April 17, 2012
Already, the top minds across a variety of industries are converging and preparing for the shift.
One such group, an educational institute called "Singularity University" comprises of innovators, teachers, scientists, and engineers from both the private and public sector.
Some could be considered elitists
interested in consolidating power, others are truly forward thinking
and interested in a better world for all of mankind.
The battle that will play out depends entirely on the general public becoming informed and active in the coming paradigm shift, guiding it toward a society of solidarity and progress rather than one of disparity between enslavement and superiority.
Analyzing Singularity University's
website and video productions, the impression is one of a multitude
of ideas and directions - not a predetermined agenda, so far.
This includes everything from 3D
printing, robotics, artificial intelligence, and radical advances in
genetics and biotechnology. The implications range from the ability
for every individual on Earth to "print" at will any conceivable
object they are able to obtain the blueprints for or design, to gene
therapies capable of extending human life to centuries.
Sabotaging education, ruining family and
culture, and perpetuating the futile "rat race" also plays a role in
keeping the vast majority of humanity out of the debate, and thus at
a clear disadvantage.
Just like Europeans arriving on the shores of the New World - with vastly superior weapons and institutions to perform a campaign of full spectrum domination over natives that has endured ever since, the global elite of today hope to assume a position of vast superiority enabled by quantum leaps in technology while the rest of us, through ploys such as "environmentalism" and "sustainable living" increasingly disarm ourselves industrially and technologically.
Polluting our priorities with political
issues instead of pragmatism also widens the rift of disparity
between the people and the ruling elite.
James made the point that his reason for coming to Singularity University was to raise awareness of technological advances amongst people from the inner cities and inspire them to become engaged and involved directly.
He also made the point that technology
stands at a crossroads where it could either doom humanity or
produce unthinkable benefits and pressed for caution as humanity
moved forward.
The points James brings up are indeed valid and in fact, the very root of the problem we now face - an ignorant population facing a profound paradigm shift that will leave them vulnerable to great exploitation should they fail to "catch up."
This was a point famous astronomer
Carl Sagan made during one of
his last interviews where he too pointed out that civilization was
increasingly built upon science and technology the vast majority of
the population did not understand, and warned of the dangers that
might result.
Those dangers include the vast majority of decisions being monopolized by very few individuals, a scientific-dictatorship of sorts, that can manipulate, abuse, and exploit the ignorance of the population with devastating results.
The future we live in, Sagan explained, will be determined by those who understand the principles our modern, scientific and technological society is built on.
In essence, all of the "democratic"
trappings any given society may have, or may pose to fight for, are
irrelevant where proper education and understanding regarding
pragmatism and technical subjects is lacking, sub-par, or worse yet,
non-existent.
No amount of "freedom" or "security" can
be achieved unless we are fully informed, not simply in terms of
history and the functioning of our chosen form of governance, but
also in the essential subjects of science and technology that have
inevitably achieved supremacy in the administration of human
society.
Get Informed
The Internet is a vast resource available for anyone willing to take on the responsibility of becoming informed regarding these essential topics. Any word or concept mentioned during any of the talks featured on Singularity University's YouTube channel can easily be looked up and researched.
TED Talks are another great resource for
finding the very latest topics in science and technology to begin
researching and understanding. TED represents another forum where
both "good" and "bad" interests converge and compete in the court of
opinion.
The "service economy" and much of the current economic paradigm will be swept away as emerging technologies like 3D printing, personal manufacturing, and biotechnology comes of age.
Entire supply chains and even the concept of "logistics" may be radically changed or even effectively ended when all someone has to do is hit a "print" button and an object is produced before their very eyes. Biotechnology has made it possible to create artificial genetic sequences capable of producing raw materials for anything from fuel to construction materials to spare body parts.
The speed at which these technologies
are being developed and implemented is increasing exponentially.
Becoming aware is the first step of getting involved.
Even as just a part-time hobby it would be immensely beneficial to pursue something constructive, either machining, wood working, or studying in an amateur capacity any number of scientific fields. Another topic at Singularity University that is brought up time and time again is the fact that fields of research as well as occupations are beginning to converge.
Just as our forefathers were jacks of
many trades, technology is once again making it possible, even
necessary to have a multitude of talents and pursuits as well as a
wider range of knowledge to be productive and successful in society.
We must examine, then reexamine the
leaders in industry, their motivations and agenda, and help
encourage them to do what is right, while penalizing them with
boycotts and alternatives when they are demonstratively harming
society.
Right now, we as a population are distracted, our heads are down, our eyes fixed to only what is directly before us. The future, no matter how many times we "vote" and no matter how vigorously we "protest," is demonstratively not in our own hands. We must get informed, we must get pragmatically involved.
We must look at what the top minds
across industry and innovation are doing at Singularity University,
who are preparing themselves for this convergence and acceleration,
and likewise prepare ourselves, lest we find ourselves on the wrong
divide of an infinitely vast disparity.
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