Human Capacity for Self-Extinction. Humans have always been good at extinguishing one another whether accidentally or intentionally. The general extent and efficiency of this process has increased over time, and the range of objects (other life forms) of this process have increased as well. Now included in this process is the potential extinction of humanity itself, a kind of self-inflicted process of destroying our nest. Our efforts have led to positive feedback loops which are irreversible in ever-increasing number. We are destroying our own habitat and the habitat of many non-human life forms at an accelerating pace. The political and financial will in the face of denial is weakening. Aside from slogans, pink-cloud optimism, and passive hope, little is being accomplished in reality to "do" anything about the unrelenting destructive processes humans have set in motion. What is in progress, undergirded and nourished by the greed dynamics of money, can at this point be "changed" only by an enantiadormia of major degree. There is increasing potential for financial, political and cultural collapse. Only something on this level would have the capacity to curb and transform the hubris of the present conditions.

Catastrophic Changes in Global Environments. "Present bias" is thought to be "hard-wired" in the human brain. This was largely developed as an evolutionary necessity. It takes both cognitive and emotional forms. The "future" plays little role in present bias. Thus, present profit outweighs consideration of what longer term harm may ensue from activities that produce present profit. Present political necessity far outweighs any consideration of the future. "Personal bias" likewise outweighs personal gain in relation to gain for the many. The contemporary world has seen these processes escalate to degrees never before witnessed and, unless changed, will continue to amass fortune and power only for a very few at the expense of the many. This is the natural outcome of what Bernays understood and projected. The major problem is that little if any of the immense global wealth and political power is being directed toward the catastrophic changes in global environments. Present bias keeps most everyone focused on the here and now, the seeming crucial news of the day, current elections, entertainments, and new gadgets. It is hard to look squarely into the face of what we have done to ourselves and to other life forms. Not only is denial a problem, but it is also not clear whether, in fact, anything can be done to change what is now in progress. Again, only an enantiodromia of major degree will change the course of how we relate to this process.

When Computers Become Persons, or Something Else. The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are persons. When human persons commit crimes, they go to prison. When corporations commit crimes, they pay fines. When computers become persons, and commit crimes, what will their punishment be? When computers operated only on rules-based instructions from humans, humans were still the “masters” of the computer, and the computers were “slaves.” The human structure for this master-slave connection had a long precedent as well as a still-functioning characteristic of many social structures around the world. But when programs were set up to “learn,” and essentially program themselves, this master-slave relationship began a reversal that will be ever more consequential. Most importantly, computers will not “need” connections to humans at all. Most people like to ignore this idea and it is in fact buried within the phenomenon of more and more humans being “tethered” to computer devices. Meanwhile, this tethering makes possible what is called “big data,” which is now the way in which computers are becoming “smarter” than humans. The Turing test says that if humans cannot distinguish between a computer and a person, then the computer is “essentially” a person. But the Turing test may not be the most important question. That may be: Why should a computer limit itself to human intelligence? Its own newly created intelligent forms may be, from the computer’s perspective, far better in many dimensions. Perhaps the Alpha-Go computer, after beating the best human Go player 4 games to 1, would prefer to play other computers, or even itself, rather than unchallenging humans. These developments, and far more, are already in progress and the exponential development of machines (aided by the machines themselves) is already beyond the comprehension of most humans to imagine. Here too, we humans are consumed by present bias in terms of our time and energy and as a result have far too little awareness of what is happening. Again, only an enantiodromia of unprecedented degree will have the capacity to change the ultimate direction of this “replacement” by machines.

A Dream Poem

In 1950, while Alan Turing was developing his test, I began writing dark and brooding poems about the advent of the Korean War. My teacher was concerned about my state of mind and requested a meeting with my parents and the principle. The teacher said I was a “brown study.”

Even at that age, I knew what a brown study was. I corrected her. With the best glower I could muster, I said: “No, I’m a black study.”

My ancestry is Scot. So a dour mood is natural territory, though I am optimistic by nature. Sun in Sagittarius! How could I be otherwise. Still, my sun is in the twelfth house. So it’s more like a flashlight in the night, than the brightness of the day. But as I look out over the world today, I find little to be optimistic about as my recent posts suggest. Still, I am quite taken with Jung’s idea of the Coming Guest that will be welcomed by the work of artists. But Jung’s last dreams pointed to some very dark times before we might see the arrival of “something else.”

Sometime ago, while brooding on these things, I had a dream. Whenever possible, I like to write out dreams in the form of poems, a little gesture as it were to art as a welcoming factor. This dream has stayed with me. It is ever present and conditions how I relate to things now.

Welcome and toast, $5.99 a cup

The setting:

An anywhere, everywhere

living room middle crust

at best or no crust at all

The characters:

Strangers all, but known

to me; everyone friendly

not a party, but festal still

The hostess:

Black-gowned but all

eyes on the black earthen

cups, squatting on her tray

The drink:

Black too, Blavod it is

libation for night’s time

black clay holding black

The toast

She says it costs $5.99

a cup for this final toast

just drink up and welcome

Ragnarok

From Dreampoems - Ragnarok dream, March 1, 2015

Consciously, I did not know there was such a thing as black vodka, nor could I remember ever hearing the brand name, Blavod. I knew a lot about Ragnarok, the end of the world by drowning the globe in water, and ultimately the re-emergence of a new fertile land and a human couple. It is one of the great death and rebirth mythologies. But the dream sense and the most emotionally affecting part of the dream, was the emphasis on finality and that it was this that was being celebrated. A final end.