When it comes to the physical evolution of the human species over time, our bodies — including our brains — have changed very little. Slowly it seems most of us get a bit bigger, a bit heavier and quit a bit less hairy.
What about our behavior? Are we getting smarter?
Well, we’ve gotten more sophisticated in using tools, building nests, crafting comfortable clothing, inventing vehicles that let us zoom around the planet, and establishing routines that are meant to optimize pleasure.
We’ve improved our medical knowledge and expanded our lifespans.
And we’ve been able to accomplish all these things largely by inventing technologies.
But are we happier?
Technology inherently is neither good nor bad. It is officially neutral like Switzerland, although neutrality also is a relative concept. But if there are imperatives to the evolution of our species they probably include a technological component, i.e., we are going to continue to experiment and develop technologies that extend our reach — physically, mentally and maybe even emotionally.
Artificial intelligence and robotics are the latest examples of this imperative. No government or religion seems able to stop this process.
But technological progress is also inherently disorienting and disruptive. It was becoming commonplace several years ago to describe each new upheaval of our traditional industries in terms that it had just been disrupted by the internet, or by a digital device, or a software application.
Suddenly it seemed that all of the middlemen, all of the intermediaries who held our society together were being thrown out of work. The technical term is that they were getting disintermediated.
Travel agents? Disintermediated.
Secretaries? Disintermediated.
Taxi drivers? Disintermediated.
Publishers? Disintermediated.
Finally, a year ago, this process reached the federal government in the form of Elon Musk’s DOGE.
Government workers? Disintermediated.
Now even the tech companies are facing mass layoffs, blaming AI. Meanwhile, the disrupters always ask the same rhetorical question. Why do we need all these people anyway?
I know the answer.
It turns out that we get something pretty valuable from the intermediaries. Something we need every bit as much as food, water, clothing, and blankets when it’s cold..
We need to be cared for; we need to be taken care of now and then; we need to be helped. At the same time, we need to be able to take care of the people we love. In our jobs, we need to be able to feel that our work matters.
It’s what gives our lives meaning. We need to feel we are helping make things better, not worse. And a lot of the fired federal workers fit into that category. And so do the tech workers.
It’s also why the Trump administration has had to quietly rehire some of those federal workers laid off over the past year. And also why AI can never replace humans at work.
Because we care.
HEADLINES:
Why Minnesota Matters More Than Iran for America’s Future (NYT)
The biggest change to voting in Republican election bill could become a burden for many US voters (AP)
Exclusive: Trump Administration Plans to Announce Coalition to Escort Ships Through Strait of Hormuz (WSJ)
Gulf Arab states intercept new missiles and drones as Iran threatens to widen war (Politico)
President says Iran’s Kharg Island ‘demolished’ and threatens more strikes ‘just for fun’ (Guardian)
‘We never asked for a ceasefire,’ says Iran’s foreign minister as war keeps raging (NPR)
Iran continues strikes on Gulf states day after US threatens oil facilities (Euronews)
Iran War Delivers Windfall to America’s Oil Country (WSJ)
U.S. intelligence shows Iran’s late supreme leader was wary of his son taking power, sources say (CBS)
Trump is eager to declare victory, but a battered Iran still has cards to play (WP)
Does Iran have a yuan-for-Hormuz oil trade plan? Why analysts in China are urging caution (SCMP)
FCC chief threatens broadcasters as Trump criticizes coverage of Iran war (WP)
There’s a 92 Percent Chance Trump Is Making It Up (Atlantic)
Jamie Raskin Just Told John Roberts: “The Emperor Has No Clothes” (Nation)
The Pete Hegseth Exception (Atlantic)
Two weeks into war with Iran, Trump has been knocked back on his political heels (AP)
For Trump, a Promised Economic Boom Collides With the Costs of War (NYT)
Israeli police kill two young Palestinian boys and their parents in West Bank (Guardian)
How Israel Used the War in Gaza to Accelerate Settlements in the West Bank (New Yorker)
AP finds an Israeli group discreetly organized the mystery flights evacuating Palestinians from Gaza (AP)
More Than 60,000 Washington Post Customers Canceled Subscriptions After Jeff Bezos Axed 44% of Reporters (Yahoo)
DNA testing could clear a dead man’s name — and point to a serial killer (WP)
The New Faces of Christian Nationalism (New Yorker)
California’s Billionaire Tax Battle (NYT)
The demanding new reality of being a grandparent in America (BI)
Can scientists really resurrect the dodo? Inside the company that says it can (Guardian)
2026 March Madness Predictions (Silver Bulletin)
I’ve lived in San Francisco and Austin, and I want to move back to California. Here’s what Texas is missing. (BI)
Michael Pollan Says Humanity Is About to Undergo a Revolutionary Change (NYT)
U.S. Suffers Additional Casualties In War It Won Last Week (Onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment