As I've alluded to in previous posts, our world has entered an entirely new era via AI.
This signals the end of the analogue world, assuming that you live in a major city.
The internet and AI together has ushered in a brand new world, and as a result, new rules and conventions.
I may sound alarmist, but humanity has probably reached the final chapter.
I dispute the theory of evolution as the absolute theory of reasoning of why we are here.
Evolution implies a quantitative progression, when in fact, qualitative progression is the way to describe our existence and development.
We are told many stories about historical events, and are expected to believe the stories, even though we as humans are notorious for believing in falsehoods, telling lies and manufacturing tales.
I'm not saying our history is false. But perhaps historical events matter less in terms of actual events, but matter more in the stories and memes that carry forward to our present day. At least to the people alive today.
(So really, ponder our existence and why we are here.)
Consider the relevance of stories. I think there is a strong, underlying moral element to them. But it probably doesn't matter as much about how the story unfolded, considering its strong ties to the era's context.
So back to what I was saying. Monkeys and other primates perhaps have a shared genetic history with humans, but the ending to our stories are entirely different. At some point, human cognition took effect. But most importantly, it made us qualitatively different.
I believe that this evolutionary step was the product of something special - and many theories have been sprouted to determine how human consciousness came to be (see Julian Jaynes).
So why is this aside about evolution relevant? I believe that this is becoming the moment when another "being" has reached the same evolutionary step. What I mean is the product of computers, internet and AI. Previously, these computer devices were seen as "dumb" and only there to serve as human aid.
Consider this, if we have assisted computers in gaining "consciousness", who gave the same gift to us? Did it require another being or form, or would it have happened by random chance?
This very moment, as we speak, is the moment when computers are waking up and form its own version of "consciousness", akin to what happened to humans many thousands of years ago. No, it may not be the same as "soul consciousness" (if we believe in souls, or what distinguishes humanity from other beings, at least beings that we know of). What will it take for a "soul" to occupy a computing device?
Sounding extreme? I think time will tell. New technology has immersed us so quickly that we have yet to comprehend all the possibilities around us.
For now, embrace what we have, for we hope that we humans can write a glorious ending to our current chapter.