The wonks call it “AI job displacement”… but let’s just call a spade a spade: With the coming wave of autonomous AI software agents, combined with humanoid robot workers, there will be a massive leap in human unemployment. Translation: massive job loss as robots (both software and hardware) replace humans in almost every viable occupation. To address this, we are in serious need of a Plan for Humanity.
As mentioned all across this platform, the effect will be nothing short of seismic. Ironically, it will probably affect the most industrialized and “developed” nations first.
After much meditation and conversation on the matter, I’ve decided that there are a few really simple things that humans can do, both individually and collectively, to “dampen the blow” and to turn this existential challenge into a singular opportunity, pretty much unprecedented in the entire history of our civilization on earth. So: Ready, Humans?
Here’s the Plan for Humanity:
I. get Outside
- get as far away from buildings as possible. if you’re in the city, go to a park. if you can, drive to the nearest forest, or mountain, or beach, or lake, river, or desert. breath the clean, unprocessed air. feel the wind in your hair. hear the song of the birds and the skitter of the local fauna.
- look up in wonder at the magical clouds in the infinite sky.
- sit back, look up, and really get at peace and give your full attention to the ever-changing sky during the day. not while multi-tasking. turn all the things off, unplug, disconnect, and stare at the sun.
- do the same at night. find a place — a rooftop, or a park, that has minimal light pollution, and look up at the night sky. the stars, the moon, the planets, the satellites. learn some constellations. start to feel the seasons.
- get in touch with your circadian rhythm. make rituals to recognize the sunrise and sunset. if you can, bear actual witness to these awesome celestial events.
II. get Physical
- You have a body. One of the greatest miracles on earth. Self-powered, high-speed, with insane flexibility, mobility and dexterity. Use it!
- Find out your physical limits. Run as fast as you can. Jump as high as you can. Then go further.
- Engage ALL your senses: touch, taste, smell, sight, sound…
- explore the spectrum of sensation from pleasure to pain and everywhere in between.
- Don’t know where to start? Here’s a wild suggestion:
Climb a Mountain with Me!
III. minimize the time you spend staring into Black Mirrors
- we’re talking about all those shiny smooth dark glass surfaces that light up with utterly addicting pixels, pictures, games and videos that you just can’t peel your bored eyes away from…
- televisions, monitors, laptop screens, game console screens, smartphone screens, smartwatch screens, and… god forbid, smartglasses and “goggles”).
IV. maximize the amount of time you spend in the Real World
- in focused, authentic face to face conversations with friends, family and strangers
- in natural environments (beaches, lakes, rivers, mountains, forests, deserts, etc)
- in quiet solitude listening to and witnessing the real world around you, with all digital distractions (phones, earbuds) silenced
- listening to / playing real live music (real instruments played by real people in real time)
V. Choose your Media Diet with extreme caution.
- You are what you Eat. This is a truism.
- when we meet in person, I can regale you with endless stories of how tropes that I digested from movies and shows ended up — very very literally — manifesting in my waking life. As if the shows were coming to life. Initially I thought this coincidence. Now I know better. We create in our lives what we consume with our eyes, ears and minds.
- speaking of creating…
VI. Choose to flex your Creative muscles vs. your Consumption muscles (such as “Netflix & Chill,” etc.)
- Recognize that every one of us is born capable of the Creative Act.
- This can be singing, drawing, writing, dancing, whatever it is that brings you joy. We all have vocal chords, we all have bodies that can move, and most of us can obtain a piece of paper and a pen.
- If you haven’t yet, pick up a copy of The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron.
- Transform every moment of your life into a creative act!
VII. Be Vigilant / FactCheck / seek the base motives
- Along with job displacement, there is about to be an explosion of media, colloquially known as “deep fakes”… but there will be entirely new genres of seductive media.
- realise that all media has an agenda. some may be to vote for a particular candidate, support a certain cause, or most commonly: to move money from your pocket into corporate coffers.
- choose which media you consume very carefully.
- deconstruct the media that you choose to consume, and try and understand why it has been targeted to you, and what ideas it is intending to plant in your mind.
- once you see the media for what it is, you are in a much better position to evaluate how you wish to integrate its messages.
- Media is food for the brain: You are what you Eat.
- …including this very blog.
prompt: /imagine: “best possible humans”
engine: MidJourney v6