gnostics thought that there was a God superior to the Demiurge
Only some of them thought this, others thought that they were the superior gods and had been tricked by the demiurge to give up their positions of power. Still others thought that their was no superior god but that they needed to make or become the superior god.
ancient sources of hidden knowledge,
Prexisting is not the same as ancient. The gnostics themselves had to have come up with the ideas of gnosticism without someone previously having come up with that exact idea before. Eliezer has claimed to have seen the need for a friendly AI that goes foom, hence for this thing he is a guide. He claims to have come to this conclusion logically, which the rationality that allows for the use of logic was preexisting within himself. No one else previously needs to have thought of the need for friendly AI (with the notable exception of Science Fiction writers...).
everyone should know how to use Spivak pronons.
I am fine with using one for undetermined gender. I am not going to start using Spivak pronouns.
The presence of certain classes of opinions in some fraction of a population doesn't necessarily tell you very much.
I am not arguing that everyone is part of this particular religious group. I believe that almost all forms of transhumanism are religious, but not all of them follow the same patterns.
Only some of them thought this,
Yes ok. But it seems clear that the most common form didn't. So right now, we're cherry picking specific parts of a vague transhumanist cluster and then attaching them to a specific cherry picked gnostic beliefs. Do you see why that might not be persuasive?
Prexisting is not the same as ancient.
Granted. But the point still holds. None of what Eliezer has said claims to have anything to do with deep pre-existing sources of knowledge.
...everyone should know how to use Spivak pronons.I am fine with using one for undeter