If you’ve been around for seventy years or so you know that the way we live in these United States has been in constant flux for almost your whole life. But if you think about it didn’t start there. In fact, when was the last time that life was wholly stable in form and detail? Well in some backwater areas of the world it’s probably much as it ever was. But for Europeans you might have to go all the way back to the mid-1200s. Back before the age of sea exploration. So, feudalism basically.
And what was going on back then? I guess most of our ancestors were serfs living and working on the lands controlled by the aristocracy. So, was that better or worse than today? Well, I guess modernity has a bunch of advantages over the 1200s. Today you mostly get to keep your teeth into at least your middle age. And you actually get to live probably into your seventies. And your children mostly won’t die at birth. And you aren’t illiterate and you can call Pizza Hut on your cell phone and have dinner delivered (assuming you have a job, which isn’t that sure anymore).
But I think the question can still be asked, “Are we living in a better world than pre-renaissance Europe?” If I were to give an opinion, I’d say yes. But not because of the material progress that we have to show. But because I think there is the chance that we might be closer to some kind of breakthrough.
And what I mean by a breakthrough is an analysis about what represents human happiness and how to maximize it. “Okay,” you’ll say, “but what do you mean by human happiness?” And that is a fair question. Because human happiness is hard to define. I don’t mean that we figure out a way to have the larges tnumber of people hooked up to a dilute fentanyl drip all the time. What I mean is we should figure out what human beings are meant to be doing with their lives.
If I were to guess I’d say the optimal human activity is learning how to interact with other humans in such a way that everyone feels like their getting something out of the deal. So, let’s say you’re a pretty good carpenter. Okay maybe life would be optimal if you could get paid a decent wage to make chairs or tables or porch decks. And maybe someone else would want to be a Walmart shelf stocker. Sure, he’s not as bright as the carpenter, but he’s hard-working and cooperative and he’s not really interested in owning all the latest “stuff.” So, the idea is that somehow all this “AI stuff” really does pan out and we figure a way to systematize the whole human race so that we can keep this whole multi-billion human juggling act in the air without needing a war or a revolution or a great depression. Now that might be something to brag about.
Of course, this is all a pipe dream but if you think about it, that’s what all of the geniuses have been talking about for the last couple of hundred years. That’s the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution and Mamdani and all the rest of the people who get all stirred up. Now, we all know that socialism doesn’t work. But maybe that’s because it’s run by socialists. What if HAL9000 ran it?
Okay, never mind. We know how that ends, “I’m sorry Dave, I can’t let you back in the door. Have a nice day!”