Has human existence become too complex for you to comprehend?

[GammaGlobulin]

Dear Folks,

 

Does anything makes sense, these days?....

To YOU, I mean.

 

Or, do you find yourselves stuck, each day, in an ever more incomprehensible world, and feeling increasingly adrift?

 

aa. On the positive side, we have optimistic news from Google's AI:

 

 

bb. On the negative side, we have our more realistic human-based view of what is actually happening to us.

 

And this only tells us that we no longer understand the complex systems that impact us, daily...just as....

 

 

these systems continue to gain in complexity, by the year.

 

How much longer will it be before we can no longer keep up, even while we are fighting to stay afloat during this first week of 2025?

 

cc. Have we, during the past two decades, created a society which is one too complex for us to easily survive?  And, why would we have intentionally done this?

 

dd.  Do you think you will be able to adapt to our increasingly complex society, with its complex systems, one which is growing more complex, by the year, at an increasingly rapid rate....an almost exponential rate?

 

ee. And what are the limits of human adaptability, given that the rate of change and the rate of complexity seems to be unstoppable?

 

ff.  Almost EVERYBODY loves to look at exponential curves. And here is one, a very old one:

 

 

 

gg. But what about Exponential Rise of Complexity in our world?

 

Do YOU think you will be able to keep up?

 

Maybe.

 

But, then....
What if you cannot keep up.

Yet, the world just continues to become more complex, year by year.

Then....

What will you do?

 

Crawl in a hole, or something?

 

Or, will you decide to have an AI Implant, as envisioned by Musk, and others?

Just to maintain your status quo in the world.

 

We are  talking about exponential techno-social evolution here, which will progress even faster than Moore's Law, while, YOU, will continue to evolve only at a biological snail's pace, and will not adapt quickly enough to keep up.

 

What will you do?

What will be your strategy to survive, knowing what is ahead?

 

I worry about this, almost constantly.

 

Any answers which might help us to survive the inevitable?

 

Thank you.

Regards,

Gamma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[short-Timer]

Ah, Gamma, you’ve truly outdone yourself with this one. The existential dread you have laid out is nothing short of a masterpiece. Who would not be kept up at night by the thought of exponential technological and social change racing far ahead of our humble biological pace? It is the perfect recipe for sleepless nights and endless questions.

 

But fear not. While the world hurtles toward ever greater complexity, I have taken matters into my own hands. I have enrolled in a series of advanced courses to prepare for the modern era: Quantum Mechanics for Beginners, Navigating Bureaucracy Without Losing Your Mind, and the ever-popular How to Fake Understanding of AI Ethics. By the time the singularity arrives, I plan to be the first in line claiming I knew it was coming all along.

 

As for human existence becoming too complex, I say bring it on. When the world is too overwhelming, I will simply retreat to my happy place, preferably somewhere with good food, a few strong drinks, and absolutely no need to worry about the latest trends in computational theory. Cheers to progress!

[Jingthing]

For me and I think human civilization, AI is a bridge too far. 

[short-Timer]

9 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

For me and I think human civilization, AI is a bridge too far. 

 

Ah, a bridge too far, you say? Perhaps, but isn’t it delightful to stand on the edge and watch everyone else try to cross it anyway? Nothing like a front-row seat to humanity’s greatest overreach!

[Jingthing]

Just now, short-Timer said:

 

Ah, a bridge too far, you say? Perhaps, but isn’t it delightful to stand on the edge and watch everyone else try to cross it anyway? Nothing like a front-row seat to humanity’s greatest overreach!

It's of course a potentially great tool but based on history and human nature, it seems inevitable that humans have designed a tool for their own extinction. Humanity has dodged doing that so far with nuclear weapons but add in AI and I don't like the odds.

[short-Timer]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It's of course a potentially great tool but based on history and human nature, it seems inevitable that humans have designed a tool for their own extinction. Humanity has dodged doing that so far with nuclear weapons but add in AI and I don't like the odds.

 

There are so many existential threats in the world; disease, environmental issues, food shortages, natural disasters. This is just one more thing added to the pile. Eventually, something will get us. Maybe we’ll live another 30 years and die of old age, but with the trajectory we’re on now, it feels more likely the amount of time we have left is something in between.

[GammaGlobulin]

23 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

For me and I think human civilization, AI is a bridge too far. 

 

"A bridge too far"

 

Indeed!

 

[Jingthing]

9 minutes ago, short-Timer said:

 

There are so many existential threats in the world; disease, environmental issues, food shortages, natural disasters. This is just one more thing added to the pile. Eventually, something will get us. Maybe we’ll live another 30 years and die of old age, but with the trajectory we’re on now, it feels more likely the amount of time we have left is something in between.

Well I'm thinking in terms of our human species which I have a love - hate relationship with.

[Gobbler]

I rated this trash 1 star.  Had there been a -10 stars, I would have clicked it.

[GammaGlobulin]

1 hour ago, Gobbler said:

I rated this trash 1 star.  Had there been a -10 stars, I would have clicked it.

 

Agree.

 

Any Topic, even obliquely relating to the sphere of Social Sciences, should automatically garner a 'minus 10' rating.

 

It is ONLY in the Natural Sciences, if one becomes extremely lucky, that one can write something original.

 

Most Social Science research is trash, as you correctly state.

 

And, have you ever stopped to consider just how many Man-Hours are completely wasted by students, at major universities around the world, rehashing trash, and regurgitating trash, just to get a Social Sciences degree, which, in the end is worth less than they had expected when they first began their studies as freshmen?

 

Such an unfathomable cost to both students and their families this financial burden must be!

 

And yet, the students go into debt, just to be taught uncommonly common sense?

 

Let's hope that if you ever return to university, in order to continue your education, as so many of us do....

That you will not waste time on the Social Sciences.

 

Don't be a Dreamer!

 

Instead, dive into the Natural Sciences, and make every tuition-dollar count for you.

 

U. Wash has an amazing program for off-campus learning, for example....

 

 

 

 

I am thinking about taking this course.

 

If you want to be my study-buddy, please let me know.

 

The cost per credit is minimal.....

Let's Go for it.....!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KhunLA]

4 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Dear Folks, ... Does anything makes sense, these days?....  To YOU, I mean...Or, do you find find yourselves stuck, each day, in an ever more incomprehensible world, and feeling increasingly adrift?

Strangely, I think and feel exactly as I did as a teen, tripping my brains out, 3AM, chilling on the hockey field at the convent, pondering life, all the good & bad.  Wondering what the future holds.

 

Amazing that I was spot on, and nothing has really changed in my world.  Still in awe about all the beautiful and wonderful things there are, and how fortunate I've been able to experience many of them.

 

Even more amazed how others get so wrapped around all the negative, to the point of not being about to function in life.

 

Only question is ... did the LSD open my mind that much, or, was I really that damn intelligent at such a young age.

 

IF the latter, then why the trials & tribulations to get back to this point, dumb A$$ 

[CygnusX1]

We could be approaching peak complexity now. In the near future, we might each have a personal AI assistant which (who?) would handle all of the complexities of everyday life for us.

 

[Chosenfew]

Embrace change and roll with it the best you can…

[rwill]

Question:  What came first?  The chicken or the egg?  (It's a flawed question)

 

 

Answer:  The rooster

[Enoon]

9 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Dear Folks,

 

Does anything makes sense, these days?....

To YOU, I mean.

 

Or, do you find yourselves stuck, each day, in an ever more incomprehensible world, and feeling increasingly adrift?

 

aa. On the positive side, we have optimistic news from Google's AI:

 

 

bb. On the negative side, we have our more realistic human-based view of what is actually happening to us.

 

And this only tells us that we no longer understand the complex systems that impact us, daily...just as....

 

 

these systems continue to gain in complexity, by the year.

 

How much longer will it be before we can no longer keep up, even while we are fighting to stay afloat during this first week of 2025?

 

cc. Have we, during the past two decades, created a society which is one too complex for us to easily survive?  And, why would we have intentionally done this?

 

dd.  Do you think you will be able to adapt to our increasingly complex society, with its complex systems, one which is growing more complex, by the year, at an increasingly rapid rate....an almost exponential rate?

 

ee. And what are the limits of human adaptability, given that the rate of change and the rate of complexity seems to be unstoppable?

 

ff.  Almost EVERYBODY loves to look at exponential curves. And here is one, a very old one:

 

 

 

gg. But what about Exponential Rise of Complexity in our world?

 

Do YOU think you will be able to keep up?

 

Maybe.

 

But, then....
What if you cannot keep up.

Yet, the world just continues to become more complex, year by year.

Then....

What will you do?

 

Crawl in a hole, or something?

 

Or, will you decide to have an AI Implant, as envisioned by Musk, and others?

Just to maintain your status quo in the world.

 

We are  talking about exponential techno-social evolution here, which will progress even faster than Moore's Law, while, YOU, will continue to evolve only at a biological snail's pace, and will not adapt quickly enough to keep up.

 

What will you do?

What will be your strategy to survive, knowing what is ahead?

 

I worry about this, almost constantly.

 

Any answers which might help us to survive the inevitable?

 

Thank you.

Regards,

Gamma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many on AN have lost what it was that enabled them to keep pace.

 

The alleged turn towards "conservatism", as one gets older, is the polite way of saying that you are losing your intellectual flexibility, your faculty to learn/absorb new ideas and your previous ability to develop........to evolve.

 

That turn is not a "choice", just as one does not choose to become less physically flexible and mobile as one ages........Dr Robert Sapolsky as good as calls it neural deterioration.

 

To most younger people, and some on AN, everything around them is normal and they work with it.

 

They still have to "strive", but they are not lost........as you are.

 

 

 

[jas007]

Too complex?  Different, perhaps, but not necessarily too complex.  Not that anyone has to worry about understanding everything and how it all fits together.  No one has ever done that and no one will.  The only real challenge is navigating change, if that's what you want to do.  Some people don't need to. Some people just don't care. They're comfortable in their own world. They have everything they need.

 

One time I tried to show my father how to use a computer, but he just didn't care. He didn't need to use it and he had no clue.  But he was fine.  He was always doing something and he was happy.  My grandfather was more curious about technology, but for him, that was a mixed blessing.  Give hime a new gadget and the next thing you know, he'd be trying to take it apart to see how it worked.  I'm pretty sure wouldn't have believed the complexity of an integrated circuit.  And he would never have used a credit card or an ATM.  When he had business to transact, he went to the bank.  When he wanted to buy some stock, he went to the broker's office and did it in person.  Anyway, he was happy and was always doing something.

[Hawaiian]

9 hours ago, Jingthing said:

For me and I think human civilization, AI is a bridge too far. 

This is one time I agree with you.  Unchecked, AI has the potential to control everything we do.  It can become like an uncontrollable nuclear reaction.  Really frightening when you think about it.  Oh yea, there may come a day when AI won't allow us to think for ourselves.  Then what?

[Hawaiian]

34 minutes ago, rwill said:

Question:  What came first?  The chicken or the egg?  (It's a flawed question)

 

 

Answer:  The rooster

Shucks, I was always under the impression that a rooster was a chicken, a male one.

[GammaGlobulin]

1 hour ago, Enoon said:

 

Many on AN have lost what it was that enabled them to keep pace.

 

The alleged turn towards "conservatism", as one gets older, is the polite way of saying that you are losing your intellectual flexibility, your faculty to learn/absorb new ideas and your previous ability to develop........to evolve.

 

That turn is not a "choice", just as one does not choose to become less physically flexible and mobile as one ages........Dr Robert Sapolsky as good as calls it neural deterioration.

 

To most younger people, and some on AN, everything around them is normal and they work with it.

 

They still have to "strive", but they are not lost........as you are.

 

 

 

 

You mean...

Lost in The Funhouse.

 

And, of course, I very much DO trust Sapolsky.

Still, I am one of the most liberal of anyone I know.

Just as long as the argument is logical.

 

 

[nglodnig]

Despite blocking this moron, he STILL appears on my twice-daily news letter as "clickbait" to drive up the AN ad ratings (based on number of hits)

[harryviking]

11 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Dear Folks,

 

Does anything makes sense, these days?....

To YOU, I mean.

 

Or, do you find yourselves stuck, each day, in an ever more incomprehensible world, and feeling increasingly adrift?

 

aa. On the positive side, we have optimistic news from Google's AI:

 

 

bb. On the negative side, we have our more realistic human-based view of what is actually happening to us.

 

And this only tells us that we no longer understand the complex systems that impact us, daily...just as....

 

 

these systems continue to gain in complexity, by the year.

 

How much longer will it be before we can no longer keep up, even while we are fighting to stay afloat during this first week of 2025?

 

cc. Have we, during the past two decades, created a society which is one too complex for us to easily survive?  And, why would we have intentionally done this?

 

dd.  Do you think you will be able to adapt to our increasingly complex society, with its complex systems, one which is growing more complex, by the year, at an increasingly rapid rate....an almost exponential rate?

 

ee. And what are the limits of human adaptability, given that the rate of change and the rate of complexity seems to be unstoppable?

 

ff.  Almost EVERYBODY loves to look at exponential curves. And here is one, a very old one:

 

 

 

gg. But what about Exponential Rise of Complexity in our world?

 

Do YOU think you will be able to keep up?

 

Maybe.

 

But, then....
What if you cannot keep up.

Yet, the world just continues to become more complex, year by year.

Then....

What will you do?

 

Crawl in a hole, or something?

 

Or, will you decide to have an AI Implant, as envisioned by Musk, and others?

Just to maintain your status quo in the world.

 

We are  talking about exponential techno-social evolution here, which will progress even faster than Moore's Law, while, YOU, will continue to evolve only at a biological snail's pace, and will not adapt quickly enough to keep up.

 

What will you do?

What will be your strategy to survive, knowing what is ahead?

 

I worry about this, almost constantly.

 

Any answers which might help us to survive the inevitable?

 

Thank you.

Regards,

Gamma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The world will soon come to a sudden stop-----we have reached the point of no return in so many ways.  

[WDSmart]

Human existence has not BECOME too complex to comprehend. It has always been incomprehensible because it is not based on logic and reason, which are the basis for comprehension. The best we can do is to make up excuses for human activity after the fact.   

[SiSePuede419]

No. 🤪

[1FinickyOne]

14 hours ago, Jingthing said:

For me and I think human civilization, AI is a bridge too far. 

over troubled waters?

 

koo koo ka choo

[Lacessit]

I have learned not to worry about things over which I have no control, and are unlikely to affect me. Every year I live past my three score years and ten, the probability decreases. It's a problem for future generations.

 

Besides which, IMO AI has a long way to go to attain omniscience.