More Starfleet and Less Hunger Games…Engineering Humanity for the Future.
How Transformative Tech can support mental and emotional health— and why that matters.
I fell in love with Star Trek as a teen because I was trying to understand what being human in this world meant. Star Trek suggested a future where humanity had finally decided that we were, for the most part, on the same team. Star Trek led to my love of technology and eventually my career in video games — as I was certain that the Holodeck would come out of the video game industry (rightfully so!).
We stand at the trail head of two possible futures.
One, I call Starfleet. Its where Humanity has learned to work together and is exploring the cosmos. The other looks more like Hunger Games. Its where we watch our children compete to the death, squabble over limited resources, and the stars are far beyond us. I believe which future we get has everything to do with humanity’s overall mental health, emotional wellbeing, and capacity for thriving.
And I’m extremely optimistic.
I’m optimistic not because of some naïve hope, but because of the entrepreneurs, innovators, and researchers that I speak to every day through Transformative Tech Lab, Conference and Academy.
Certainly, this is a tough time for many people who are facing stress, anxiety, and depression. Even more people are dealing with fear, lack of meaning, or loneliness. Add to this the transition of work from requiring rote skills to social emotional skills and it seems like addressing the state of the human mind is an overwhelming challenge.
But it isn’t.
We can use exponential technology to assess, amplify, enhance and connect humans in deep, meaningful, and supportive ways. For the 1st time the top portion of Maslow’s hierarchy is accessible to technology and we can create scaleable, accessible, and affordable means to support the human mind. Not only do we have the means, but culture and behavior is catching up and the economic impetus is becoming visible. This means that need, demand, and means are meeting and that is when a category can take off.
Here’s what this DOES NOT mean…
- We don’t take humans out of the equation of supporting deeply human needs
- We don’t lose the ability to emotionally regulate without tech
- We don’t reduce our internal landscape to data
- We don’t lose the ability to connect with one another
All of the above would be the result of shortfalls in design, metrics, etiquette, intention, and imagination. We can do something about that.
Here’s what it DOES mean…
- We CAN finally have the resources to serve all those in need
- We CAN close the gap and get human development onto the same exponential curves as tech
- We HAVE to put in the effort to get the ethics, privacy, and data ownership in place
- We MUST embrace our internal data landscape AND insist that we are MORE than data (this is how we protect humanism)
- We HAVE to work quickly. I believe that we have 10–15 years to raise the overall social and emotional skill level in order to catch the job automation transition. Based on what I’ve seen and what I know is in development, I think this is plenty of time. :-) This is also why we’ve built the Transformative Tech Academy (www.ttacademy.co) to support entrepreneurs and innovators build the products people need.
Technology is not going back into the box. We must learn to use it not only to fix the problems we face today, but to navigate to what is next for the human race.
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About the Transformative Tech Lab
The Transformative Tech Lab is the largest global community of entrepreneurs and innovators using tech to expand human joy and possibility.
- We serve motivated and talented people building transformative tech worldwide by helping them find feedback, funding, and friends.
- We gather, connect, and inspire our community by hosting the Transformative Tech Conference and Expo, the largest gathering dedicated to expanding human possibility through tech. Buy tickets here.
- Through our Academy, we index the global ecosystem, connect the players, and identify top potentials. We are the only global tech program seeking to advance participant’s companies, skillsets, and personal transformation.
- A 501c3 non-profit organization.
