Does it feel to you that the people and systems around you are becoming increasingly cold and impersonal? That day-to-day interactions are filled with potential for weird and random outbursts? That the small nuances of a rich human experience are falling away, like an old dream?
If so, know that you are not alone.
My Background
A bit about me — I started school as an art major. Changed to mathematics. Ended up majoring in philosophy and psychology. Nearly entered a PhD program in 1991 studying both philosophy and artificial intelligence (yes, AI has been around for a while).
Ended up being a self-taught engineer with a great career in technology spanning two decades, all the while developing my spiritual healing practice, with the heart of an artist and a mystic that values creative freedom.
As a healer, I have worked for over a decade with people from every imaginable background, involved in all sorts of careers. Despite the prevailing stereotypes, it seems to me that all human beings crave spiritual connection and wholeness, whether they consciously realize this or not.
I share this as a way of saying that what I am writing to you about today is coming from a place of both personal experience and care for the human condition.
Inhuman Dynamics in the Human World
I’d like to share something that’s been bubbling up more and more lately - both from my own experiences as well as those of my clients and friends, many of whom do the kind of work I do.
Like the slow-boiling-frog syndrome, we seem to be stewing in an atmosphere of growing hostility and agitation.
As part of this new milieu, I know people who feel more isolated than they have at any time in their lives. Many of us are having more and more experiences of receiving or witnessing inhuman treatment at the oddest moments, seemingly “out of nowhere”.
I have had long-time friends accuse me of being part of some media-driven label. Come to hear story after story from others of losing close friends and relationships with family members alike.
Recently, I had a moment at the day job in which actual work tasks were assigned to me straight out of ChatGPT, with zero consideration of what it means. The irony was witnessing the pride of the person who acted as the middle-man, the one who did the copying and pasting from ChatGPT. After all, as they shared, “I’m not smart enough to come up with these tasks myself”.
Friends and clients have not only been treated poorly by people they do not know, but have been attacked or accused of things in ways that, not too long ago, would have been unthinkable.
There are bright spots and islands of sanity, to be sure, but there seems to be a growing wave of inhuman energy building up. And ripple effects spawning out into many areas of life.
When I consider the experiences of the younger people that I know, I cannot imagine how they could possibly understand - it wasn’t always this way.
Yes, there has always been harshness and inhumane treatment in the world. This is not new. What is new, however, is that it seems to be coming from all angles, and at very unpredictable times.
I am not alone in feeling that much of what is good in people is being weaponized now to create ever more division and cold empty space between people.
If you have sensed this at any level, know too that you are not alone.
Root Cause Analysis
As both an engineer and a spiritual healer, I am always more interested in getting to the root of a problem than addressing the shape-shifting symptoms.
What is going on?
Is this a case of post-pandemic blues? Is it due to a failing economy? A conscious or perhaps unconscious awareness that the bottom is about to fall out from under us? Just as the media is filled with the pervasive messaging that “AI is going to take your job” and “WWIII is just around the corner”?
Or is this merely a case of confirmation bias? I have an experience then start to see it everywhere I look?
All of the above are factors, but do not explain all of it. There are other dynamics at work here.
Welcome to the Age of AI
There is an undeniable growing energy around all things AI.
Regardless of whether or not it is engineered (and there are plenty of reasons to think that it is - an article for another time) - there is a growing belief (message / understanding / thought-form) that humans are becoming irrelevant. That we are not valuable, that we are outdated “tech”, soon to be replaced.
This is not the Star-Trek future we were promised, where humans are freed from manual labor and meaningless drudgery so that they could focus more time and energy on artistic and scientific endeavors.
We do not really know where this is all headed. That’s an important thing to remember. But it seems to me, that what we are being told is happening now is far from the image of greater freedom and abundance we once held as important.
There’s an undercurrent in our current climate sending the signal that human beings are not intrinsically valuable. Not only this, but worse - that we are inherently racist, evil, lazy, endlessly consuming, destructive, and violent.
For some people, they have been so surrounded by this messaging for so long, they may not even understand that this is NOT how all of us see things now, nor is this the way we as human beings have always seen ourselves.
Just as we are bombarded day in and day out with messages about how terrible humans are, we also encounter others who treat us poorly for no apparent reason. Is this really any surprise?
There are those who will tell you that it is inevitable - that man will merge with machine. And along with our organic human biology, much of what we treasure as humans will be tossed into the garbage bin of “evolutionary waste”.
So what do we do about any of this? What is the way forward?
First off, this is not an “AI BAD” message. Nor is it an “AI GOOD” way of thinking. Despite recent trends, there’s a whole lot of territory in the middle.
AI is not even one thing.
It can be whatever humans make of it. It just so happens that where we find ourselves today is the result of forces and influences, about which the vast majority of the population is very uneducated.
From my perspective, there are two important dimensions to navigating in the Age of AI.
Educate and inform yourself about the source.
Is this really all happening organically? Were humans just predestined to create AI and merge with machines?
Or is this the belief system of a subset of people, who also happen to have a lot of money and influence?
While there are certainly elements of both at play, much of this can be traced back to eugenics, which went through a sort of rebranding, as many of the same people morphed into transhumanists.
Read more here:
- Inside the First Church of Artificial Intelligence - Wired.com
- Silicon Valley’s Favorite Weird Philosophy Is Fundamentally Wrong - Slate.com
- Jeffrey Epstein reportedly wanted to 'seed the human race with his DNA' as part of his fascination with transhumanism. Here’s what that means. - BusinessInsider.comPerhaps more urgently, what can we DO about it now? What is the antidote to this imbalance?
For the rest of this post, I’d like to focus on the latter.
Restoring Balance - The Rebellious Task of Being Human in an Inhuman World
As an energy worker, my job is to become aware of where energetic imbalances are occurring in the person I am working with, then do the work to restore balance.
So what is the antidote here? What can help us retain or restore balance in a world that seems hellbent on devaluing all that is Human?
Here are just a few ideas:
Don’t buy into the ideas of the AI / robot new world order.
We’re already at the point where it is highly unlikely you’ll be able to avoid dealing with AI. The rate of growth is exponential. Just today, you have already probably consumed an unknown amount of AI generated content, or been directed to information by some sort of algorithm. THIS IS NOT EVIL OR BAD.
AI as software, as a tool or instrument used by humans can be just that. It’s another tool in our toolbox. One that can be used for good, or for the not-so-good.
For now, best bet is to educate yourself to a degree while also avoiding investing your energy into the ideas being promoted by transhumanists. This means disbelieving things like “it’s inevitable that AI will take over, take your job, and that you’ll merge with AI”.
There already ARE people that want this. That’s their choice. It may be your choice too, or not. The key is to choose your path forward with conscious awareness.Treasure your real human experiences.
This is something AI will never possess. Even as we pour our hearts and minds into the chat window confessional of the great ChatGPT for it to soak up our sins of ignorance, remember that the code itself can never have its own human experiences.Break the cycles of abuse wherever possible.
Are humans all terrible? No of course not. Neither are we all good. Things may get worse before they get better. And on top of that, we have generations of dysfunction to heal.
So to bring this down to simple terms: if someone cuts you off in traffic, don’t go home and kick your dog. Regardless of how people treat you, how you respond is up to you.
If anything, this seems to be a great time to work on healthy boundaries, and establish clear understanding of what matters in your life so you can protect it.Take great care of yourself.
This may seem obvious, but in a world that seems to care less and less about the human condition, the need for us humans to care for ourselves is greater than ever. How else can you stay sane and balanced during chaotic times?Invest in things that nourish the human spirit.
What does it mean to you to be human? What nourishes the soul? For me, it’s things like real friends and community (vs social media), and real humor, art, and music made by humans.
Are You Feeling It Too?
Have you felt any of these things in your life? At work or in your community? What other factors are involved? What are other ways of navigating the changes we are seeing unfold around us?
We all have much to learn from one another!
Very thought-provoking article on AI. It is also a good reminder that AI is just a tool and, by itself, not good or bad. Great advice at the end on how to restore balance in a seemingly inhuman world. Roger takes us back to the basics of treasuring real human connection and understanding the importance of self-care.