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This weekend, after finishing Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, an intriguing book by Yuval Noah Harari (Also available in Chinese Edition), I started thinking more about questions regarding the future and what gives life meaning and purpose? And in this age of globalization and automation, what if we - the human race - run out of stuff to do?
The author's previous book, Sapiens, explains how our kinds - humans - came to rule the world. Although I haven't read the book, I've read great reviews, and it's on my reading list. Homo Deus is a quite challenging book, but very smooth and enjoyable. Rather than looking back, it looks to the future of the world. I don't entirely agree with everything in the book, but it has been written very thoughtfully about what all of us, our children, grandchildren and our future generations may encounter in the future. Harari argues the systems that have created our community, and our way of life will surely undergo an enormous shift in the 21st century, with significant consequence for life as we comprehend it. He argues that we have adjusted and organized in ways to satisfy fundamental and essential human needs: being comfortable and happy, healthy and in control of the environment around us. But what would the world be like if we accomplish those things? It is quite terrifying, but he foresees a likely future where some elites upgrade and improve themselves through biotechnology and genetic engineering. Therefore, leaving the masses behind and creating the supernatural or divine species of the book's title; where artificial intelligence, "knows us better than we know ourselves" and where these supernatural elites and super-intelligent robots consider the rest of humanity to be unnecessary and frankly useless. The future according to Homo Deus is a kind that robots take over, but is not the most interesting to me. Yes, artificial intelligence gets more powerful, and it is up to us to be sure that it assists, helps and serves humanity and not the other way around. Come to think of it; this is more an engineering problem than some science fiction. And If we look at it this way, it becomes a control problem. But, I think, we - the human race - are more drawn to the determination and purpose problem. Let's say that we have control, and we even solved significant problems like starvation and illness, and the world kept becoming more and more peaceful: What purpose would humans have then? What challenges and tests would we be excited and fired up to solve? Maybe the fear of future should not be about an attack by super smart robots like we see in Hollywood movies, but a lack of purpose and determination. "What if a peaceful, healthy life was guaranteed for every child on Earth? How would that change the part parents play?" I think about this question in my own life. My family gives my life a sense of purpose and meaning, I want to be a good husband, son, brother, friend and later father. In the book, Harari tries to solve the purpose problem. He implies that finding a new purpose requires us to develop a new ritual - using the world in a much broader sense than most people do, something like "organizing principles that direct our lives." In the final portion of the book, he discusses a religion he calls "Dataism," in which the greatest moral right is to increase the flow of information. Dataism "has nothing against human experience," he writes. "It just doesn't think they have intrinsic value." Despite my admiration or criticism of the book and its ending, it is a deeply engaging work with many exciting and inspiring ideas. It truly made me think about the future, which is a different form of saying it makes me ponder about the present. I urge you to read this book. It left me with more questions than answers.
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Last night I experienced a blackout in my neighborhood for few hours due to crazy weather. Along with no light, cooling or TV, it meant no internet! And my phone was also on its last leg, so even using data was not an option. What was I to do? Read of course.
I surely understand the importance of technology. I know that the internet is an excellent tool. It allows us to connect more easily, access information more quickly, and explore new, exciting, and affordable ways to do many things. But, as someone who constantly uses technology, I also know that the internet can be abused, or to put it more accurately, it can abuse us. Although it was perhaps not the smart phone’s primary intention, most of the time when I see people, add me to the category of people too, using a smartphone in public spaces, in fact using it for the sole purpose of distraction. Think about it: we find ourselves alone in a waiting room, subway, elevator… what do you do? The endless “feed” (so aptly named) often minimizes the potential of these moments and can make you numb to what they should really be used for: reflection. I say “often” and “can” because I believe that the feed can be used for more than just distraction. In the right hands, the internet can make users pause and turn towards reflection. Let me go back to last night's blackout in my area; I got to catch up on a book I’d been working on, "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi. Truly devastating and spectacular story, Paul is so likable, so relatable and so humble, that I became immersed in his world and truly forgot where it's all heading. It was a sincerely moving and penetrating memoir. This eloquent, heartfelt meditation on the choices that make life worth living, even as death looms, really prompted me to contemplate my own values and morality. Quick video on the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aetY_zS7Q6M Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/When-Breath-Becomes-Paul-Kalanithi/dp/081298840X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497615965&sr=8-1&keywords=when+breath+becomes+air To me this is why reading is so important, and why it will always be as important or perhaps more important as the latest technology. In a world where technology is so often used to lose oneself, I read to find myself. What are you reading nowadays? |
AuthorRoozbeh, born in Tehran - Iran (March 1984) Archives
December 2024
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