Beliefs, communicators, Deep Work, AI & insanity, new history of humanity
Beliefs, communicators, Deep Work, AI & insanity, new history of humanity
What I've been up to….
Belief in what?
I published the first feedback from the Future2043 survey in "Belief in what?" in my newsletter Inside Outsider. One survey question was: "Will religions and belief systems survive as they are today, or will they either disappear or become radically different?"
I started with 3 perspectives about the future from science fiction writers: Ray Bradbury, Max Brooks and Debbie Urbanski. I then shared input from a selection of survey participants who expressed a wide range of opinions, ending up with comments I called "new and unknown". Some are quite far in the future, in my opinion!
The survey closes in the middle of June, so there's time to join (and get a free copy of The Gig Mindset Advantage - A Bold New Breed as a thank you).
Communicators and trust
A while ago I wrote about communicators and how they have a battle to fight against lack of trust. Their role must evolve or disappear.
James Robertson, Step Two, has defined a digital maturity model for communications and collaboration that offers some suggestions. Read across the bottom high-maturity row and see how it differs from traditional communication that has long existed in most organizations. The potential benefits identified in the table are what we all want! And don't always know how to achieve.
Food for thought
Cal Newport's podcast: Deep Work
From the podcast intro: Cal Newport is a computer science professor and a New York Times bestselling author who writes about the impact of technology on society, and the struggle to work and live deeply in a world increasingly mired in digital distractions. On this podcast, he answers questions from his readers and offers advice about cultivating focus, productivity, and meaning amidst the noise that pervades our lives.
I bought his book Deep Work in 2016. Still struggling to do deep work!
‘The danger isn’t that AI destroys us. It’s that it drives us insane’ from Jaron Lanier
The Guardian describes him in a detailed article well worth reading that tells us more about Lanier and AI specifically: "The godfather of virtual reality has worked beside the web’s visionaries and power-brokers – but likes nothing more than to show the flaws of technology. He discusses how we can make AI work for us, how the internet takes away choice – and why he would ban TikTok.
More from the Guardian: Lanier doesn’t even like the term artificial intelligence, objecting to the idea that it is actually intelligent, and that we could be in competition with it. “This idea of surpassing human ability is silly because it’s made of human abilities.” He says comparing ourselves with AI is the equivalent of comparing ourselves with a car. “It’s like saying a car can go faster than a human runner. Of course it can, and yet we don’t say that the car has become a better runner.”
Another thought-provoking extract: “You can use AI to make fake news faster, cheaper and on greater scales. That combination is where we might see our extinction.”
A new understanding of human history and the roots of inequality
This TED talk by David Wengrow is worth listening to. He and David Graeber published "The Dawn of Everything: A new History of Humanity." In this talk, he challenges the "march of progress" story of civilization.
From the TED talk page: What if the commonly accepted narratives about the foundation of civilization are all wrong? Drawing on groundbreaking research, archaeologist David Wengrow challenges traditional thinking about the social evolution of humanity -- from the invention of agriculture to the formation of cities and class systems -- and explains how rethinking history can radically change our perspective on inequality and modern life.