratch or gouge of abusive words and overstepped emotional or physical boundaries mars the relationship. If the relationship is not of sound constitution a burn or gouge is permanent. At this point we can either look at the damage every day as it is, or we can replace the relationship because the damage is done. It will not be redeemable in that state. Only that which is true and of superb quality can be altered or recovered.

Fabrications typically do not hold value and are not easily repaired when damaged because there is not sufficient material, not adequate depth with which to make a repair. Some aspects of artificial things cannot be reproduced to effectively provide what the genuine article does. Fakes do not measure up. While inexpensive, laminate is not durable because it is prone to chipping. Significant life concerns such as job loss, dealt, illness, and betrayal will not only chip an inauthentic, unhealthy relationship, but damage it or render it useless? What good is a friendship or marriage if the beloved cannot or will not hold your hand through life's adversities? What is the enticement of a friendship that holds a good flavor overall, but does not contain the nurturing and sweet genuineness of ripe apples from the tree? We do not need to be deprived of real fruit, real flowers, and real relationships that hold true value and beauty, and are dependable.

Some may argue that the cost of authenticity is too high to be worth it or to attain it. Investment in us can seem costly. It is the same with our spiritual journey and our relationships. Authenticity of character, of our spirituality and our communication requires things of us that some are reticent to give. It can be uncomfortable to allow ourselves to be emotionally vulnerable. It can be difficult to be honest with ourselves about what we want versus what is best for us. We want to perceive ourselves as justified and correct, without the foils and foibles other people have.

We recognize the counterfeit by how it falls short.

It can be a challenge to hold out for the best person to introduce into our lives as a friend or romantic interest. We tend to want something now to avoid the discomfort and fear of waiting to know true worth or security. The emotional threat that we will not survive without someone, anyone can be a strong motivator. However, to give in to temporary circumstances and feelings causes us to bring to ourselves veneered connections, untruth, and insincerity. These can do quite a lot more harm than waiting for genuineness. The cost may seem high, but we always recognize the counterfeit by how it falls short.

Through introspection and honest dialogue, clients who come to a relationship coach collaborate with their coach to intentionally make changes or improve themselves and their future. Some clients may see a coach to evaluate the quality of their relationships with those in their social and personal sphere to determine what could be better and then plan ways to deliberately make significant changes. Coaching clients may consider the transitions they are experiencing in their lives and determine the best way to navigate those changes. Clients may examine their spirituality and the quality of their relationship with God.

So, the matter becomes, what do we want so badly that we are willing to substitute it with other things, particularly when we are running low or think we cannot afford the sacrifice necessary to have that which is authentic? Maybe if we are running low on confidence, emotional support, or quality friendships we may be tempted to not be true to ourselves and acquiesce for superficial friendships that require us to compromise our values, morals, or ethics. If we are running low on love, acceptance, or companionship, perhaps we are more likely to settle for shallow or even harmful romantic relationships in the hope that we will be able to change them or get enough from the substitute to tie us over.

And what about God? Can we know him, relate with him, and connect with him authentically or is the only realm of possible spiritual familiarity with God a one-dimensional idea of him that is experienced through religious pursuit? Do we embrace the user-friendly and unprovocative idea of "The Universe" as supreme, as if the collection of celestial matter could ever equate to the omniscient God or that it has superior intelligence? If all we have is God-laminate, we will enjoy the look of him and tell others how sturdy he is in our lives and on a rare day, may even acknowledge that we did not have to pay much to get him. With man-made god, how will we survive, much less thrive, through the adversities of financial ruin, divorce, betrayal, slander, job loss, brokenness, and the loneliness of isolation? God-fabricate does not cut it! The only thing that will get us through those things is the genuine article...God Almighty, lover of our souls. We need a relationship with God that is intimate. We need a relationship with God in which we walk with him personally every day. We need to hear his voice and hold his hand as he leads us in the direction we need to go. We need God-authentic.

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We Need to Choose Authenticity.

Aren't you tired of sitting at your kitchen table that sports an artificial wood top and stands on a vinyl floor, at which you are drinking freeze-dried coffee (that you mixed with water from your faucet), and eating mock apple pie? Are these things bad? No. Is the best for you? No. There are other things that are more satisfying because they are genuine, honest, straightforward, and stable. We no longer need to use a substitute for what we do not currently have because we can get something unadulterated. Whether we are talking about flooring, food, relationships, or our own character, we all deserve the real thing because it is inherently of quality. Choose authenticity. We can have the genuine article. We can have substance. We can have peace. We can be fulfilled. We can be authentic.

REFERENCES

• Troy, Eric. (2015, January 6). Did Nabisco Invent Mock Apple Pie to Sell Ritz Crackers? CulinaryLore. https://culinarylore.com/food-history:did-nabisco-invent-mock-apple-pie/.

• What is artificial intelligence (AI)? IBM. (2023). https://www.ibm.com/topics/artificial-intelligence#:~:text=Artificial%20intelligence%20leverages%20computers%20and,capabilities%20of%20the%20human%20mind.