All right, it's another new year, and it is time for a new set of resolutions, resolutions about what I intend to focus on in the hope that I make some significant headway in accomplishing them this year. No, it is not losing weight or getting more exercise. No, it is not working for world peace or saving the planet. It is about a renewed focus on how I, personally, can have some effect on the direction of how I, and perhaps others, can redirect our attitudes, our energy and some of our human resources to finding better solutions to resolving some of the existential crises of the times.
I want to proclaim this as the year of rediscovering our humanity. At first glance this may seem too nebulous and amorphous to make any real sense. It may seem, to some, far too idealistic. I do not think it is any of these things, and besides that, I truly believe that it is something I can do and that anyone who chooses can also do.
How can this be accomplished? I can accomplish this by using my time and energy differently. I can spend my time recognizing what makes us human, what separates us from the technology that can outthink us and, often, find logical solutions much faster and better than we humans can, a technology that can mimic our best efforts to seemingly create new versions of all of our old creativity with the new AI (artificial intelligence). Notice the word, "artificial". I do not need to spend any of my time trying to compete with that technology in its areas of expertise. That expertise does not diminish my humanity unless I define myself in those terms. I can choose not to, and instead to define my humanity in terms of other traits such as acceptance, compassion, courage, responsibility and a dozen other humanizing traits. In other words, those are the traits that separate us from animals and plants, although animals demonstrate some of those traits too. Those traits also separate us from the technology, the virtual realities and artificial intelligence of those machines.
Technology can artfully mimic our human traits or seem to make them appear real, but at the heart of things they are pale counterfeits. Having a humanoid friend or lover will never achieve the emotional connection of another human being, even though we might get used to the trade-off as better than being isolated and alone.
The goal should not be to make the technology better so we can replace human beings, that goal should be to develop technology to help with difficult human tasks. But even more importantly the goal should be to honor and value the other human beings in our lives and to celebrate their humanity, with all their foibles and flaws, which, perhaps, will allows our own foibles and flaws to be acceptable to others. Human perfection is not the goal.
If we look at the large amount of our literature, theatre, TV shows, and music, all of which move us, touch our hearts and celebrate the human characteristics that define us; if we look at most of the religions and ideologies, we find a powerful kind of humanity at their heart. But, somehow, in the midst of all that evidence, we are continually distracted by the most inhuman characteristics, greed and money, power, force, intimidation, violence, war and self-serving leadership, that has seemingly coopted all of the positive influences of those humanizing messages.
I have chosen for this new year to do what I can to focus on those humanizing messages and to discipline myself to not be so easily seduced by the drama of those dehumanizing ideas and events. I can choose to not spend as much of my time focused on the economics of life and spend more of that time valuing the most humanizing characteristics of the ideas and individuals that enter my life. I can give added life to those things that I attend to.
- I will spend less time following the media with its focus on politics, economics and violence and spend more of that time with others, or with humanizing literature and arts. Instead of some of that screen time, I could spend more of my time reading and writing, perhaps even writing old snail-mail letters.
- I will spend more time in and with the natural world and perhaps find ways to be more supportive of nature and the web of life that sustains me.
- I will spend less time opposing bad ideas and spend more time supporting better alternatives to solving the world's problems.
- In recognition of the limits of our coopted and dysfunctional political system, I will spend time developing and supporting grassroots solutions outside the existing politics of the times.
- I will spend more time supporting cooperation, unifying ideas, peace, diplomacy, and healing and less time focusing on war and confrontational solutions.
I will do all of this without needing anyone's permission or even support. This is merely an internal shift of my attention, my energy, and my resources. I can live it and, if I choose, I can share it in my actions and in my speech and communications.
I will take my life by the horns and make something of it that I can be proud of; a life that will signify to any who might care to notice, my efforts to support the most important human qualities; qualities that have the power to transform our humanity and perhaps redeem the human race.
