Noones coming to save you
Everybodys gone crazy
Everybodys just going through the motions
They're all just tryna be rich and famous
Noone actually says shit
Everybodys just going through the motions
-- 'human anymore', Emily Steinwall
What does it mean to be human? What is the purpose of technology?
I think these questions are closely connected.
Are you a modern luddite, ted-kazynskian-esque believer that increased urbanization has inflicted severe psychological and societal damage to humanity? Maybe your a transhumanist and believe in the magic of simple things like calculators, which in their use cease to be seperate from the operator but instead an extension.
But fundamentally, your opinion on technology, just like many other things, hinges on your model of humanity; or perhaps your ideal humanity.
And I am simultaneously disgusted and enthralled by the current technological environment. An orgy of entropy, information, data, compute, connections, finance--and now intelligence.
Concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors...
Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations
-- Einstein
Do I believe that what it means to be human is to spend hours of the day trapped in a small glowing rectangle?
To become consumed by a system of semiotic simulation? 'Hyperreality' as Jean Baudrillard calls it. A system which converges, just like many things exposed to too broad of an audience, on entertaining our most base instincts: sex, violence, hedonism, fake experiences.
Do I believe that what it means to be human is to struggle against an onslaught of slop--bad ads, scams, slow websites, endless accounts--as a pre-requisite for many common internet uses?
Do I believe that what it means to be human is to get rich quick, buy a fast car and retire at 30?
Start a parasitic drop shipping or day trading 'business', or maybe just pretend to and sell a course on how they (haven't yet) become rich. Live the 'dream life' of continous consumption, perhaps paid off the back of inherited wealth or investments.
Do I believe that what it means to be human is to spawn trillion dollar valuations for frontier AI labs out of thin air, while china has similar products for free, and real research labs like Deepmind are winning nobel prizes with their protein folding models.
Not that LLMs are useless by any means, but are they really worth centralizing most of the industries brightest minds and resources into? But thats how capitalism goes...
Maybe I have my own faulty beliefs about whats best for humanity, there certaintly isn't a best answer. And maybe the pursuit of technological salvation or ascension is just a sci-fi infused fantasy of a nerd.
But when I look around it's clear there is a lot of work to be done. Not only is there an apparent need for technological solutions to a plethora of problems humanity faces, but it seems that a lot of the technology we already have is actively working against our common well being.
Even if I have some sort of egotistical saviour syndrome, driving my efforts and resolve towards changing the world, ill still improve more lives than you.
Or not? Join the upwards battle, our neo-crusade.
