Intelligence can be dangerous.
For millennia, our best and brightest have discovered new ways of reducing suffering and advancing technology.
But, as we’ve also known for millennia, suffering is inevitable.
And we can’t stop the passage of time.
The upshot? Regardless of how boundless the world becomes, each of us needs to accept arbitrary constraints in order to mature.
No matter how fast the tree of technology branches outward, we need to look inward, and allow the deadwood to burn off our own minds.
This admission might be what separates genius from hubris. And the penalty for neglecting it has never been higher.
But that doesn’t solve the problem – what constraints should we adopt?
After all, the world is changing rapidly, and it’s going to speed up. What are the safe bets?
It’s a complex problem, and I’ve been trying to figure it out for years.
Here’s the solution I’ve come up with thus far:
1) Decommodify
2) Learn fundamental ideas/skills to clip your downside
3) Orient yourself towards the best future you can imagine, all things considered
4) Then, pick day-to-day pursuits that align with that orientation
This is no small feat.
But we’re staring down the barrel of the fastest rate of change in history, accelerated by a technological prisoner’s dilemma.
The way forward, as far as I can see, is to look backward.