Here is a great video from Thoughty2 about a really important subject. After the video lets discuss Cyber Nihilism.
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As of right now, we are not seeing a large neo-luddism or cyber-luddism movement in the U.S. Many younger and older people seem to be busy addressing their emotional impulses towards political left or right wing policies and other issues, that they feel take away or limit their personal freedom. The mainstream and Internet left and right- wing news media, is obsessed and profiting from this surge of political and social angst.
I’ve talked to a lot of people about the future and have found that many people don’t want to discuss or know what’s going to happen in the future if it has negatives consequences for them, their family and friends. People don’t like to think about losing their job to technology, a family member dying, become ill with a life-threatening disease or things like a super volcano, massive asteroid or pandemic destroying the human race. People want to think about a better, longer and happier life for themselves and their kids.
The left and right political turmoil in the U.S. right now seems like a massive unconscious expression of the unbalance and instability of life and the future.
Professor Moshe Vardi in a speech to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington DC. says; “I do not find this a promising future, as I do not find the prospect of leisure-only life appealing. I believe that work is essential to human well-being. In 30 years, Vardi says, computers will be able to perform almost any job that humans can. One assumes this includes working as a professor of computational engineering. Vardi foresees unemployment as surpassing 50 percent by 2045.” (1)
According to many sources, in the U.S., we will start experiencing the loss of tens of millions of jobs to advanced technology in the next 10-15 years. Are we prepared for a situation where 30 to 75 percent of the human workforce is unemployed? In the U.S., have you seen any politicians even talking about this and proposing something to make plans for it? What about other countries?
It appears that many people are in a state of cyber nihilism, without even realizing it. It’s like they unconsciously know something that they cannot control, that will have a major impact on their life is coming, but are choosing not address or even look at the issue. Check out my article;
Why Isn’t Most of the U.S. Population Preparing for a Rapidly Approaching Technological Tsunami?
Why do you think that is? Is it that people don’t want to think about a negative future and are projecting their frustrations and loss of control, emotionally, at other issues right now or is it something else?
I have no doubt, as more and more people become unemployed by technology, we will begin to see a large neo-luddism or cyber-luddism movement in the U.S. and worldwide, especially if older inept politicians continue to spin facts and don’t have a plan for it. If the 2008 Great Recession, was any indication of the future and how politicians will handle a major economic crisis, we are all in trouble.
There is a large undercurrent of nihilism today, especially with the youth.
Let’s look at some sobering statistics;
“The suicide rate in the United States has surged to the highest levels in nearly 30 years, a federal data analysis has found, with increases in every age group except older adults. The rise was particularly steep for women. It was also substantial among middle-aged Americans, sending a signal of deep anguish from a group whose suicide rates had been stable or falling since the 1950s.
The suicide rate for middle-aged women, ages 45 to 64, jumped by 63 percent over the period of the study, while it rose by 43 percent for men in that age range, the sharpest increase for males of any age. The overall suicide rate rose by 24 percent from 1999 to 2014, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.(2)
“More Americans than ever before are stressed, depressed and anxiety-ridden, and many are unable to get the help they need, a new study suggests. An estimated 8.3 million American adults — about 3.4 percent of the U.S. population — suffer from serious psychological distress, an evaluation of federal health data concluded. Previous estimates put the number of Americans suffering from serious psychological distress at 3 percent or less, the researchers said. “Mental illness is on the rise. Suicide is on the rise. And access to care for the mentally ill is getting worse,” said lead researcher Judith Weissman. She’s a research manager in the department of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.”(3)
In a note in 1886 Friedrich Nietzsche writes:
“The whole idealism of humanity…is on the point of tipping into nihilism – into the belief in absolute valuelessness, that is, meaninglessness…”(4) Could this have been a prediction of the future?
In the U.S., more and more people today are rejecting established authority, religions and past society imposed social moral principles. In a culture where most people still ask, what do you do? And define themselves by their job and/or education, a state of cyber nihilism could easily become the new social norm as more and more people lose their jobs and careers to technology. As the old simulated stabilities of consciousness collapse, what will they be replaced with? Can people become content with a predominate nihilist operating system philosophy and view of life? Could something like a Neo Kyoto School of philosophy, promoting cyber nihilism replace religion? What do you think?
The idea of technology replacing a human, can and probably at some point, will lead to existential nihilism and manifest easily into cyber nihilism. Therefore, can a person live with a fatalistic philosophy of a meaningless life, while at the same time still see the value in life? Keep in mind, that in this article, I’m discussing technology taking over human jobs and industries but technology will do much more than that (this is something I will explore in another article).
The utopian idea of a living standard wage (which I will discuss in another article) and being free and able to do whatever you want, without the restrictions, seems to be missing something that is essential to living a worthwhile life. What are your thoughts on this subject?
What will be the repercussions of suddenly dumping capitalism and the U.S. becoming a socialist, welfare country? Something we have never done. It doesn’t sound easy.
Let’s discuss this, let me know what you think about this article?
