Day 4: May the FOURTH be ever on your side

As people, we don’t like what we’re confused by. What we don’t understand or cannot seem to comprehend scares us, as it should because we can not classify something as a threat or a non-threat if we can’t really make sense of it, can’t assign it a threat level. And of course, we’re not gonna do well in that situation.

Sometimes we’re posed by incomprehensible ideas. Like an ever-changing landscape of technology, advancements in science, and other things that have more to do with the intellect than any other human component.

When there’s change, we don’t know what’s going to happen, or what it might lead to. It’s a ripple in the pond, a wave in the ocean. We don’t know what it might wash up to or away from the shore, next. And this leads to the wavering of homeostasis, an incomprehensible future.

As a society, we’re avert to change. It may be of any kind: a changing political climate, the possibility of a future that’s difficult to even imagine for some - such as AGI or multi-planetary civilisation - or just a new range of motion pictures that still go by the name Marvel and yet seem to have absolutely none of the initial characteristics that made it Marvel, like a flair for storytelling or just plain AWESOMENESS! (What happened to you Marvel?! You’re ruining Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s legacy!!! That said, I’m still sheltering some hope as you transition through these turbulent times, so don’t let every last one of us down!!)

But in a world where change is a given and advancements are perpetually moving forward, we may need to get comfortable with what we may not know or fully grasp. And the only way to achieve that comfort might be, to embrace the unknown.

As more and more people come to grips with both the harsh realities and the inevitabilities, only then can we make more and better headway in coping with these undeniable truths and challenges.

So what does embrace mean?

Science trips up a lot of people when it comes to picturing a future with humans on multiple planets, or trying to figure out a way to build AGI that isn’t threatening to the human condition. So a good way to go about that would be to understand the specifics, the thought processes behind these ambitions and the specifics of the workings behind such technologies, etc. So reading scientific journals or papers would definitely be a fine place to start. What media does, is blow some particulars out of proportion, and also just discuss the problem statements without giving enough emphasis on the possible solutions. They’re doing what’s best for them, so let us do what’s best for us. Find the information on our own, educate ourselves.

When it comes to humans, sentient or conscious beings, embrace would mean to first extend love and then through that lens, we get a new tool in our belt called compassion, which we can then use to our advantage to understand things like we never could before.

Reality isn’t the same as before. With the ever-accelerating development of the human realm that we created, our evolutionary responses are yet to catch up and adapt. So the least we can do to aid ourselves in this journey to a better future, would be to understand that we are better equipped to handle threats than ever before in the history of the universe (probably, given that the history we know is reliable. “lol, right?”).

The future is much more exciting, and every day, people are trying to make it so and quicker. People working on longevity, even immortality, just want everyone to have a better experience of life. Most of these scientific breakthroughs, that’s what they do. I mean, without medicine, where would we be? So instead of implacable hesitation and fear of the unknown, why not give ‘embracing’ a try?

And thus, Day 4.