The Reality Party
Frankly #66
Following the attempted assassination of former United States President Donald J. Trump, Nate reflects on the dysfunctional social dynamics which have brought many of us to high levels of tribalism and mistrust toward others and divorced from the deeper challenges facing us in coming decades.
As humans, we all - for the most part - share the same enjoyments in life - beautiful nature, autonomy, music, healthy, tasty food, clean water, friends, and family (whatever species they might come in). Values are rarely - if ever - right or wrong, but they can become a polarizing force if they are blindly pursued without the broader context of the carbon pulse and what brought us here.
Is it even possible to have a political platform underpinned by a shared understanding that we live as part of the web of life, recognizing the centrality of energy and ecosystems, and seeing the limits of technology? Could we align our political choices with these realities and be more effective, open to others, and act in a bi-partisan manner as citizens of the world?
In case you missed it…
This week, Daniel Schmachtenberger joined me to take a wide-boundary look at the true environmental risks embedded within the current promises of artificial intelligence. He demonstrated that the current trajectory of AI’s impact is headed towards ecological destruction, rather than restoration… an important narrative currently missing from the discourse surrounding AI at large.
What are the environmental implications of a tool with unbound computational capabilities aimed towards goals of relentless growth and extraction? How could artificial intelligence play into the themes of power and greed, intensifying inequalities and accelerating the fragmentation of society? What role could AI play under a different set of values and expectations for the future that are in service to the betterment of life?
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Thanks Nate, for a great deal of wisdom in your Reality Party video. The view that once basic needs are met, the important things are free, echoes, consciously or not, Epicurus - I think you two would have got along well! There is a snag unfortunately: one of our basic needs is shelter, and certainly here in the UK , that is prodigiously expensive, partly because we view it as wealth, much more than a means of survival (in harsh English summers!).
On partisan politics; a lot of my knowledge of the USA came from listening to Alistair Cooke's weekly Letter from America radio broadcast (he did them for over 60 years). Cooke was a spellbinding storyteller, and I remember him quoting a congressman: "I never learned anything from anyone who agreed with me". Much wisdom there too - sad it's from a bygone age.
I also remember him explaining the origin of the right to bear arms, in the Second Amendment: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed". The founding fathers, with the mistakes and excesses of Britain and Europe fresh in their minds, had decided against a standing army, in favour of the militia model. A regular peacetime army was first established as early as 1784, but the Amendment has remained untouched, though I've yet to hear an American-born person recite it in full!
I wish you would publish your slides. I wrote down all 15 points on the Reality slide so I can annotate them from the show notes, and any that don't have show note citations, I'll find some. It's as close as anyone has ever come to an elevator pitch on the Nature of the Present Reality. And I urgently need an elevator pitch. Thanks again and again!