Technology is at war with nature: true or false?
One of my favorite things to do is dismantle false dichotomies, those times when we feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. Because of the nature of the human brain, the world never seems to stop presenting us with reasons to fall into dichotomous thinking. It's a grind, and unlocking these for people is one of my favorite things to do.
But there are also dichotomies that society itself spends a lot of time (and energy!) stuck in, and then we act them out on the individual level.
One of the biggest, and one that is in our face all the time (literally, if we are looking), is the supposed rule that technology has to be at war with nature.
This belief is actually at the root of most of the anxiety-related issues that folks like us struggle with. By folks like us, I mean those of us who are endeavoring to be mindful about how we adapt to technology.
Luckily, the idea that technology is at war with nature is not a fact. It is a series of mental models inherited over millennia, and actually solidified by a group of relatively recent humans who love Earth the most.
This is particularly pertinent today, as we grapple with the question: AI is here. What happens next?
One of the most formative years of my life, if not the most formative, I spent living in a tent (or a debris hut), gathering, starting my fires with sticks, and hand-carving a bow. It's from that place that I write this.
In my Letter to Future Humans, I want to help you get free of this nature-versus-technology trap so you can do what only you can do in this emerging world, which I believe is where most of us should be focusing our energy right now. It includes a brief historical walkthrough of how this happened, what you can do now, and a close approximation of how you'll feel once you resolve this dichotomy.