More complicated than you and I will ever fathom.
It’s one thing to think about how weird it is to be anything at all, but it’s an entirely other thing to think about just how we got here.
How many thousands of generations of homo sapiens have died so we can sit inside our insulated homes, with a roof over our heads, on top of a bed, wearing pajamas and under a comforter?
Many. Many thousands.
Progress is parabolic.
Each of the generations before us have made technological progress in order to stay alive. It’s only recently that we’ve been able to live in comfort and focus on improving our lives and the lives of others.
So what’s next? We’re currently in the information age. What comes after the information age? I encourage you to think about this for yourself, but you should be aware of a few things:
- All of Elon Musk’s ventures are ridiculous. Tesla is among the tamest, as are The Boring Company and Paypal. SpaceX, Neuralink, and OpenAI are among the craziest. Read up on them if you haven’t.
- We are basically cyborgs. Our phones are basically part of us. Imagine what you can and can’t do without your phone, and how naked you feel when you don’t have it with you.
- We’re on the cusp of mass automation. Self-driving cars are here, assembly lines have nearly been fully-automated. Full automation of food service is already on the near horizon.
Pause the video now to do some thinking.
jeopardy music
Personally, I’m predicting another industrial revolution, followed by another Renaissance. We’ll be spending the next however long spending time automating all our services for however many years, then there will be a period of arts and expression afterward. A problem I see with it is that everybody needs to have something to work toward, and many non-creative types may have a problem with finding something to do. Suicide rates will increase drastically, medicine costs will rise, and the world will become restless.
I’m expecting a 30-60 years for the next industrial revolution, then maybe 100-150 for a Renaissance.
What do you think?
2 replies on “This world is complicated.”
I think that the OG Industrial Revolution was in the elbow of the parabola that you have drawn there, meaning that the red arrow should be slightly to the right of the elbow.
Addressing number 2 in your list: “…how naked you feel when you don’t have it…”. I forgot my phone at home when I went to the doctor yesterday, and felt so free without it.
I don’t keep my phone on me while I’m at work, either, because I don’t want it to get damaged, but maybe once a month or two I do have it on me, and there’s a constant nag to use it.
I have an intense love/hate relationship with my phone. I love the productivity it provides me (emails, finance, communication, education) but despise the distraction it causes (facebook, reddit…even communication to some degree).
Lastly, I think that the digital revolution (70s – now) IS the industrial revolution you’re expecting, and I think we’re already seeing a sort of Renaissance 2.0 with Vine (RIP) and YouTube and TikTok et al..
I like this! Interesting contribution.