Fuzzy is what it is. It truly is a shame that the toxic, evil desires of some people in charge are detracting from what is the most exciting moment in our history.
I never considered myself to be a Luddite but from what I've seen of how mobile phones have changed us, it hasn't been for the better.
100%. I'm terrified of the moment when people will start implanting tech into themselves, especially since for the most part, we don't seem to be interested in the nobler/cool pursuits. We just don't wanna reach for that piece of plastic when paying for Doritos, you know?
A friend of mine who has a front row seat to the emerging tech recently wrote this…
“If we’re entering into a world where AI and automation make it impossible for most people to competitively participate in the marketplace to create enough value for others to obtain the quality of life they expect, what will that future look like? What do we want that future to look like? The balance between useful jobs available and people wanting to work is becoming more chaotic. Thanks to the fiat manipulation of money which is the measuring stick of financial value itself, this dance is losing its rational behavior characteristics. It’s becoming impossible to navigate. “Work harder” or “get more education” or “skill up” may not make much sense anymore.
If you go a layer deeper, the “haves” and the “have nots” may have less to do with things like work ethic or discipline and more to do with the brain they were born with and the environment which nurtured or neglected it.
And it will only get worse. Those who have access to robotics and AI and life extension technology will be orders of magnitude more productive and live lives with far more self sovereignty and freedom. Is that the world we want to live in?
Can anything even be done about it? Historical examples of trying to “fix” inequalities and create equal economic opportunities for all have generally ended badly. Deliberative democracy, participatory budgeting, and community currencies might help some, but it really does feel like “it’s different this time.” Maybe people felt that way with the introduction of the steam engine or mechanized farming, but when it comes to intelligence, that impacts everything and super intelligence is just around the corner (if not already here, used in secret by governments and multinational corporations).
Should good people suffer primarily because they lost the birth lottery?
Or to get esoteric, if everything is perfect, did those with a tougher time at life sign up for that experience, essentially leading to the concusion that nothing can really be done anyway and all is as it should be? And yet, “trying stuff” to create a world we all want to live in, to increase our capacity for love and unity, might be one of the key characteristics of the life experience we’re having right now. It might be close to “the point” of life, if there is such a thing, teaching the absolute unbounded oneness about itself.
I don’t have answers, but I’m interested in potential solutions and salute all of you who are working to create a world we all want to live in. These thoughts remind me to have compassion and understanding for what others are going through. I remember my parents losing our house while I was in high school and us going through a rough time financially. I know some people are hurting and feeling helpless. My only advice is to go inward and use whatever circumstance you find yourself in to improve yourself and find triggers to work on and patterns of avoidance to engage with.
I do think there is a future where we really can be all in this together like a family. But, like a family, we have to make some important decisions such as how big of a family do we want, what quality of life do we expect, and how are we going to steward the resources available to us?”
There’s definitely lots to think about right now.
Your friend is an excellent writer (but why should that come as a surprise?:) ). It is, indeed, very much a birth lottery, and it seems petty to hold it against someone that either they didn't have access to the same tech/opportunity, or they lack the understanding to use it to their advantage. Yet a lot of that's already present. I've talked to many smart, well-educated people who are somewhat disinterested, since the development of tech is only threatening other social classes/job sectors. Somehow, it's easier not to care, though that doesn't sound like right.
Completely. I suppose every invention can be used toward progress or evil. Maybe fewer people thought along these depressing lines back then because they weren't as aware as we are now of the possibility of evil?
I agree. It's what makes the whole damn situation so baffling. We're supposed to try. We can't sit still. Even if we're hurdling towards our own destruction.
It's main focus right now, on a personal level. Definitely. We need all the tools of unity and connection we can muster.
<3
I've no idea where tech will take us. But I think it's lovely that it allowed us to meet such incredible people, if only for a brief while. ;)
I think so, too. I hope we go towards it without sacrificing any of our children to the fates. :)
He is a great writer and a great person too. I'm so lucky to have met so many kind, intelligent people (present company included). I think for us to save ourselves we need to decouple from the meglomaniacs who wish to Lord over us, that's what decentralization is all about. It's human nature to fear change but if it's embraced we can harness and direct it to help us instead of harm us. Therein will lie the battle.
<3 Likewise.
It really seems unreal, doesn't it? That even under all this duress, there are all these good, valiant efforts (like decentralization). Probably why the only time you ever hear anything about it, it's either downgraded (decentralization seems to equate with crypto in the popular acceptance, and so, with get-rich-quick schemes), or rejected as fringe, dangerous, or tinfoil.
Thank you!
It's a testament to the human spirit. Each and everyone one of the old models are becoming outdated and withering our economy, especially. The pandemic has taught me to look hard at anything labeled as a "conspiracy". This was the establishment's blanket response to anything that didn't fit their narrative and they got away with it for a very long time.