I have always spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about the world we are creating and how it will look in the future. I don't mean I spend time daydreaming about that future though, it is more trying to observe our behaviours across various points and guestimating where they could lead us.
I am far from qualified for this job but then, who really is? Scientists, futurists, politicians? For the most part, many of the predictions have been significantly wrong or at least, how it has materialised has been significantly different. It is hard to predict these things but many feel quite comfortable to do so.
Now that I have a small daughter , I worry more about the world we are creating than ever and I think it shows in a lot of the topics I talk about as many are centered selfishly around creating a better, more evenly distributed world. Again, I don't think equality of resource is necessarily are good thing but, large inequalities are bad.
Yet, this is the world we are creating, this is it right here. A world that has large inequalities by design, timing or opportunity based on relatively arbitrary conditions. A world where we pollute and oppress to squeeze a tiny little more profit out of the system. Is this the best we can do?
Perhaps that is what we are meant to work out here and that is the test of our worth. Can we create a model that is able to add learning and value to a decentralized, self-directed, voluntary world that still functions as a community without the bane of authority and greed to upset the apple cart? At the rate we are going, I doubt it, though I do not think it is impossible.
I wonder what this place would look like if for a few months all people put community above profits and just attempted to cooperate to build the foundations necessary to support a broader and more diverse range of people. How quickly could it turn around and how adaptable could it become to the environment and the challenges within?
Humanity's strength has always been its ability to cooperate but for the most part and especially in the early days, it was based on small groups of people who were able to trust each other based on face value. Face value being actually knowing each other.
The challenge now is that we don't know each other but the problems we need to solve require many people to cooperate. they are global problems from climate change and pollution to food, housing and energy issues. Btw, for those who are arguing over whether climate change is a man made or natural process, it doesn't really matter, it is still going to have an effect on us.
Solving these large scale problems requiring many minds and bodies is continually being slowed and hamstrung by small minds who are undermining the processes by hijacking conversations and turning the focus onto the irrelevant and insignificant. Perhaps it is an added challenge of the time.
Everyone has a voice now and multiple platforms to share their minds and what do they share? People don't even read the articles before they spread it across their social feeds and they take no responsibility for it. They seem to have not realized that we are all journalists now, we are all writing for the media for we are all publishers.
For those of us that believe in fake news and want the MSM to be held accountable for its spread of information, are you willing to be held accountable for what you spread? It is called social MEDIA after all so shouldn't we be held somewhat responsible for the glut of nonsense that fills the feeds?
When you share content do you hold yourself accountable for its accuracy? Do you think about how it may affect other readers or, is that the point? Do you share false information on purpose or, information that supports your position without consideration of counter-positions? Are you part of the problem?
This is one of the challenges we face now as we are all relatively empowered to spread the information we come across but do no have to hold ourselves to any of the checks and balances most professionals must. And the power we yield through social proof can be immense and far outstrip the actual reach of the newspapers. Don't you see that we have become their tools? We are both consumer and disseminator of their drivel and we think they are the ones raising the FUD.
No, it is us as we are now the supply and demand function, a closed economy with a monopolized ruler called society and we wield our power with impunity and without remorse. With each stroke, we say we are making the world better but, have you ever taken a step back to look if that is true? Perhaps you are buying into your own fake news.
Where is it leading us, what are we building, what are we creating, what problems are we solving? Shouldn't we all have a pretty good idea?
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
