"What about the innate intelligence of the world?” the visitor asked.
Talk until now had focused on the evolution of man and how our intelligence would ultimately saturate the universe. How we would merge with technology and how that would lead us to conquer space, the final frontier. That we would hack all matter on the tiniest scale, in order to manipulate, grow and evolve as a species. Things that would definitely happen, she knew from experience, but with some essential
nuances that had not been taken seriously so far.
She felt relief the other visitor wanted to further investigate the subject. During the next talk, she would get a hold of the microphone and try to explore a little further.
"Perhaps some discussion on the link between creativity and growth?" she pondered.
Anyway, she was talking to her External Mind again. Focus on the mission, please. They had sent her in to ‘Increase Critical Thought’. ICT, as it was called, was a tactic of slightly influencing societies of the past, by handing over different perspectives on emerging ideas. Which then hopefully led to a more holistic approach to the matter and a little less disruptive transformational change, saving valuable life and preventing upheaval along the way.
She was good at ICT and looping had got her here, at the Singularity University Meet Up on Space, Robots and AI.
2014— what a promising year for increasing critical thought. So much change coming up, so much perspective for transformation, so many alternative ideas to be sparked. What a rollercoaster ride.
She had been asked to intervene before. Back then all were convinced the Earth was flat, she had disseminated ideas, dreams, thoughts in the minds of the great of those times, making them ponder and follow their intuition on matters that were frowned upon. ICT did not always work directly, but as the seed was planted, the human brain was not easily fooled, nor was the seed easily forgotten.
For now, the reply to the question on the innate intelligence of nature was simple: should the visitor be able to deliver proof that fit within the current scientific standard, he was welcome to send it in for review.
During the second talk, her time for ICT came. She stood up and asked: “Some say that we need a certain amount of struggle in order to be creative, in order to create. In that view, if we eliminate struggle for survival, we lose the need to create. What does this mean for future drivers of growth? Will we create at all?”
According to the 2014 view, technology would become the driving force behind evolution and growth, taking the lead in developing patterns of growth as biology had done until now. Ultimately, it would solve all major world problems and mankind would live in abundance.
A response emerged from the crowd: “Elimination of struggle will not lead to a standstill of human development, man will be motivated by reward and the respects
of others and therefore participate in creative processes instead. We see this in open source culture already.”
There was no room for a rebuttal; the next question was being posed. She grumbled a bit and sat down. ICT Command would not be pleased. A perfect opportunity
for pointing out the emergence and importance of spiritual growth had been lost. Merely striving for reward and the respect of other made us little more than animals looking for approval and recognition. ICT had instructed her to point out that after mankind’s struggle for survival ceased, it would be given the opportunity to struggle for spiritual growth, discovering the innate intelligence of the universe along the way. They had been very clear: urge for growth was inborn; it was only a matter of what level growth took place on.
She sighed. This ICT outcome meant she needed to loop again and spread the idea further. She picked up her gear and left the room. Time to go home. Back to 2049.