Do You Feel Exponential Change Coming?
You know how many animals have unique sensing abilities to subconsciously process environmental data and respond as if something important is about to happen?
I think a lot of humans are feeling that way right now.
Things are changing exponentially (Moore’s Law, solar power efficiency, 3D printing, VR, AI, IoT, cryptocurrency, blockchains, programmable money, smart contracts, etc). We’re not good at probabilities or exponential growth because we haven’t evolved in an environment where these things happen around us. And yet, we’re just starting to perceive something on the edges of our consciousness. Just outside of “knowing,” we’re feeling the changes happening. If we believe those who talk about “the singularity,” things will change so quickly in the next few decades as to make that reality almost unrecognizable from what we have today.
What are we to do?
Should we bark at the night, running around scared? Should we stick our head in the sand and hope it all turns out okay?
My suggestion: Level up as quickly as possible. Trade entertainment for edutainment. Learn constantly. Audiobooks at 3x speed and educational YouTube videos at 2x speed. More documentaries and fewer action flicks or dramas.
This thing is happening and many of us know it. It’s not (yet) completely autonomous in its rapid geometric expansion. We still have a chance to give it some input and direct it forward with purpose and shared goals to increase well-being. We all have a part to play, experience and talent to contribute, and unique, invaluable perspectives for determining consensus on value itself.
We’re rapidly moving past the point of useful excuses. If your job doesn’t give you enough time to keep up, find a new one or start your own business. If your social commitments don’t align with staying informed, adjust them. We still have a chance to influence what’s coming.
If we sit on the sidelines and watch, our world will be defined for us so quickly, we won’t have a chance to give any input to the process, and we’ll be controlled by forces we as individuals didn’t create.
And that, I think, is what scares us most.
Thoughts like this remind me of fractals. Thanks to Pixabay for these CC0 works of art. Click each to view author information.
This started as a @lukes.random post, but spiraled deeper, so I'm putting it here.
The change we need is in us. Before coming to steemit, I had a job(home tutorial) that pays me $10 monthly. After discovering, I quitted and am slowing moving here.
I think you can do much better than $10 a month! Good luck.
Yes, I am working towards that. Thank you so much
You just got almost half your months pay in this single Steem comment!
Wow, I am speechless. Thanks for the support. Am dancing already, so much love on steemit.
If you consider that SBD is over $3 right now then it's more than $10! 😉
yes it is
Bro, look at what is made possible here! I'm so happy you're moving here to make your life better!
yes, the changes is clear.It can only get better. Thanks
But those tools are double-edged swords, no? The quicker we advance technologically, the more extreme everything becomes. That's just my observation. Just look at all the problems we have now with the Internet and privacy.
I may see those "problems" a little differently: Privacy, Identity, and Human Flourishing.
Every tool can be used for good or for harm. That's why it's so important to get educated and engaged in what's going on.
Yes I agree, and I've said before it definitely reminds me of iRobot now!
Source
Very nice gif. But I don't think Sophia will destroy humans ;)
Check out SingularityNet. It's a very interesting project where we all can participate on AI-technology. Especially if you have good coding skills.
I actually have read about that, and seems very interesting.
Also I do not believe she will either haha.. I watched the documentary when she said that sarcastically to prove she knew the danger, but did not pose that kind of risk.
What would you suggest for improving your ability to digest and process information, so as not to overwhelm our brain with data? I'm seeking ways to improve memory and my ability to learn.
With advances coming this quickly, i think my brain needs an upgrade of sorts. Also, ive always struggled with my recall ability so it's especially pertinent now.
Mindfulness training may help. There are some great apps that help with that.
I also think it's just a skill like anything else. Any advanced skill takes many, many years of consistent practice to master. This is no different. If people still feel overwhelmed a year or two into practicing, they still have many years left to keep training. It's a process.
I completely agree. For those of us lucky enough to have access to the internet, there is no real excuse to be ignorant to the amount of information around us just waiting to be digested. I'm just having a look through your Edutainment post, but was wondering if there were any other sources of information you'd recommend in terms of audiobooks and documentaries? Great post.
Thanks Phil. I should do a post about the audiobooks I've been listening to. So many great resources out there! That edutainment one is a good start.
I'll be keeping an eye out for that in the future then! Time to get stuck into these YouTube channels. Love the idea of speeding them up!
Sometimes we human bitch around on how things ain't working the way we want it to while we ourselves do nothing nothing extraordinary.
We basically just sit down doing one thing a thousand times in same way yet expect a thousand different results.
We need to be more innovative about life
The very definition of insanity. I agree, we need to level up. Not doing so makes entrepreneurs mad.
Indeed,
Everyday we need to work on how we can be better than what we were yesterday.
That's the ultimate competition for me.
Thanks @lukestokes for the reply
Let's not sit at the sidelines!! Great article brother @lukestokes , resteemed!
Youre already controlled by forces you didn't create - did you choose to be born? Did you choose to speak English? Did you choose to be an American or whatever? Are you going to choose when you'll die? Let's not pretend we're in control. Watching YouTube at 2x speed isnt going to sort your life out when the nukes start launching or the stop the cancer from growing.
If you're talking about materialistic determinism, check out my thoughts on that.
As for whether or not education will sort out your life and/or prevent nukes and/or prevent cancer, I absolutely think it will. As deterministic systems, the inputs we consume change our outputs. There is no other approach to change. You can hang out in the malthusian theory camp if you want, but that approach hasn't survived well through history.
We won't survive well through history. We're a species that is so close to destroying itself in so many ways that not even the mighty youtube on 2x speed can stop us. (Not to mention the countless number of other species we've already destroyed). And my questions were rhetorical - you have / had no choice whatsoever (unless you kill yourself). And cancer cant be cured, we are cancer, its in the dna. Even if we cured cancer with magic people would only live 4 years longer on average and then die of something else. Lastly; if by some fluke we avoid a man made Apocalypse - we're all dead in the long run, there's no escaping from individual annihilation.
I just don't like being sold existence. It isn't that great - look up the Pollyanna principle.
I've written about my ideas for improving the world here.
I think your pessimism isn't rational, and I'd cite books like Rational Optimism, The Origins of Virtue, and The Better Angels of Our Nature as support for my position.
If you're going to argue statistics like this are not accurate then we're probably already using a different method of epistemology and may not be able to come to an agreement on how we even measure what is knowledge over opinion, let alone how to increase well-being or what a framework of morality should be.
I'm going to let you into a secret - I'm not giving you an opinion when I say we are all going to die, its not pessimistic. It's a fact that the worst thing that could ever happen to you and everyone you know will. As a fact. No chart, no book, no philosophy can change this. So be as optimistic as you like, but its horribly misplaced against the crushing forces of nature.
Frankly I think its indecent to deny the suffering in the world because then we bring people into it with an optimism bias. They had no say and we can't guarantee their safety from harm. People suffer unspeakably all the time and, at the ends of our lives we probably will too. The people I've know that have died didn't seem to enjoy it much.
Thanks for talking to me - much appreciated.
Both my parents died, so i'm no stranger to it or suffering in the world. It's that suffering which drives me to want to improve the world so much and be optimistic about what can make things better. Though I do have high hopes for transhumanism and life-extension breakthroughs (some believe those who are under 60 today could potentially live 1,000 years if current trends continue, read some Ray Kurzweil or Aubrey de Grey), I of course will not deny that as far as we know today, everyone will die and people will suffer. Okay. So? Is that the whole story? Don't we have steps we can (and, I'd argue, should) take today to limit suffering and extend joyful life?
I like thinking long term which is why things like the Long Now Foundation are so interesting to me. Yes, we may die, even die as a species, but some future version of us (if we make good decisions today) could explore the universe. Assuming we don't kill ourselves and the planet we have first.
I'm not denying suffering. It's funny because some people have given Marshall Rosenberg (inventor of NVC) that same criticism and yet he developed it within terrible human suffering. Suffering exists, sure. If we claim to be moral beings, I think we should work to minimize it and increase well-being.
"everyone will die and people will suffer. Okay. So? Is that the whole story?" pretty much yeah - You like the long term stuff, there it is.
I'm on the same page...(maybe some 'age' has helped) excellent post.
I'm not yet 40 (next year), but I'm hoping to get the most out of the years I've lived so far. Things are moving so quickly, and I think it's important with all this change to not forget the lessons of the past. Some things are worth conserving, but I have a hunch so much is going to change we're going to have to redefine what it is we value.
Amazing post