The Future is Now [2/3]
A very dystopian future could be on its way ☄️
“The Future is Now” is a compilation of some of the most relevant ideas found in 21 Lessons for the XXI Century, a best selling book by Yuval Noah Harari
The World’s Biggest Problems
“Humans have always been better inventing tech than knowing how to use it wisely” — YNH
It’s true. The world has made huge progress. There is less poverty as a whole, we now live longer and healthier lives as a species, and technology is evolving at an unimaginable pace.
But there is always a “however”. In this sense, we should also be aware of the new problems that progress has brought with it. The 3 most pressing ones, according to Yuval, are the ecological crisis, the nuclear crisis, and the technology crisis.
Data as the new currency
Sooner or later in this century, printing dollars could become irrelevant. Most transactions won’t involve a coin, but rather information. Perhaps governments will even need to put new taxes into information, which will be the most important active for the economy.
Think about it in the following way. If a government is corruptive and people know about it, they will look for other governors. However, if the same case happens but the government controls the media so that people don’t know what’s happening, the government can stay in power for a long time.
Liberalism is dying
According to Yuval, either liberalism re-invents itself, or we could end up living in digital dictatorships. Most governors are completely ignorant about these topics. If the system isn’t updated, they won’t survive the huge biotechnological and informational wave that’s coming.
Algorithms could end up being more powerful than any other politician. Algorithms, as of now, are rational and aren’t influenced by feelings. When feelings influence our decisions, even Einstein and Dawkins are no much better than anyone else.
Once technology allows us to understand these biochemical algorithms, politics will become nothing more than a race to see who controls people’s emotions better: an emotional show.
The Useless Class
It’s much easier to fight against slavery than to fight against irrelevance.
Technology is advancing so fast, and some people haven’t even noticed it. In 2050, there could be a new social class: the useless class. In the XXI century, the populist marches won’t be against an elite that exploits people but against an elite that no longer needs others.
Different scenarios
The different possibilities we should keep an eye on are: how to keep on creating new jobs, how to prevent the loss of jobs, and what to do if, despite everything, the loss of jobs is greater than the creation of them.
In my opinion, the only possibility we will face ourselves will be the creation of new jobs, which may not be enough to counterbalance the loss of previous ones.
Reinventing ourselves
Given the current advancements in biotechnology, it’s very likely that the average lifespan will continue increasing; even more than it used to. What will we do with our lives if we have 50 extra, healthy years?
Another point to consider is that technology is also upgrading itself, every single day. So even if being a drone driver is considered an absolutely disruptive job today, it may not be the same in 10 or 20 years.
We cannot continue having the same mindset as previous generations. Education will become a life-long, and essential activity to survive since we will need to reinvent ourselves constantly.
UBI
Even the best-case scenario could turn out to be terrible for many, many people. Hence many governors have thought about implementing a Universal Basic Income program so people who lost their jobs due to automation, can still have the necessary resources to survive.
The first problem with this idea is defining what universal means. These programs aim to satisfy human’s first necessities, but again, what is basic? Different opinions may arise, depending on the country we live in, and our economic resources.
For instance, Europe nowadays considers that a good education, as well as access to healthcare services is enough. Some others suggest that access to the internet should also be considered as a basic necessity.
Thanks to emerging technologies and human progress overall, other questions arise. Will the right to education include doing a PhD? Once we’re able to genetically enhance babies, will that be considered a basic right and necessity too? How about the right to extend our healthspan?
Harari says that if basic universal help is focused on improving the objective life conditions of an average person in 2050, it can have good chances of success.
Countries like Finland have already undergone some experiments (for 2 years) in which they give people universal help, regardless if they find a job. The problem with these programs is that the majority of victims from unemployment because of automation won’t live in Finland, but rather in developing countries.
Some suggest that the millionaires who control the algorithms pay the government a fair amount of money, and that the government uses that money to give a universal salary to people that were left unemployed because of automation.
Homo Deus
For the first time in history, the disparity will involve something more than money, or material possessions. It will be harder for people in the useless class to catch up, because they will likely be biologically disadvantaged.
Although many people are working so this doesn’t happen, many argue that it will be inevitable. People will enhance themselves if they have enough money to pay for it.
The Future is Now! Dave Asprey is considered to be the “father of biohacking”. One of his goals is to live to be 200 years old! Following his passion, he founded a company dedicated to enhancing your health: Bulletproof!
Looks like he’s democratizing this technology. The fact for now is that a single session at Bulletproof Labs costs hundreds of dollars. In other words, it’s not something that many people can afford.
Now let’s think about countries who sometimes can’t even control diseases. Are we gonna start enhancing the population? Or maybe this means that not only classes, but entire countries could become irrelevant.
Lessons
- When we choose our governors, some important questions to ask are: how can we reduce the odds of a nuclear war and the risks of climate change? How can we regulate AI and bioengineering? How do you see the world in 2040? Which is the best and worst-case scenario that you see for that time?
- Adapting to change, learning new things in a short period of time, and maintaining mental equilibrium in unfamiliar situations, will become essential abilities
- In order to make the right decisions about the future of life, we need to think in a higher order than nations: we need to think at a global level. Will the earth be dominated by homo sapiens or by cyborgs? Not focusing on the three most important crises could be catastrophic
Hey! I’m Sofi, a 16-year-old girl who’s extremely passionate about biotech, human longevity, and innovation itself 🦄. I’m learning a lot about exponential technologies to start a company that impacts the world positively 🚀. I love writing articles about scientific innovations to show you the amazing future that awaits us!
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