We began, like the rest of the mammals, as roving savages without complex means. Over the course of compiling data and hardship into information and new processes we've come to where we are. Thousands of years from home, we continue to pile new efficiencies and amenities into our lives.
The following is a conversation recorded live with host Humpty Calderon and several web3 builders on the Ontology Spaces.
For the full conversation you can listen to the recording here.
The Luddites of the 19th century textiles industry would tell you technology is taking our jobs and thereby should be avoided. While this is a valid fear-response in the near-term, we can make the opposite argument by zooming out to view the general qualitative increase in living conditions for humans over time. If you view homelessness as a human tragedy, then you're in favor of technological advancement inherently.
We all used to be homeless, having to hunt, forage and kill to eat.
The average citizen of a developed nation has indoor plumbing for both waste disposal & running drinking water, electricity to power various heating and cooling elements, and comfortable places to sleep or enjoy digital media fed directly to your home via the internet. We board airplanes to safely traverse in an affordable five hours what would've previously taken a life-threatening and family-altering several months. Our living standards, in fact, have become so high that we actually find room to complain about every single one of these fantastic amenities-- but maybe that very dissatisfaction is what got us here in the first place.
Our constant discomfort is what drives us to further innovation and ultimately allows us to explore beyond our own planet and question the very fabric of reality. The more we learn, the more we want to learn and the further we push into the depths of every question we can fathom.
So, if the Luddites had their way and no processes ever became automated, no skillsets would become irrelevant in modern society. If no skillsets become irrelevant, then no one would have to come up with new occupations and innovations in order to keep up with our ever-changing surroundings. There's nothing right or wrong about any of this, but if we're to take our current standard of living as one we'd like to keep up, then nothing can ever be enough, as the constant thirst for improvement is what got us here to being with.
While advancements in technology inspire and facilitate growth, this growth requires change and change is sometimes uncomfortable. But without embracing this change, we wouldn't be where we are now. Here's to progress-- and if progress means finding new problems, then it also means finding new solutions.
For more on the topic, check out the full conversation that Humpty Calderon hosted with several web3 contributors on a recent Twitter Space as a part of the ongoing Thursday Talks series.
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