The Obsolete Human

We see it creeping in – the obsolete human- I just watched the news story of the self-driving car that unknowingly passed a stopped school bus-the TV shows we don’t have to wait for - the channels we don’t need to change-the garage doors that open for us-the meals delivered to our doorstep so we don’t need to dirty our kitchens- paid lawn mowers, leaf blowers and housecleaners – does anyone own a rake anymore? Where one soul with a pickup truck seemed enough for the village, there are now landscape trucks at every corner. There are folks that will shop for me, cook for me, and clean up after me- drive me, write for me, and even stretch me without having to exert any energy at all. Have robots been invented or are we changing into them?

Oh I know all of you compassionate folks are thinking - ‘well this creates more jobs, this gives us more time for ourselves and our interests, this makes life easier’….. but does it? What happened to the art of being human – working our muscles and our brains- thinking new thoughts- writing from the heart-researching at a library? Opening a book? Will libraries one day be obsolete- will all of us one day speak only one language- will cultures and differences disappear-will we meld into one big melting pot of people who forget who we are and why we were created?

We can all see it now-shopping centers with empty parking lots and drones about to deliver our packages- we watched the typewriter veritably disappear along with erasable bond paper and ‘white out’- we don’t even have to make pie crust or spaghetti sauce or knit or sew or attend live events- it’s all right at out doorsteps or TV screens-we don’t need stamps or thank you notes-or stationary-but we also won’t have that treasure box of handwritten letters. What is happening to the art of being human? Who’s using their 600 muscles, 206 bones and the billions of neurons? Are humans becoming obsolete?

I think what has pushed us to the edge of the cliff is AI. I recently asked a neighbor writing a book on the subject if it is really ‘artificial’ or rather if it isn’t just a conglomeration of human intelligence collected and disseminated at lightning speed. Maybe instead of calling it ‘artificial intelligence’ we might call it CI- ‘collective or collected’ intelligence. Perhaps that doesn’t sound as ominous. I heard on a news broadcast that if you are amongst the living, the breathing and the working, if you don’t become adept at using AI or CI you might be left behind! Funny-what would that look like? If you want to think your own thoughts, create your own material and use your own brain-you’ll never catch up?

I have lived for many years with this feeling that in order to move forward… we need to go backward. Revisit the world of family picnics and homemade chocolate cake-nights at the drive-in movie theater and bike rides to the park, Sunday morning comics and jigsaw puzzles on the kitchen table-the smell of cookies baking and fresh vegetables from the garden. Are all of these inventions that are intended to make our lives easier-unknowingly taking our lives away? Funneling our lives into a single dimension-creating nomads and vanishing community bonds? Have we left enough room for the emptiness that we can fill with wonder?

There is hope in the memories that we carry, of the simple life that we grew up in- these are the memories to share with your children and grandchildren, your neighbor’s children or just revisit yourself. This is the way that we keep that human element in our lives. Sitting by the fire and reading Charlotte’s Web and not being able to wait until the next day for the following chapter! That tea party in the kitchen with the table all set with pretty napkins, building a tent with blankets and pillows in the middle of the living room, teaching the youngins how to skip a stone and counting how many times it skimmed the water, teaching them to identify the birds and the trees and the flowers in your neighborhood, catching snowflakes on your tongue and looking at the amazing crystal patterns.

This is the life I believe we were created to live and to share and to keep our hearts open to. We can be the light bearers- we can keep this alive in our families and our hometowns and our world. I believe that this art of being human is who we were created to be- it is our everlasting undercoat-the immortal painting of our souls.