“Societies Sinister Similarity” – A Conversation with David & Elijah – SDP#35

By David P. Perrodin | July 8, 2017

PODCAST-Would religion have a purpose if there was no human death? Is there a point when a perpetual Ground Hog Day would siphon one’s sense of control over being & environment, hence eroding agency & purpose?

Listen to this episode at  https://tinyurl.com/SDP35-AUDIO

CO-SHOW

Nerdy By Nature podcaster Elijah joined Safety Doc host David to explore similarities in societies that have spanned history books for thousands of years. The duo compared ancient practices to what happens today. As well, they speculated into what would happen with the introduction of artificial intelligence, singularity, & perpetual life.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING IDEAS CHALLENGING CURRENT THOUGHT

Wages, Work Day Length, World War & Influence of Charismatic Leaders & Society Co-existing.  Elijah notes Sweden’s move toward a decreased work day & decreased school day, a model that could be emulated by other countries as automation thins available jobs.

QIN DYNASTY

You might be aware of the discovery of the massive buried Terra Cotta Army in China. This army of more than 6,000 life-sized warriors and weapons was created per Qin’s fear of being vulnerable in the after-life. Emperor Qin ran his dynasty with absolute control. Qin developed a spy system, so that all people kept an eye on each other. Spies were rewarded very well. Big brothers?

THE TORUS

Thinking of the torus as a donut, most of our days and experiences are similar if we imagined such as traveling within the donut from a start point to return to that point. As the torus helps us manage being inundated with environmental cues, it equally makes us susceptible to convincing ourselves that abnormal events are normal. It was a reason why people in the Twin Towers didn’t react much until 4 minutes following the impact of the first aircraft.

TRANSFERENCE

How are high-stakes decisions made and what is the role of personal bias and discretion? How about “Positive Transference” throughout history & across cultures – in other words, cultures that had very high levels of subordinates being bound to the leader – possibly even to the obvious peril of the subordinates? This was obvious with Hitler and the thousands of young Germans that idolized him as a father figure.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Skynet, HAL 9000, and iRobot are examples of movies exposing that AI can be used to benefit mankind, control it, or destroy it. Also, with emerging borderless economies such as Fiverr.com, a global online marketplace offering tasks & services beginning at $5 per job performed, how do we maintain “livable” wages when independent contractors are underselling existing wage floors?

UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

What is the impact of a UBI allowance for all citizens? It would liberate time – people could, in theory, work 10 hours a week. Or, it would be devastating to people who laminated their identity to their job titles as they wouldn’t realize sense of agency and purpose through work. Robert Reich, Former Labor Secretary in USA under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997. “Mark my words: A Universal Basic Income is coming, as artificial intelligence and robots eat away good jobs.” Will it be that Millennials more easily make a transition to a UBI society as they, in general, seem less laminated to job titles, possessions and status?

FOLLOW

David will respond to discussion thread comments or questions & also to emails.  The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD.  Learn about Nerdy By Nature at letusgetnerdy.com

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted in Guest Interviews, Research Perspectives / Public Policy / Social Science, Safety Doc Podcasts, Sensemaking & In-The-Moment Decision Making and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,