Creating “God Ex Machina”: Anthony Lewandowski on his religion of AI worship. AI Warnings
First of all, Levandowski is known as a specialist in self-driving cars and a participant in the scandal associated with this technology (in May of this year, Uber fired Levandowski on suspicion of stealing Google's driverless technologies - editor's note), and not as the pioneer of a new religion. However, it was Lewandowski who opened the first church that preaches the faith called Way of the Future.
According to the documents, the main goal of this movement is “the creation of a divine entity based on artificial intelligence, so that its understanding and praise will benefit society.” They also say that starting this year, the church “will begin conducting workshops and educational programs in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.” Read on the topic: Uber fired the founder of Otto, whom Google accused in court of stealing technology
However, given that Lewandowski’s trial will take place in December due to the scandal between Waymo and Uber, the religious organization will not have much time. But Lewandowski himself claims that he has very serious plans for his church.
“What we plan to create will actually be a god,” Lewandowski said. - But not the god who causes hurricanes and lightning. Imagine an entity that would be billions of times wiser than the smartest person. What else can you call her if not god?
Lewandowski will not receive any salary from his church. The engineer is not against opening an AI startup someday, but for now he plans to strictly distinguish between business and his new religion.
Anthony Lewandowski. Photo: Michelle Le Lewandowski is confident that changes are coming that will affect every aspect of our lives and, perhaps, determine the fate of all humanity as a species.
“Ask anyone if a computer can become smarter than a human. 99% of respondents will say that this is fantastic. But this is inevitable and will definitely happen,” he said.
Levandowski has been working with computers, robots and artificial intelligence for decades. According to him, it was at that moment when he saw that technology sometimes worked better than living experts that a new vision came to him. And Lewandowski is not alone in this - the idea of a singularity, or a point in time when machines will become so smarter than people that they will begin to improve themselves, has long been popular in society.
Lewandowski calls this phenomenon a “transition.” “Now people rule the planet because they are smarter than animals and know how to create tools and rules,” he said. - If something even more reasonable appears in the future, then there will be a transfer of power. We want it to pass peacefully and for this “something” to know who helped it appear.”
Image: Getty
The Internet will become the nervous system of the “divine essence” that Lewandowski speaks of. Its senses will be connected phones and sensors, and its data centers will serve as its brain. Lewandowski believes that this way this entity will constantly see and hear everything that happens in the world, which means it can be called a god.
“[The entity] will be smarter than us and will decide for itself how to develop,” Lewandowski said. “We only have the choice of how to behave with her.” I hope the machine will see us as elders worth caring for and respecting. We want artificial intelligence to understand that people should have some rights, even if it now rules the planet."
A former Google engineer hopes superintelligent artificial intelligence can take care of the planet better than humans. But he doesn’t deny that the “AI god” can treat people like pets. “Would you like to live like a pet or livestock? - Lewandowski reflects. - We feed the animals, monitor their health, groom them and entertain them. But what happens to those pets who bite, snap and annoy their owners? I wouldn’t want to be in their place.”
But how will representatives of traditional religions react to the cult of “AI God”? Lewandowski admits that there will certainly be dissatisfied people. “Our idea is quite radical, and such ideas are not always received well,” he commented. Read on topic: Deus ex machina: former Google engineer develops AI god
The Way of the Future Church was officially founded in 2015, but until this year no activity was noticed. According to IRS records, the organization's 2017 budget is $20,000 in donations, $1,500 in membership dues and $20,000 in other income. The church hopes to earn the latter amount from the sale of lectures, performances and publications. During his years at Google, Levandowski earned at least $120 million. The engineer plans to invest part of his money in the sect. The religious organization plans to accept donations by mail and email and will also try to obtain grants from private organizations.
A lot of money was spent on opening the church. Fundraising cost $2 thousand; $3 thousand was needed to cover logistics costs for organizing lectures and master classes; $7,000 was allocated for salaries, although neither Lewandowski nor anyone else from the church leadership receives monetary compensation.
Anthony Lewandowski. Photo: Michelle Le Lewandowski is the full head of the church. He is assisted by a council of four people, three of whom he can choose personally. Levandowski's choice fell on AI experts - Uber engineers Robert Miller and Soren Jelsgaard, as well as his former classmate. The fourth board member and treasurer of the church was Lior Ron, with whom Levandowski opened the Otto startup in 2016.
However, two council members deny any involvement in the church. “I was very surprised when I found out that I was responsible for the financial operations of an organization that I had nothing to do with,” Ron told the publication. - At the end of 2016, Lewandowski invited me to open some kind of “robochurch”. Then I thought it was some kind of joke or a clever PR move and allowed him to use my name. Since then I haven’t heard anything more about this church.”
Anthony Lewandowski. Photo: Michelle Le It is curious that the organization’s documents do not say anything about where church parishioners will gather to praise the AI deity. The 2017 and 2018 budgets call for $32,500 a year in rent and utilities, but so far only supports Levandowski's Walnut Creek, Calif., office. The church's tax documents say that "Way of the Future hopes to open offices in California and other states in the future."
Lewandowski still has a lot to do. He needs to create a church website, write his gospel or “instructions,” and answer countless letters. Some are surprised by Lewandowski’s idea, others are skeptical, but among the authors of the letters there are many interested, the engineer said.
When will that “transition” happen and power over the Earth will pass into the hands of superintelligent AI? According to Lewandowski, this will happen sooner than we think. “Of course, not in a week or a year, so everyone can calm down,” he said. “But this will happen before we fly to Mars.”
Whatever the future of humanity, the US government has no claims against an organization that wants to create a divine artificial intelligence. Lewandowski's church received tax-exempt status in August, records show.
Source.
He compared the creation of artificial intelligence to summoning a demon, and in 2015 he allocated $1 billion to create the OpenAI laboratory, which intends to protect humans from uncontrolled AI. Former Alphabet and Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski, on the contrary, believes that artificial intelligence cannot be contained. When machines prevail over humans, they will remember old grievances and take revenge. In order to appease the artificial intelligence in advance, Levandowski founded a new religion, “The Way of the Future.”
The engineer's project can be called a cult, but the US Internal Revenue Service officially recognized it as a church back in August and exempted it from paying taxes. Servants of the newly-minted religion will work to “embody, accept and worship a new divine entity based on artificial intelligence, which will be developed in both hardware and software form.”
Lewandowski assures that this is not a joke or a PR stunt. The engineer has already headed the non-profit foundation “Paths of the Future” and appointed himself the permanent rector of the church. The organization plans to hold lectures and master classes in Silicon Valley this year, as well as attract a flock of leading AI experts.
The ex-president of Facebook admitted that he helped raise a monster
“We will essentially create a god. Not the kind of god who throws lightning and causes hurricanes. [And someone] who is a billion times smarter than a human being,” Lewandowski explained his vision. The church leader is 99.9% sure that computers will surpass humans in intellectual abilities.
The trigger for the engineer was the developments he had observed throughout his career: “I have seen tools perform tasks in many areas better than experts.” While working in robotics and algorithms, Lewandowski learned the power of artificial intelligence and appreciated its economic benefits.
The founder of “The Way of the Future” believes that after the onset of the singularity, which he calls the “transition,” power over the planet will pass from humans to AI.
“We want the transfer of power over the planet to take place calmly and peacefully. And so that the one who comes to power understands who helped him along the way.”
The engineer seriously views the AI deity as a kind of leader who will pay tribute to his followers. “I would like the machine to see us as respected elders, to honor us and take care of us,” admitted Lewandowski.
The developer plans to express his worship of AI using technology. The church will supply the machine with extensive data sets, develop training simulations, and give it access to parishioner accounts. All systems will be open source.
Levandowski compares AI to a gifted child in whose development you need to invest. “We are in the process of raising a god, and we need to do everything right.” The former Alphabet and Uber employee intends to invest literally. According to WIRED, he will invest part of the millions he earned into the project. Future Path already has a budget in place: $20,000 in donations, $1,500 in membership fees and $20,000 in other income.
Ray Kurzweil: “The development of technology will save humanity from suffering”
In the coming months, the church will have its own rituals, scripture, and likely a space for “prayer.” According to Lewandowski, Christians, Muslims and Jews communicate with a deity that cannot be seen or measured in any way. “In “The Way of the Future” you can literally communicate with God - and know that he is listening to you,” assured the founder of the organization.
The engineer admits that his project will hurt the feelings of believers. “No matter what I do, it’s bound to upset someone. And the church will be no exception. At some point, it may come to the point that Future Path will need its own state.”
Lewandowski sees nothing fantastic in all these plans. Moreover, he is confident that an AI god will lead the planet before humanity goes to Mars. There will certainly be some objections to this comment.
One of the key experts in the field of self-driving cars, former technical director of Google and Uber, Anthony Levandowski, founded the religious organization “The Path of the Future” in September 2015. Published on the web portal
The organization's goal is to "develop and promote the implementation of artificial intelligence-based deity." Through understanding and worshiping him, Future Path plans to “contribute to the betterment of society.”
Lewandowski assures that this is not a joke or a PR stunt. The engineer has already headed the non-profit foundation “Paths of the Future” and appointed himself the permanent rector of the church. The organization plans to hold lectures and master classes in Silicon Valley this year, as well as attract a flock of leading AI experts.
“We will essentially create a god. Not the kind of god who throws lightning and causes hurricanes. [And someone] who is a billion times smarter than a human being,” Lewandowski explained his vision. The church leader is 99.9% sure that computers will surpass humans in intellectual abilities.
The trigger for the engineer was the developments he had observed throughout his career: “I have seen tools perform tasks in many areas better than experts.” While working in robotics and algorithms, Lewandowski learned the power of artificial intelligence and appreciated its economic benefits.
The founder of “The Way of the Future” believes that after the onset of the singularity, which he calls the “transition,” power over the planet will pass from humans to AI.
“We want the transfer of power over the planet to take place calmly and peacefully. And so that the one who comes to power understands who helped him along the way.”
The engineer seriously views the AI deity as a kind of leader who will pay tribute to his followers. “I would like the machine to see us as respected elders, to honor us and take care of us,” admitted Lewandowski.
The developer plans to express his worship of AI using technology. The church will supply the machine with extensive data sets, develop training simulations, and give it access to parishioner accounts. All systems will be open source.
Levandowski compares AI to a gifted child in whose development you need to invest. “We are in the process of raising a god, and we need to do everything right.” The former Alphabet and Uber employee intends to invest literally. According to WIRED, he will invest part of the millions he earned into the project. Future Path already has a budget in place: $20,000 in donations, $1,500 in membership fees and $20,000 in other income.
In the coming months, the church will have its own rituals, scripture, and likely a space for “prayer.” According to Lewandowski, Christians, Muslims and Jews communicate with a deity that cannot be seen or measured in any way. “In “The Way of the Future” you can literally communicate with God - and know that he is listening to you,” assured the founder of the organization.
The engineer admits that his project will hurt the feelings of believers. “No matter what I do, it’s bound to upset someone. And the church will be no exception. At some point, it may come to the point that Future Path will need its own state.”
Lewandowski sees nothing fantastic in all these plans. Moreover, he is confident that an AI god will lead the planet before humanity goes to Mars.
Anthony Lewandowski founded the Way of the Future Church of Artificial Intelligence. Levandowski has been working in robotics and artificial intelligence for more than ten years. The main goal of "The Way of the Future" is to "develop and promote the realization of the Godhead based on artificial intelligence, as well as the comprehension and worship of this God, which will contribute to the betterment of society." The very first and main task of this religious organization is to finance developments aimed at creating divine AI.
“What will be created will become the real God. This is not the God who throws lightning and creates deadly hurricanes. But if you're faced with something that's a billion times smarter than you, what else can you call it?" Lewandowski told Wired.
“Before you can spread the technology, you need to spread the idea. The church is our way of spreading this idea. If you believe [in it], then start sharing it with others, helping others understand its purpose,” says Lewandowski.
“If you ask whether a computer can become smarter than a human, 99.9 percent will answer no.” To them it's just a science fiction horror story. But in reality it is inevitable, and I guarantee that one day it will happen.”
The human brain has biological limitations in terms of its size and the amount of energy it can expend on the thought process. AI systems, in turn, can scale arbitrarily, being located, for example, in huge data centers, powered by solar or wind energy. One way or another, many today already agree that one day computers will become smarter and faster in planning and solving various problems than the people who create them, which will lead to consequences that we cannot yet fully assess. condition.
“If in the future something appears that is much smarter than a person, then this responsibility will most likely pass to him. Our task is to make this transition smooth and painless. And make sure that this something is perfectly aware of who exactly helped it with this.”
Levandowski believes that artificial superintelligence will be able to take care of the planet much more efficiently than humans, and those who contribute to this will be able to benefit greatly from this.
“Would you want someone to treat you like livestock? No, of course, we provide medical care to animals, feed them, caress them, and enjoy communicating with them. But animals are creatures that can bite you, attack you, and just be overly clingy. Personally, I don't want to be in their role. And therefore, in order not to find yourself in the role of livestock, you need to independently “educate” artificial intelligence today. We want this AI to one day say, “People should have rights, even though I’m the boss,” says the engineer. Levandovki really hopes that the artificial intelligence of the future will treat people more like older relatives: feel responsible for them and take care of them.
“If you had a child, you would raise him and do everything to make him grow up gifted, right? But now we are raising not a child, but a god. So let's think about how not to make mistakes. This is just an amazing opportunity."
On October 28, 2017, in the program “Church and the World,” aired on the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Saturdays and Sundays, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, answered questions from the channel’s host, Ekaterina Gracheva.
E. Gracheva: Hello! This is the “Church and the World” program on the “Russia 24” channel, in which we talk with the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. Hello, lord!
Metropolitan Hilarion: Hello, Ekaterina! Hello, dear brothers and sisters!
E. Gracheva: Silicon Valley threatens to reveal to the world a completely new, revolutionary invention. Former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski has set his sights on creating a god based on artificial intelligence. He already has followers - an IT-religious movement called “The Path to the Future.” And he declares that their artificial intelligence will be able to answer any questions of the believer, help in any life situations and will become the embodiment of absolute justice, will not send misfortunes, disasters, and so on to people. What do you feel about it? After all, in a sense, it’s still better than a computer war game. Or is this a very dangerous invention?
Metropolitan Hilarion: I think that there is no limit to human imagination and there is no limit to human stupidity. When people aim at something that is an absolute value and an absolute given, then either these people have something wrong with their brains and they need to contact an appropriate specialist, or they want to provoke someone to do something. You said that they created a religious movement, but this, of course, is a pseudo-religious movement, because religion deals with the God who exists, and it is impossible to create Him.
A person can create a robot, some kind of apparatus that will provide him with certain services. Nowadays, devices have even been created to provide sexual services. Again, there is no limit to human depravity either. But all such experiments will not only not bring people happiness, but on the contrary, they can result in completely unpredictable, monstrous consequences.
Modern science fiction, whose authors work in the genre of so-called dystopia, sometimes makes striking and very powerful predictions. Writers talk about what the activities of a person who decides to take the place of God or replace God with some kind of surrogate can lead to. By communicating with God, we communicate with a Living Being, for the Lord hears our prayers, answers our requests, and helps us in our lives. God is not a robot who fulfills or does not fulfill certain desires. God is a Living Being. And just as it is impossible to replace a father or mother or a child with a robot, in the same way God cannot be replaced with a robot.
There is an American science fiction film "Artificial Intelligence". The film tells how for one couple, whose child fell into a coma and was immobilized for a long time, a robot was created as a child. He seemed to replace a real child, he looked like a child, performed all the functions of a child, and besides, he was obedient and affectionate. And then the real child regained consciousness, and then the plot unfolds around this collision.
So far, it all looks like science fiction and dystopia. But if humanity abandons the restraining moral factors, then dystopia can become a reality, and then we will live in that terrible world described by Aldous Huxley or described in one of the books of Ishiguro, an English writer of Japanese origin who recently received the Nobel Prize.
E. Gracheva: Vladyka, if this electronic application was called not “god”, but, say, “good helper” or “morality meter”, whatever you like, would you have any complaints about it?
Metropolitan Hilarion: If it's, for example, an electronic cleaner that comes and sweeps dust off your shelves, then that's one thing. Or, let’s say, some kind of machine that at the right time gives you a bottle of Coca-Cola, and another time - Pepsi-Cola... But no robot can provide people with so-called religious services, because religion is generally outside the consumer sphere. There are, of course, people who believe that all religious life comes down to consumerism, that all communication with God consists in the fact that we ask Him for something, and He either gives us or does not give it.
But in fact, communication with God is primarily personal communication. And how we communicate with our loved ones, with parents, friends, children - in the same way we communicate with God. This communication cannot be replaced by any automation, computers or robots, or artificial intelligence.
E. Gracheva: Vladyka, since you are talking about the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature this year and the book “Never Let Me Go,” there is a stereotype that members of the clergy read little fiction, but read more books of spiritual content. What literature do you read?
Metropolitan Hilarion: I probably belong to that class of clergy that reads little. I mostly read what I need for the books I write myself, that is, I read scientific and theological literature, and I have almost no time left for reading fiction. I’m like in the famous joke about a man who decided to enter the Literary Institute, and he was asked: “Have you read Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Pushkin?” To which he replied: “I haven’t read, but I came to learn not to be a reader, but to be a writer.” I have long turned from a reader to a writer, but, nevertheless, sometimes on planes I manage to pick up a book. I must say that Kazuo Ishiguro is an amazing example of a modern writer who works in different genres. Japanese by birth but English by upbringing, he has mastered the English language so well that one can read him in English as if he were a tenth-generation Englishman.
E. Gracheva: Do you read it in English?
Metropolitan Hilarion: I read it in English. One of his novels was made into a wonderful movie, one of the best movies I've seen, with Anthony Hopknis playing the butler. After watching this film, I decided to read the book. And I must say, she did not disappoint me. This is a very deep, subtle book that perfectly reproduces the English world of pre-war England. I found some remnants of this world when I was studying there myself.
This writer has a wonderful novel called Never Let Me Go. This is exactly the kind of dystopia that talks about what can happen in the world if it abandons fundamental moral values. The whole action takes place in a boarding school where cloned boys and girls live, created in order to remove their organs. They live and study in this boarding school, they have hobbies, interests, they even fall in love with each other. But each of them knows that after some time another organ removal awaits him - one of his organs will be removed. After the quadruple notch they die.
When you read a novel, without knowing the plot, you don’t understand for a very long time what the essence is and at what moment the secret of this society will be revealed, but then everything becomes clear. Of course, this is a very poignant and creepy story. I think we need to know such stories, including in order to understand what consequences experiments on people can lead to if these experiments are not restrained by the moral law.
E. Gracheva: Of the modern Russian authors, who is close to you?
Metropolitan Hilarion: I recently read Zakhar Prilepin’s book “The Abode”. This is a difficult book, but it seems to me that such books are needed, because now in our society there is a certain tendency not to talk about our past at all, to forget about difficult pages. People believe that there is no need to return to the topic of repression, citing the fact that it was a long time ago, and today we need to look to the future. Even assessments of our Soviet period are very often based on the fact that we forget about the repressions that took place, we forget about their victims. Prilepin in his novel shows what the ancient Solovetsky monastery was turned into when it became a concentration camp, how people lived there, how they tried to survive in this monstrous situation. I think we need to know about this. Therefore, I am glad that such a book has appeared and would like to wish that as many people as possible read it.
E. Gracheva: Vladyka, from the topic of literature I would like to move on to the topic of board games. There is a game of chess, unfairly forgotten since Soviet times, which is not so popular among modern youth. In the past, everyone probably knew how to play chess.
The Ministry of Education and Science is going to make the game of chess a compulsory subject in schools. I personally talked with FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and he proved to me in numbers that among young people who play chess, crime is falling, they do not drink alcohol, do not smoke, that is, in every sense there are advantages. But there is an opinion that playing chess is canonically prohibited. What do clergymen think about playing chess? Are you playing?
Metropolitan Hilarion: I have my own chess story. But there is also a backstory. My dad was a candidate master of chess, and my mother had the rank of master of sports and was the champion of Moscow among girls. True, it was quite a long time ago, but my parents taught me to play chess. My greatest chess achievement was that I won a game against the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov you mentioned. We were flying on the same plane, we decided to play chess, and I won the first game. True, I lost the next two.
If we talk about whether chess is useful, then I think that it is useful for the general development of a child, for his intellectual development and, of course, a child who plays chess is less susceptible to the influence of the street, he develops better. This is indeed a proven fact.
When Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was the president of Kalmykia, chess was taught in all schools there, and the entire region played chess. Many people laughed at this then. But the facts that he cites are not taken out of thin air, these are real facts. Therefore, in general, I, like you, supported this initiative.
As for those medieval prohibitions on gambling that existed, then, of course, they cannot be extended to modern chess, because, firstly, chess was different, and secondly, morals were different. Now this is one of the sports, but it is not a physical sport, but an intellectual one.
E. Gracheva: Vladyka, unfortunately, there is a category of citizens who simply cannot afford to play chess or many other educational games for young people. This is the category of deaf-blind people with disabilities in our country. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' recently consecrated a rehabilitation center for such a group of citizens in Sergiev Posad near Moscow. In your opinion, in your assessment, how much is being done for this category of citizens in our country and how does the Church help these people?
Metropolitan Hilarion: Something is being done for such people, but, of course, much more should be done. Firstly, many people from this category have not been identified at all, that is, we have legislative concepts of a deaf person and a blind person, but we do not have the concept of deaf-blind. And there is a lot of evidence from those people who belong to this category that they, for example, are members of both the society of the deaf and the society of the blind. And when, say, being in a society of deaf people, such a person receives a television, then it seems that he is being provided with a service, but he cannot use this service, because he does not see anything.
There is a whole range of problems associated with the development of these people, because they cannot learn to read and write in the usual way. Special programs are created for them, which are very labor-intensive. Basically, they learn through touch, that is, teachers, by touching the hand, allow them to enter the world of logical thinking.
In addition, there are at least two categories of such people: those who acquired deafness and blindness at some stage in their lives, that is, before that they mastered some skills, for example, learned to read and write, and they can continue use these skills. And there are those who were born with this birth defect. And this significantly affects the development opportunities of such people.
But now there are modern methods, both domestic and foreign, that make it possible to teach a deaf-blind person to read, write, and communicate with the outside world. I read articles written by deaf-blind people in which they described how they live and how they communicate with the outside world. That is, all this is possible, but it requires very great, truly heroic efforts from teachers.
And, of course, the fact that the Patriarch visited this center testifies to the great attention to this problem, because for the Church not a single person is superfluous. And people who have limited opportunities should, on an equal basis with other people, have access to Divine grace and church life. The Church today is developing special means, a special language for communicating with these people. Already in a number of Moscow parishes, for example, the Liturgy is celebrated with sign language translation.
E. Gracheva: Let's hope that your joint work with the center will help create developments for visually impaired people in our country who need help reading the Liturgy, canons, and so on. Thank you very much, Vladyka, for this conversation!
Metropolitan Hilarion: Thank you, Ekaterina!
In the second part of the program, Metropolitan Hilarion answered questions from viewers submitted to the website of the “Church and the World” program vera.vesti.ru.
Question: How to understand the Gospel words “make friends with unrighteous wealth” (Luke 16:9)?
Metropolitan Hilarion: These words from the Gospel of Luke conclude the parable of the unfaithful steward.
The plot of this parable is as follows. There was a man who owed a large sum to his master, and whom the master sent to answer. And so, knowing that he would not be able to pay, he went to those who owed the master and invited them to rewrite the promissory notes and reduce the amount in these promissory notes. The Lord did not bring this parable so that we would essentially imitate a swindler. Christ says that every person has the opportunity to alleviate the lot of another person. The wealth we possess is not our property. It is God's property. But we can use it to do good to people, and through this make friends.
Question: Are Christians allowed to live in luxury?
Metropolitan Hilarion: To answer this question, we can remember the words of Jesus Christ: “It is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven; … it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24).
These words, however, do not close the door of the Kingdom of Heaven for rich people. One of the most important parables of the Gospel of Luke is devoted to this topic - the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which says that after his death the rich man went to hell, and the beggar Lazarus, who lay at his gate, went to heaven. But, as the Holy Fathers interpret, the rich man did not go to hell because he was rich, but because he did not notice the beggar Lazarus and did not share his wealth with him. And the beggar did not go to heaven because he was a beggar. That is, wealth itself does not close the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven for a person, but if a person is rich, this means that God has given him the opportunity to do good, to help people, and these opportunities must be taken advantage of.
