Homo Obsoletus

…or will it be a conscious revolution in a quantum world?

Will we become obsolete? Well, theoretically we could, because most likely, in the not so distant future, we will be able to rebuild everything we have created. With the progress of AI and breakthroughs in quantum computing, combined with the exponential progress in Nano- and Bio-Technology, we will experience revolutionary changes. Eventually we will move closer to reverse-engineering and rebuilding our created reality through algorithms. For the first time in history we are moving essential authorities into algorithms – away from human beings – we are playing with technologies that no one understands and we are creating intelligence beyond our current state of consciousness.

Mainstream media is teaching us about the exponential progress of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), about the quantum computers entering the market in 2018 and about robots and automation replacing our jobs. Will it be 30%, or will it be 60% – and which jobs will it actually hit? Theoretically no one is safe, and given that we, at least most of us, are neither conscious beings nor rational thinkers, we keep pushing boarders without understanding potential consequences.

It is said that with Quantum Artificial Intelligence we will surpass ourselves. With this progress we will merge with technology that may enhance our brains to have 1.000 IQ or even 10.000 IQ… We are line-dancing our way between “Mensch and Machine” – we can not pause – underneath us we see the abyss, we need to push forward. We are moving like ants following the Queen (technology) being dragged through life. Always in permanent reaction-mode we are now wandering around like dopamine junkies.

In this world one outcome could be replacing our created world and eventually pushing for perfection making the unknown the known. Through technology and science we search for the one algorithm to move our species into a state of obsolescence. In such a world however, creating an upgrade species, or creating “God in a Machine”, “Deus Ex Machine” or “Homo Deus”, we would not only become obsolete, but it would most likely be the last chapter of our history; the “Generation Z” as the end of the journey for human beings. We would become  “Homo Obsoletus” and go under with our principles of hope.

“We are trying to make the unknown the known”

But there is more to it.  The mind itself in not a computer. This wonderful and strange construction is not an algorithm. Our mind is more like an orchestra, each instrument with its own facets, temper and mood.  Where each neuron have their own structures within. We are making (exponential) progress in reverse-engineering how our neurons operate, how our approximately 100bn neurons fire and react building own neural nets based on our sensory experiences and projecting it onto what we call reality.  However, when we go deeper, and dig into the structures of the neurons eventually we get down to something called microtubules.  Within each neuron it seems as though each of them has the same complex structure as our brain. We could even say the microtubules are the brains of the neurons. Down at this sub-atomic level we get to the world of the quanta. As we now celebrate the 100th anniversary of the discoveries of Max Planck around energy quanta, this branch of physics has over the last couple of years not only caught the awareness of physicists and scientists all over the world, but has also made its way into the mainstream media as a fundamental theory of nature based on the small scale with the waves and energy levels of atoms and subatomic particles.   

At this world “at the bottom”, where matter behaves like energy, and energy behaves like matter, the world becomes really strange. Here particles behaves like waves, and waves behaves like particles – or maybe the more accurate definition is; particles are waves. In the world of the quanta two things can be in the same place at the same time, and one thing can be in two places at the same time. With the Copenhagen Interpretation, Schrödinger Cat and many recent experiences, science has again and again observed and verified theories where nothing is anywhere until you look at it, until it is observed – and then, once observed it is somewhere, a mind boggling weirdness left unanswered. 

I have great respect for all the genius thinkers around topics on “singularity” and “post-humanism”, but I still see that there are mysteries hiding outside of our current laws of physics and outside of our materialistic worldview that are unknown to us. Therefore we need to continue the search on what it means to “Be a Mensch”.

As strange as the world at the quantum level seems to be, even at the macro level, going back to “our reality”, there is more to it. With our sensory experiences, intuitions and consciousness we create “our own world” where your reality and my reality are so very different. This is something German Philosopher Martin Heidegger wrote about in his complex work “Identity and Difference” pointing out that it is not strange that things are in the first place, the strange thing is “difference”, that things can be different. Beyond algorithms and proven theories, the small humble beings that we are also have thoughts, feelings, lust, fear, confusion, jealousy and creativity.

So when we create these robots and machines, we ask ourselves; will they eventually suffer? Will they love? Can they have sex and reproduce themselves (putting the question aside if this is at all relevant)?  – Or if we merge together, what will happen to us? Will we still suffer or love? Because our only reality is just that, the void in our life. Can it suffer, or can it love? – Everything else exists only in our mind.

So maybe we need a complete new chapter? Because the outcome of the current rapid development is that our old system is breaking down. It can not keep up, and with it our political- and economic model are reaching their limits. We need to prepare for a “re-start”.  We can not patch the system anymore. We need a new view – a different perception. Though installing a cartoon figure to rule the most powerful army of the world might be a risky manoeuvre, the result will be that we understand, once and for all, that this world is not going to be created by itself. 

We need a “re-start” in a place where we leave the material world and take up different concepts beyond the newtonian physics. This is where we start to look at thoughts, feelings and intuition. It is where we take a closer look at strange concept such as “difference” and “creativity”.  This is where we will be able to build our new models. It is a world with actual space for true creativity where we can create our own bright future. Moving from a materialist worldview and a religious worldview to one that promotes creativity by the core. Together we leave the greed and turn towards a system of collaboration and participation, a world of consciousness. Our destiny, our world and our future is not deterministic. We know that the illusion of a dream about a predefined future is long dead, a future – any future – is something we improvise, it is something we will create together.

Greeds’ worst enemy is helpfulness

We are ready for a new world view and new models.  But these new models will not come from backwards-thinking politicians or populistic movements, nor will it come from greedy individuals aiming for more. We do not need a world of polarization, we need a world of integration and collaboration, consciousness and interdependence, a world of co-creation where we co-exist with technology and evolve.

As soon as we get rid of the last “4 dinosaurs” (Putin, Erdogan, Trump and Kim Yon-Un) we will all be in it together. We will come up with new problems and questions. We will do this together, with compassion and greed’s worst enemy, helpfulness. We will create a world, driven by a young generation ready to change, the so called generation “Z” will not be the last generation, but pave the way for the generation “Alpha”.

Easier said than done. Because isn´t it ironic that as I´m sitting here writing about how to move beyond a world of polarisation I just named out 4 individuals as being less than this model, doing exactly the opposite of what is intended. But so the story goes, this old model of operation is still very much alive within our nervous system. So my first step is acknowledging that we are not quite there yet, so to the 4Ds – “I’m sorry, I am sure you are here to give us a lesson”. The Mensch is not obsolete – we now need to move beyond, to a more conscious state of being.

What will be your first step?

#beamensch