This short video shows a vision of one of the futures, possibly the near-future, that could evolve out of where we are now. A young woman goes about her day with the help of her smartphone. It's a bit like that drawing which changes according to how it's viewed: a bistable illusion. You look at it one way and you see a young, elegantly attired woman. Look at it another and it’s an old woman with a hooked nose and a grave expression. Progress or dystopia? To give you a chance to watch it and form your own response, I'll leave further comment until later in this essay.
It’s interesting to see what giving up personal agency, over to the hands of Ai and algorithms, will eventually lead to. I get the argument for- that by the control of all our resources, via our behavior, we will be able to live sustainably off our planet. Notice the word off, because in this future we are truly not part of the earth and we are not from or with her and she is not our mother. We are in control of the earth, it’s resources, it’s inhabitants that we harvest for ourselves and we have rights over every being and every thing.
Unfortunately this is not something that can exist and has never existed and is in its fullest expression the wound of separation.
So yes it is up to anyone of us, who value our place In the dance of life to resist this movement, done in the name of our own good, ( sound familiar?) and to create culture and community where personal agency and responsibility to our physical place feels good. Where personal power is not gained by being over another but because of relationship with each other. Where we can feel. Feel human and feel what is mystery and what is greater than us.
I also had to stop listening to bbc radio four a couple years ago and am lucky enough to be able to have personal relationship with gamers and eat local. Commercial food i the USA, even the organic labels are rapidly becoming less and less tolerable to us as we deal with ongoing auto immune issues and chronic mystery Illnesses. And I’m grateful to my substack that allow me to stay informed but not bombarded. Thanks for this piece!
It’s interesting to see what giving up personal agency, over to the hands of Ai and algorithms, will eventually lead to. I get the argument for- that by the control of all our resources, via our behavior, we will be able to live sustainably off our planet. Notice the word off, because in this future we are truly not part of the earth and we are not from or with her and she is not our mother. We are in control of the earth, it’s resources, it’s inhabitants that we harvest for ourselves and we have rights over every being and every thing.
Unfortunately this is not something that can exist and has never existed and is in its fullest expression the wound of separation.
So yes it is up to anyone of us, who value our place In the dance of life to resist this movement, done in the name of our own good, ( sound familiar?) and to create culture and community where personal agency and responsibility to our physical place feels good. Where personal power is not gained by being over another but because of relationship with each other. Where we can feel. Feel human and feel what is mystery and what is greater than us.
I also had to stop listening to bbc radio four a couple years ago and am lucky enough to be able to have personal relationship with gamers and eat local. Commercial food i the USA, even the organic labels are rapidly becoming less and less tolerable to us as we deal with ongoing auto immune issues and chronic mystery Illnesses. And I’m grateful to my substack that allow me to stay informed but not bombarded. Thanks for this piece!
On point thank you for these deep insights for a better way forward.