Is the Human Race Actively Suicidal?

As I’ve watched and contemplated the onrush of weird events and trends over the past several decades, I’ve often had the alarming impression that the human race is actually quite suicidal. Actively suicidal. Sure, we’ve managed to avoid all-out nuclear war and total devastation — but on every other level we seem to be “blowing it,” big time, and doing everything we can to hasten our own demise. (Of course, we always deny we’re doing any such thing — which is a big part of the problem.)

It’s not just all the crazy, absurd stuff we’re doing — like refusing to bring CO2 emissions under control and focusing instead on the rapid development of energy-guzzling “artificial intelligence” — but also the many vital things we’re not doing, like providing our children and citizens with high-quality, in-depth education. Or excellent health care. Or safety.

Increasingly, our societies (with the US leading the pack) focus almost exclusively on more and better ways to exploit our environment rather than learning to live with and nurture the natural world that is our only home. Or learning to live within our means.

Instead, over the past decade especially, our emphasis on supposed hi-tech “salvation” has mushroomed out of control — as has our national debt, which has ballooned to a staggering $40 trillion. Under these circumstances, our manic focus on AI development and implementation is quite worrisome, even terrifying, both in terms of economic/labor impacts and environmental impacts.

But a much more concerning problem underlies all this frantic “development.” That’s the deeper level where the overtly suicidal tendencies of humanity become clear. I’m referring to our idiotic tendency to place all our hopes on rapid economic and technological “growth,” while simultaneously cutting back on human education and ignoring human growth and development.

This horrific imbalance is leading to a burgeoning worldwide catastrophe. Here’s why.

The Enlightenment vs. growing Endarkenment

When considering the overall trajectory of humanity, historians and sociologists often single out “The Enlightenment” period in the late 17th and 18th centuries as a definitive turning point. The new emphasis on reason, science, learning, and democracy was intoxicating, and our human potential suddenly seemed vastly greater. A sense of human empowerment (separate from longstanding religious beliefs) began to develop and soon was thriving. Our human possibilities seemed endless, and a potent optimism began to spread through the Western world — and later, most societies around the globe.

Fast forward to the past century, and lo and behold, many of these dreams and capabilities have come to fruition. Humanity as a whole is far more powerful than ever before, as well as far more capable of manipulating and exploiting the natural world. Yet, we also find ourselves surrounded by collapsing ecosystems and a global warming/climate change process that is accelerating out of control. Sadly, our fantasies of a wondrous, prosperous, and stable future are turning out to be just that: mere fantasies. Our dream of endless progress and comfort is now… collapsing.

Yet, how are most of us responding to these pervasive human failures? Many of us are becoming deeply cynical about our human potential and the entire notion of “human progress.” But I’d argue that we’re drawing entirely wrong conclusions about what’s happening in our world. We’re choosing to see humanity in a diminished light and to assume that humans are just “inherently” flawed or even “evil” — and therefore, we are racing to develop AI so we can replace flawed humans with superior, supposedly infallible AI.

But this line of reasoning is itself deeply flawed. At bottom, it is based on total cynicism about humanity and our human potential. It is based on a large-scale retreat from the ideals and philosophies that have guided us since the Enlightenment. Rather, it’s based on a retreat from Enlightenment ideals about human beings and our potential — while simultaneously promoting those ideals as they relate, more narrowly, to scientific and technical progress and “conquering nature.”

That is, we kept the ideas behind our technical and commercial exploitation of nature, but discarded vital ideas concerning our human potential and the vital importance of education.

In our foolishness, we have discarded the most crucial elements of humanism and have progressively “dissed” our magnificent human potential.

It’s one of the most consequential errors in human history.

Artificial intelligence vs. expanded human awareness

When we hear tech “bros” pontificating about future impacts of AI, some have made alarming predictions about AI “taking over” the Internet and possibly destroying humanity, while others (like Peter Thiel) speak in glowing terms about a “post-human” future where humans learn to merge their identities with AI and human bodies become obsolete. This latter idea is techno-nonsense, of course. But it’s symptomatic of the casual cynicism or even contempt for humanity that many tech bros seem to embrace.

What we really need, if humanity is to face and effectively deal with a challenging future, is much more emphasis on human education and conscious evolution, not relegating humanity to the status of a “has-been” or evolutionary dead-end. It’s our lopsided, weird devotion to rapid technological and commercial “growth,” combined with cynical downplaying of our human potential, education, and capacity for personal growth, that has me so worried.

We’re going “all in” on pursuing and developing intelligent machines and superior “artificial intelligence” — while ignoring or even undermining the development of our human intelligence (and compassion). It’s utterly absurd, as well as highly destructive to any possibility of creating a truly advanced civilization. It’s a devastating and lethal choice.

Our consistently wrong choices lead to certain disaster

My great fear is that our (misplaced) emphasis on AI and technology in general will, in fact, lead to massive “dumbing-down” of humanity as well as mass disempowerment of humanity. It’s a damn, crying shame that, just as humanity seemed poised to make great breakthroughs in psychological and emotional development, the all-consuming “tech revolution” sprang into being — and almost totally replaced any emphasis on human growth and inner development.

This dire replacement process strikes me as the ultimate cynical rejection of our innate human potential. It’s saying, in effect, that humans just can’t deal with life or reality — so we must work hard to supersede humanity and rely totally on machines and technology. But it’s getting clearer and clearer: more and “better” hi-tech wonders are not going to “save” us. Never have, never will.

Put bluntly, humanity has been busy rejecting its own human potential, and placing all its trust in machines and technology. But since hi-tech progress alone cannot and will not “save” us, and we have cut off our other primary route to human “salvation,” all we are left with is… nothing. No way out. Our heavy cynicism has left us with a big, fat zero in terms of a positive future.

That’s why I ask, with a heavy heart, “Is the human race actively suicidal?”

I fear the answer is: YES. It is. We are.

Shudder.

End Note: People sometimes accuse me of being a dark pessimist and “doomer.” But that’s a superficial assessment, since I’m a big believer in the glorious human potential within us. I agree I am a “doomer” when it comes to our human trajectory as a whole, but I’m also a strong optimist when it comes to our individual capacity for growth and transformation. I’d love it if humanity as a whole were ready for and actively pursuing personal and social transformation — but the truth is that, so far, only a few individuals are choosing to make that commitment and intrepid journey.

Those individuals, however, make all the difference. It’s those few individuals who give me hope. And the personal journey of self-discovery and inner healing they exemplify fills me with wonder and gives me a deep sense of purpose. For that’s where the “good stuff” lies; that’s where real fulfillment lives. And the best part is, it’s totally and freely available for anyone, IF we choose to pursue it and live it.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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