Back sometime about a million years ago, I read "Waiting for Godot", a book which explored the futility and absurdity of life and the cyclical nature of looking for meaning with no resolution. Godot likely represents god or meaning, where the two main characters are sitting, whiling away their time, talking about life, waiting for someone who will never appear. They are told by a small boy that Godot will be there tomorrow, so they say they will leave, but keep waiting.
The futility of life.
It came to mind today as I was thinking about all the people who think that AI and automation is going to make their lives significantly better, because it could be used to do so. They think it will do all the mundane and difficult tasks they don't want to do, so they will have time to do the fun tasks they do want to do. As if those who employ the robots to do the crappy tasks, won't use them to do all they are capable of, including the things that a human would want to do.
When it comes to meaning, I feel that while we have been searching for a while now, we are mostly heading down the wrong path. Instead of finding things that are meaningful to do, we are looking for ways to make our lives more convenient instead. Sure, getting rid of a few menial tasks to free up time is a good thing, but the fact is that in order to do the really cool stuff in life, we learn from doing menial tasks. We need foundation before we can build upward. Yet we are trying to take shortcuts to the finishing line.
And I think that part of the problem is that we see things on a type of event timeline, where I do this, and then that, which allows me to then do the next thing on the road. And perhaps it is practical to look at it that way for many reasons, but the more I investigate it, the more I think that "meaning" has to always be there for a good life. People talk about "living in the moment" but without meaning, what kind of moment is it?
While we seem to have always had the questions, I think that the coming phase of humanity is going to raise actual existential crises within us. In the past, no matter what we thought, there was always something necessary to do. But in the future, there will be less and less that has to be done, or will be possible to be done, ow anyone will want to be done, by us humans.
Then what?
It might come as a surprise to some, but the largest changes in our life do not happen when we are young. Instead, it is when we retire that our life gets upended the most, even when we are otherwise monetarily secure. Because we go from one day having some daily purpose provided to us, even if we don't love our job, to being self-determined and able to do as we please, within our means. The trouble is, *we generally don't know what to do with ourselves, and a lot of retirees struggle to find a new place in life, a new meaning outside of being a worker, something they identified with for decades.
Except soon and already starting now, people are struggling with what to do with themselves, even if they have never had a job. In Finland, a large portion of disability pension recipients are under thirties who have never held a job. Their disability is depression. And I think that while even people with work, things to do, purpose and meaning can become depressed, I believe that it is far more likely when life is devoid of the structure of some kind of work. And even though many try to trick themselves into categorising some random entertainment focus as their meaningful activity, because it rarely satisfies the human desire to add actual value, the deception doesn't work and depression takes hold.
Many seem to be waiting for automation to save them time, money and effort, without realising that while technology advances, human nature remains much the same. We need more than what a life of robots offers us by taking away the work tasks, and if we do not find real meaning and purpose in our daily lives, we are going to struggle. And while you think as an individual you will be okay because you have your ducks in a row already, the problem is that most people do not and will not, and many will breakdown. We see evidence for this already, with homelessness, drug addiction, and street violence driven by poverty, prejudice and mental health issues, but it is just the tip of the approaching iceberg.
We keep waiting and waiting for things to improve.
Maybe tomorrow.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Be part of the Hive discussion.
And you may be rewarded.
