Into The Wild : The Human Spirit in an Artificial World
The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
― Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild
The sophistication of artificial intelligence has reached a point where countless experts in the field have issued alarming statements about our inability to keep control. In an interview with The Times, Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer at Google X, warned, “The reality is, we’re creating God”.
The message is clear. Unless our leaders take immediate action, the world as we know it will cease to exist, man’s adventurous spirit conquered by artificial intelligence.
We have summoned a perfect storm.
The clash between humanity and technology, in whatever shape it will eventually manifest, will prompt one fundamental question : Who are we ? What is the basic core of our human spirit ?
Jon Krakauer’s bestselling book, ‘Into the Wild,’ retraces the journey of Christopher McCandless, a 22-year-old American who was eventually found dead in an abandoned bus in Alaska in August 1992.
Heavily influenced by the writings of Jack London and Leo Tolstoy, McCandless adopted a vagabond lifestyle, hitchhiking across the country, before setting foot in Fairbanks, Alaska in April 1992.
From there, he followed the call of the wilderness, an expression of either madness or genius, depending on your perspective, along the Stampede Trail. When the Cantwell Glacier made a return to civilization seemingly impossible, Christopher set up camp in an abandoned bus, where he eventually died of starvation.
Although we will never fully grasp the depths of this young man’s mind, the notes and self-portraits he left behind revealed a person seemingly at peace with himself and his own spirit.
I want movement, not a calm course of existence. I want excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I feel in myself a superabundance of energy which finds no outlet in our quiet life.
-Leo Tolstoy (highlighted passage found with Christopher’s remains)
At its core, and without attempting to romanticize the tragedy, Chris McCandless chose a life similar to the early pioneers, explorers and nomads, searching for life across the deserts and seas with nothing but hope and the adventurous human spirit as their guardian.
A timeless tale of human courage, human spirit, deeply connected with the natural world and the unforgiving wilderness we once called home.
So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.
― Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild
Chris’s death sparked a long controversy, blaming the young man for being naive, ignorant toward nature’s brutal force.
Sure, the fear of death is profoundly human. But isn’t all life just a continuous journey toward death ?
Is the illusion of comfort and convenience, nurtured by a fear of the unknown, really worth gripping so tightly ?
If AI will indeed usher in a new world, perhaps our fundamental fear shouldn’t be directed solely at the machines, but at our own reflection in the mirror they’ll hold. Who are you ? Why are you here? What makes you human ?
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