Missing Element: A Dialogue With Myself
Greetings, esteemed readers! Today, I embark on a quest to uncover the essence of what our modern progressive society has forsaken. Together, let us delve into the profound realms of personality, love, and faith. Join me on this intellectual odyssey as we seek enlightenment.
First, let us examine a familiar territory: digital content and information. Indeed, the vast array of information available to us encompasses various forms such as text, images, audio, and video. In my previous writings, I have consistently highlighted the transformative influence of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney on our society. These groundbreaking advancements have revolutionized the game, granting humanity access to an infinite sea of knowledge while steadily diminishing the value of countless individuals’ work. In this ever-evolving landscape, copyright laws struggle to keep pace, rendering them outdated and ineffective. Determining the line between original creation and plagiarism becomes an arduous task, signaling just the tip of the iceberg.
Why compensate an artist for a painting or a designer for a design if Midjourney can produce them? Why pay a writer for their work or a programmer for a program if ChatGPT can handle it all? Undoubtedly, many “effective” businessmen and managers have pondered this question more than once. Do you believe the surge in layoffs among major corporations coincided merely by chance with the advent of ChatGPT? This thought-provoking query remains pertinent. But let us not digress from the core of this article.
Let us delve into the reasons behind our appreciation of digital content. In this process, there exists a sender and a recipient. The sender either crafts or discovers content and transmits it to the recipient, who, in turn, gains an experience from consuming this content. For instance, Grayson captures a heartwarming video of a cute purring cat and shares it with Iris. As Iris watches the video, she feels deeply moved. In return, Iris sends Grayson a melancholic piano melody, evoking sadness and longing within him. Consequently, the primary determinant of the value of digital content in our society lies in how original, potent, unique, or appealing the experience it provides to us.
It appears that the specific form of content holds little significance in modern society; rather, what truly matters is the experience or emotions evoked within us through the consumption of various content. The rise of ChatGPT, Midjourney, and other neural network tools only intensifies this trend, reducing the value of content’s particular form to naught.
Do you desire thousands of uniquely generated birthday greetings? They are readily available. Craving countless images of smiling dogs? They are at your disposal. Whatever you seek, your experience awaits — ready for consumption. However, amidst this abundance, do you not sense that something is amiss? Have we inadvertently lost something crucial in the process?
Let us elevate our contemplation to greater heights. Together, let’s venture into the realm of the yet-to-be-digitized, untouched by the dominion of artificial intelligence. Engaging in a thought experiment, envision duplicating a person entirely. Subsequently, let us subject these two individuals to divergent living conditions for a span of several years: one basks in abundance and joy, while the other endures destitution and solitude. What will set them apart thereafter? Memories, thoughts, and experiences will serve as the distinguishing factors, shaping their characters and personalities in distinct and profound ways.
This example unmistakably emphasizes that our personalities and characters are, essentially, information — software inscribed on the hardware of our bodies and genes gifted to us at birth. Given time, scientists might achieve the feat of digitizing our very personalities. Does it evoke imagery akin to a scene from the “Black Mirror” TV series? Remarkably, this stands as one of the most probable scenarios. Are you skeptical? Take a moment to explore “Neuralink” or other analogous emerging technologies through a simple Google search.
In the future, as corporations acquire an extensive repertoire of digitized personalities, the potential to generate an infinite array of new personalities, akin to ChatGPT’s text generation and Midjourney’s image synthesis, becomes feasible. This convergence, coupled with advancements in extended reality technologies (XR, VR, AR, MR), will empower consumers to immerse themselves in a realm populated by creatures that cater to their desired experiences and gratify their preferences. Furthermore, as robotics and bioengineering progress, these creatures will manifest in our physical reality, with a singular objective: to satisfy, serve, and endlessly please insatiable consumers.
And thus, our existence will unfold. We, as consumers, will progress through the years, reaching the ages of 40, 50, 60, 70… As time advances, it becomes increasingly challenging to elicit any sense of surprise or novelty within us. Our lives have been consumed by the relentless pursuit of fulfilling our individual desires. We have wholeheartedly embraced a self-centered existence. Congratulations!
However, the sun has already descended below the horizon, casting a melancholic hue upon our final chapter. Our time has arrived, and we find ourselves facing the inevitability of mortality.
The end draws near…
GAME OVER.
The trouble is, you think you have time.
— Jack Kornfield
Was it truly worth it in the end? Allow me to guess your current emotions. Remorse engulfs you as you realize that, during your final moments, not a single cherished soul stood beside you. You chose to trade away those who loved you, those who truly depended on you, for fleeting desires and self-centered experiences.
Will you now deny this truth and claim that you never needed anyone for your own “happiness”? Even in death, you carry the audacity to brazenly lie to yourself? Can you, at the very least, now open your eyes to the missing element?
What transforms a mere property into a warm and inviting home?
What sets our parents and friends apart from the rest?
What distinguishes your pet from any other of its kind?
What adds that extra touch of delectability to homemade food?
What sets apart the act of intimacy with a barely familiar partner from the sacred bond shared with a spouse?
What drives individuals to make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their homeland?
Why do parents don the attire of Santa Claus during Christmas?
Why do millions find solace in prayer and hold steadfast belief in higher powers?
What can illuminate the motivations behind acts of pure selflessness?
These questions can be explored indefinitely.
The answer is Love.
However, in our present times, this word and its concept seem to be so distorted, as if in our contemporary language, it signifies something entirely divergent. Almost akin to Orwell’s Newspeak. Hence, I wish to expand the list further.
Love, trust, hope, altruism, faith, self-sacrifice, mercy, compassion, gratitude, sincerity, devotion…
These words collectively describe the absent element in the hearts of modern people.
Like many on Earth, I strive to cultivate this lost fragment within myself every day. It’s something I pursue with every free minute I have, with every thought conceived or spoken word, and with each of my actions or stories shared on Medium.
Thank you for your time.
May Love be with us!
