Category: All

Memento mori. “Remember that you will die.”  Does death scare you, does death motivate you? 

This assignment gave me a little laugh. I understand how this one phase could give people direction and drive to live a better life, but it clearly would not work for me. As you all know, I have no intention of ever dying. There are a couple points this brings up though that I feel I should address.  

Many people also believe that those of us who fight the notion that death is inevitable are doing so based on a fear of death. 

Many people claim that it is the fear of death that keeps us human, that it is the basis for our ethical standard and gives meaning to our lives. 

I’d like to dispel these two widely held beliefs. I will grant that the two statements above do in fact apply to some people. My intent is to point out that they are gross generalizations that do not cover as many people as the proponents would have you believe. The two arguments above are fallacies meant to distract attention away from the core principle. When we question something that people hold so sacred and certain in their lives, they get very uneasy. 

Do I want to lie forever because I fear death? Absolutely not. Anyone who has known me since I was a child would tell you quite the opposite. Long before I was a transhumanist, long before I knew with certainty that technology would free me from death, I was certain that I wanted to live a long and fruitful life. A life full of adventure and ambition. I was also looking forward to death. I have often told friends that I considered death “The last great adventure.” It was the one experience that I could not mentally model or play out a simulation in my head for what the experience might be like. It was a one-way ticket on a train to the unknown. That excited me, and I can honestly say that it still does. I have had people express concern that I was suicidal because of my obsession with what death might be like. The key is that I am also a very patient person. Just because I am curious about death, and would welcome it as a great experience, does not mean that I am eager to take that road. There are countless experiences left here to pursue. I do not fear death, I just have far too much ambition to let it ruin my plans. I have always been very good at delayed gratification, even though I am excited to see what is on the other side, I’ll gladly put it off indefinitely. 

Does the fear of death give meaning to our lives as humans? I can understand how some people would think that knowing their life will end causes them to live each day to the fullest and to value life. I argue that it is personality types that cause us to live our lives a certain way, not an expectation that death will end it all. 

We do not need to fear death to be able to open our eyes to the beauty of the world and the people around us. All we have to do is get over the numbness that we have built up over the years. Just watch a child. They have not built the patterns to instantly recognize and draw conclusions about the things they see. They observe and they analyze. They live a life full of wonder and amazement. If we let ourselves live our lives in this way then we will truly live to the fullest. Many people when faced with death finally become aware of how they are living their lives and all the incredible experiences and people around them. You have control over your own perception. The world is no different if you are going to die or not, you can choose your own catalyst, and it does not have to be a fear of death.  

To my wife and daughters: 

I just wanted to let you know that I believe in you. 

I have confidence in your abilities.  

If you ever think you can’t do any more, go any further, tolerate another setback, or endure any more pain.  

Know that I believe in you. 

When you are tired, and just want to stop. 

When you are discouraged, and ready to give up. 

When you are hurting, and don’t know where to turn. 

Know that I believe in you. 

You are woman. 

You have power within you that I can see, even if you do not. 

Ignore everyone else. 

Ignore the negative voice in your head. 

And listen to me. 

Listen to me! 

You have my spirit behind you, helping you find the way. 

I will always be with you. 

If you need a little extra strength. 

Know that I believe in you. 

And keep moving forward. 

 Take a look at the hero’s journey, and identify where you are in that journey. 

I have a minor problem with this assignment because I think we take these journeys many times in our lives, sometime repeatedly looping through the sequence. We take several of them at a time. I have several areas of my life running in parallel and I am at a different point in each. My career is one, my personal relationship with my wife, my being a father, my fitness, and my battle with age. 

In my career there are many cycles through this path with each one leading to another epic battle. Right now I am in “Meeting with the Mentor” – learning and growing. I am already planning my path through the end of this journey and planning how I can use it to embark on the next. 

In my fitness I am in the “Ordeal” – fighting to make gains, and doing battle with my body. 

With my children I am still in the “Ordeal” – working every day to protect and teach. 

With my wife I am “Seizing the Sword”, reaping the benefits from years of marriage and enjoying life with the woman of my dreams. 

In my battle with age I am in “Tests, Allies, and Enemies”. Clearly starting to seek allies and prepare for the road ahead. 

This is an interesting concept, in that the alignment of these phases across the different aspects of our lives is what really tests us. When too many areas line up, we struggle to give the proper attention to any of them. This is another area of balance, one of managing the phases or our different life  journeys. We must never sit in one phase too long, and we must start new journeys when the old ones have ended. Without those journeys, our life stagnates.  

Take that first step heroes – and remember that it is the journey that makes you grow, not getting to the destination. 

Rewilding is an interesting new word. The basic premise is that our world is out of balance and by bringing back some of things that we thought were negative – we can bring back balance and actually vastly improve many areas of our environment. From http://rewilding.org/: 

In short, the rewilding argument posits that large predators are often instrumental in maintaining the integrity of ecosystems. In turn, the large predators require extensive space and connectivity.  

This appeals to my primal mature because I also feel the drive and desire to rejoin a more wild environment, while enjoying access to the comforts and safety of our current world.  

I want to spend a week naked in the jungle fending for myself. 

This desire is not coherent to the life I currently live. As a transhumanist I cannot risk losing the one instance that I have of myself right now. Once I have a backup – will I find myself getting involved in more dangerous activities, or will I just run a simulation in VR to experience the same activity?  There will be purists who will feel that they have to participate in the meat world to obtain the “real” experience.   

The question remains, is this an experiment in rewilding ourselves? Will we need these experiences to stay in touch with our human sides?  

I need to hunt, and be hunted. This is a thrill that my primal nature desires, and I look forward to the opportunity.  

There is a great TED talk by Kelly McGonigal about recent research showing that our outlook on stress has a large influence on if that stress impacts our health.  

It has long been shown that there is good stress and bad stress. Good stress causes us to build resilience and grow, while bad stress causes anxiety and health deterioration.  

The way I interpret this TED talk is drawing out the flaws in the old research where they have drawn reverse correlations. We were built for stress, what we were not built for is the anxiety that comes from letting that stress impact our perception of the world.  

Stress is natural, it is our body’s way of reacting to extensive external stimulus. When we get overly dramatic about the impact of that stimulus and situational circumstance then we get anxious. That anxiety is dangerous to your health and your longevity.  

Would Grok have worried about how his boss will respond to him handing in a report late?  

Get over yourself and quit creating drama and anxiety. Live a longer healthier life by taking a longer term view of these little events instead of letting them cause you anxiety. 

My favorite quote from an interview with Dr. Gabor Forgacs is: 

“Dream, dream, dream! […] We live in a time when it is really difficult to say: “This is impossible!”” 

I am deeply saddened when I hear people say that something is impossible. It is a window to their mind. The idea that anything that is impossible to man is almost inconceivable to me. Perhaps I am overly optimistic on when we can attain specific capabilities, but I am more conservative than many others. To me, it is never a question of “If,” only a question of “When.” 

It saddens me to think about how people could live in a world where they believe mankind is limited to what we can see in front of us today. It saddens me because of how dull the future must look to that person. It saddens me because that is one less person who is dreaming big and planning how to advance mankind. Imagine for a moment a world where everyone discards the word and the idea “impossible.” What if it was not even a concept in our language? History has shown time and time again that when one person demonstrates a breakthrough that proves the impossible is possible, countless people start to invent and develop well beyond that one limit within months. The human mind sees artificial limits and struggles against them. It causes great thinkers to doubt themselves. It causes the average person to get stuck in the current day. In a world where people believe that everything is possible, we could accomplish anything.  

Do yourself a favor, every time in the next month that you catch yourself thinking something is impossible, instead, ask yourself: “What would the world look like if it WAS possible?” Is that a world worth exploring? If there were enough brilliant people working in that one problem, for a long enough time, with confidence and creativity, could you really imagine that mankind would not find a way? 

This is from a 31 day journaling challenge activity: 

A 6-word memoir a-la Hemingway’s: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”  

What is mine? 

Here are a few I came up with: 

Driven to achieve, drawn into love. 

Struggle to balance body and mind. 

Fighting my nature, to chase dreams. 

For the love of a woman. 

Endless life, but what is life? 

Happily chasing a moving target forever. 

Peace in quiet, Joy in chaos. 

Hates people, energized by a crowd. 

Endless quest for knowledge, still ignorant. 

Father of two girls, empty wallet. 

Jack of trades, master of none. 

My favorite is this one is a tribute to Hemingway’s advertisement style. It reads more like a personals ad and defines who I am, how I got to where I am, and where I am going. 

Renaissance man: Seeks hedonism and purpose. 

What do you offer that cannot be replaced by a machine? 

Spend some time today looking at your contribution to society. 

Are you creating value to the world or to other people? 

Are you willing to adapt? Your job will not be the same in 20 years. What are you doing to advance yourself? 

In the beginning of the industrial revolution, fears abound that massive unemployment would follow as man was slowly replaced by machines for manufacturing and farming. 

One hundred years later we have the same fear growing that man will be replaced by a new kind of smart machines.  

Just because we don’t know what comes next does not mean that it is the demise of our race. It may be the demise of our current way of life, but humans are amazingly adept at adapting. 

Soon, there will come a time when we each must decide how we want to pave our way into this new world. 

One hundred years ago people would have been scared to death of climbing inside and driving a car 70 mph down an interstate surrounded by other death machines.  

Are you afraid of accelerating your mind? 

We have become accustomed to using external machines to advance our personal abilities of transportation, manufacturing, interacting, and thinking. 

Would it really be that strange to advance your personal abilities with internal enhancements? 

If you could be twice as smart as you are now – what problems could you solve?  

Would you really want to spend time solving the same kind of problems you solve today?  

It is time to let go of the fear that we will be replaced, and embrace liberation from our current limitations. 

You will have to grow and advance, or you will be left behind. 

It is time to evolve, or choose to stay behind. 

Complaint against the quality of AI as a form of denial that it will soon overtake you.  

Just as you belittle the man whom you are threatens by, so to do you thrash against the AI who will make you feel ignorant 10 years from now. 

Hide your head in the sand. 

Pretend that technology is not advancing.  

Get left behind. 

Humans are very good at cognitive dissidence as a means of protecting their world view.  

A while back I read the book “Average is Over” by Tyler Cowen. 

There are some interesting points as we look further into the future. In one part of the book, the author outlines a concept of threshold workers who have found an equilibrium where they work just enough to live off of and have changed their views on expected goals in life. There is currently a class of people developing who are perfectly happy living within the bare minimum limits of employment. Instead of viewing themselves as underemployed, they have embraced their situation and enjoy their liberties and freedom. They work very little, live off very little, and spend their lives engaging in “play.” This culture has a growing resistance to ambition and a general disdain for those who drive for more in their lives.  

This mentality is enabled by an economy of abundance. For as long as we continue to advance technology and provide the ability to live comfortably at a lower income, there will be more and more people who opt for this lifestyle.  

Some people look at the latest trend towards more and more income disparity in our culture and are indignant. That income disparity is not necessarily a bad thing if large numbers of people are content in their lifestyle. If your needs are met, you have access to all basic material goods and all the entertainment you want – then why complain? You want more, then go after more.  

Let’s look forward twenty years. 

Synthetic food is plentiful, housing is cheap, personal electronics are integrated and free. Everyone has access to the entertainment that they desire, and the tools to create all they desire.  

I see some interesting classes of people arising: 

Well Fed Artists: Imagine all the people who are driven to create, now that they do not have to sell their wares to get by, more and more people can commit their lives to creating art via all the old styles, and thousands of new technology enabled mediums. I am eager to see all the beauty in our world when any artists can thrive. Starving artists will only exist as a self-imposed creative influence. 

The Lazy: There will be even more people simply coasting and milking the system. They will be happy to be entertained day in and day out without contributing to society. This number will be dramatically higher than what we have today. The cost to society will be lower, so they will be left to their own devices.  

The Intellectual: Those who pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge with disregard for pay or occupations. These people will be enabled to explore areas which we never had financial incentive to pursue in the past.  

The Rich: Money will be different than what we think of today because it is used for different things. As we move past a scarcity driven economy we will evolve into an entirely different economic culture. There will always be those who acquire more than others, but it won’t be for the same reasons. It will not be “things” they buy. This is something else worthy of an entire blog post. 

The Powerful: 

These are sometimes different than the Rich. When money is not the greatest driving factor and not necessarily the result of success the powerful will live for influence. The will influence via new means and mediums outside of our current economic system. 

The Service Sector: There will be people who still drive for more capital and do not have the skills and capability to truly invent, but those with money will more and more desire, and pay for, a higher level of service. We will see more people desiring the personal touch and experience of a real human providing services, and it will be the new luxury. The rich will gladly pay for a human bank teller, a human waitress, a human on the other end of the phone. 

What other classes do you see developing?