Being Human in the 21 Century #1 — Welcome!
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Welcome to the inaugural Being Human in the 21st Century newsletter (well, Medium post of the newsletter) ! Any and all (constructive) feedback is welcome.
We don’t have to look far to find examples of just how much the world around us is changing thanks to technology. What continuously baffles me is the fact that we are not doing much to rethink our own lives at a deep level, and we don’t talk about how we have to evolve in order to keep up with these changes.
This newsletter is a medium for me to talk about some of things that are catching my attention and are on my mind in terms of Tech & Innovation, Education, and Social Impact, and also providing a list of what content I’m consuming in any given week. I hope you’ll join me on the journey of trying to figure out just what it is that we need to do to realize own our full potential, maximize the quality of our relationships, understand our meaning in life, and leave society and world in a slightly better place than it was when we got here.
Tech & innovation
Autonomous cars are definitely one of those things that is very indicative of how the sci-fi of yesteryear is becoming the reality of tomorrow. In case you still think it’s a far ways away, Uber already has self-driving cars in Pittsburgh (albeit they come with a driver still) or that some of the leading firms for AI/machine learning at this point include the ranks of Uber and Tesla, as well the tech giants Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and IBM. A16z recently had a podcast called Cars and Cities, the Autonomy Edition where they talked about how self-driving cars could lead to less cars on the road (assuming we go to shared, transportation as a service model as opposed to traditional ownership models). This could lead to decluttering of our cities and suburbs, which then leads to a new era of urban planning and design.
In a different direction, learning about Frank Lloyd Wright’s project/vision of USONIA via the 99% Invisible podcast, it’s interesting to see how people have been working on redefining the natural vs societal divide by focusing on more natural layouts that involve more open space that is free flowing. Seeing this very cool home in Tokyo, I can’t help but think what homes will start looking like in the future, especially when we factor in how we’re going to interact with technology and VR (imagine the TV room in Fahrenheit 451 or the holowhatever in Star Trek).
Going back to Musk’s talk, he mentions that automation will cause mass unemployment and one of the infrequently discussed issues around this will be the psychological toll of being chronically unemployed. Even if a Universal Basic Income becomes the norm and no one is left wanting for basic necessities, it still begets the question of what happens to self-worth. Think of the importance of work in terms of the worth and identity that many of the people in our lives experience. If people are going to be able to live more rich and fulfilling lives digitally, where anything is possible and it feels just as real, then there will be portions of the population who prefer to spend the majority of their lives disconnected from their physical reality. I personally hope that a boom in content creation, personal monetization, remote work/freelance, and using AI for freeing us from the mundane and boosting our own knowledge will counteract the loss of jobs. A digitally powered Renaissance that leaves us better off would be a wonderful thing. Or iRobot happens, one of the two.
Education
Given the inexorable displacement of jobs caused by automation, it’s so shocking to see that most schools aren’t adjusting for it as they should. Though I (reluctantly) get the view that DeVos might be good for EdTech in certain ways, I do not have faith in a large scale shift towards rethinking education and really focusing on STEM to make sure workers can compete (at least outside of affluent/innovative schools). It is rewarding to hear of awesome programs trying to combat the issue, but there definitely aren’t enough. We need to find ways to move schools, especially those with the biggest funding challenges, in the right direction.
Highlights of what I’m reading and listening to
Podcasts
Building Worlds with VR, Art, and Narrative — a16z podcast
Electric Guest Are Masculine — Comedy Bang Bang!
2016 Holiday Spectacular — Comedy Bang Bang!
Affirmation Nation podcast, old episodes
Articles
Michael Flynn, General Chaos — New Yorker
When the Soviet Union Tried to Woo Black America — OZY
‘Psychological Warfare’: Immigrants in America Held Hostage by Fear of Raids — Guardian
Drumpf’s vow to ‘destroy’ Johnson Amendment could wreak havoc on charitable world — The Conversation
Speaking Up for Women’s Rights — Medium, Pacific Standard
From disrupted to disruptor: Reinventing your business by transforming the core — McKinsey
Spanner, the Google Database That Mastered Time, Is Now Open to Everyone — Wired
Collapse of Aztec society linked to catastrophic salmonella outbreak — Nature
Is the solution to New York’s housing crisis right below our feet? — Crains NY
The Disappearing Educator — Michigan Education Association
Google doc with a full list of consumed content in the last week.
Questions for you
When do you think you’ll own a self-driving car?
What educational programs have you heard of that make you feel hopeful?
What was your favorite content consumed in the last week?
That’s all folks!
Happy learning! Enjoy your week,
Eugene
