Elon Musk is Looking to Kickstart Transhuman Evolution With “Brain Hacking” Tech

Disclaimer: I am not familiar with HP Lovecraft beyond knowing he contributed to the horror genre, and some aspects of his character.

Well, a good start would be to say that no, those are not the only two options. Or, rather, those are the only two options only if we accept the bleak outlook the author has (as noted by the language he uses in the quoted passage) I don't think the only two alternatives are either going mad or desiring ignorance. It could mark a shift in the way we think, a point where humanity thus became enlightened by the new-found perspective.

Furthermore, I fail to see the explanation as to why we were not meant to venture far in the metaphorical sea. I don't think it follows that our inability to correlate all the contents of our minds means we were not meant to try, or indeed reach as far as we can. Perhaps, because we cannot, we can reach far and not get stuck correlating every single piece of new information with the old, and the consequences of all that.

Overall, I just don't think there is much of an argument to dismiss based solely off his character, only an idea mostly based on what he believed without much foundation. Though, to be fair, this is but a quote and the only thing I can examine since OP didn't provide a full source, and Lovecraft did live in a time where we didn't know as much as we do now.

/r/Futurology Thread Parent Link - futurism.com