It took the Homo sapeins thousands of years to master fire and discover the use of some metals. It is only recently that their evolution started to accelerate and reveals a continuous struggle for freedom.

 

Freedom from starvation

About 4000 years ago, our ancestors noticed that seeds falling to the ground could produce many more seeds. Saving some seeds and placing them in the right place at the right time amplified the process. That was the beginning of agriculture. That was the most critical improvement in the last 300,000 years. The world’s population, which was limited to below 1 billion, could keep increasing and reach more than 8 billion. We were free from the danger of starvation.

 

Freedom from masochism

Human history gives you the impression that torture is part of human nature. It comes with the genes. Millions of people have been dying a horrible death. We had good excuses, of course. « They started first! She is a witch. We defend our territory. They believe the wrong thing. » The real cause of our despicable behavior is inside ourselves. We need to satisfy our sadomasochism.

We have indeed made some progress since the dark ages. We don’t torture as much as we used to. However, we still have a long way to go before being free of this inherited disease.

 

Freedom from dictatorship.

Many kings disappeared in the last two or three centuries, bringing us closer to individual freedom. The kings were not perfect. We could have given them a social security number and sent them to eat at the cafeteria with the others. That was not enough. Something inside us needed some violence. The struggle against dictatorship was inside us as much as outside.

 

Freedom from debts

Today, we spend most of our lives working to pay our debts. We pay for credit cards, bank loans, mortgages, student loans, and car loans. With every loan comes the commitment to spend many years working to pay it back. We exchange freedom for money. The result of a lifetime devoted to paying debts is an increase of the national debt that will reduce our children’s freedom. We replaced the dictatorship of the kings with the dictatorship of money. This is the main problem of the 21st century. We need a new financial system that will respect people’s freedom.

 

Freedom from AI ?

We don’t want to repeat with AI the mistake we made with money. We don’t want to create a servant who can become our master. AI is likely to amplify our thinking like machines amplify the work our body can produce. That could require an increase in our level of consciousness. We want to be conscious of what the robot is doing rather than the robot being conscious of what we are doing.

 

What could be the next phase in our struggle for freedom?

We are unaware of what happens when we are asleep - eight hours a day. Most of the time, we are not using our 80 billion neurons. This is an obvious opportunity for improvement.

Some birds have a brain divided into two symmetrical parts. They can keep flying for a very long time by using only one half of their brain while the other half is resting. We already have a brain divided into two symmetrical parts. Why can’t we use one half while the other recovers? Imagine what we could using, all the time, 40 billion neurons. Our brain would get as sophisticated as our body. Instead of alternating between being asleep and awake, we could stay open 24/7. Freedom at last! If that can be implemented in birds, it could also be implemented in human bodies.

 

Need for increased consciousness.

How can we increase our freedom level? Before we can push the envelope, we need to be aware of our limitations. An increase in freedom requires an increase in our level of consciousness.

We have already started. It is part of our education system. Science makes us aware of the laws of nature. Solving a problem is becoming conscious of its solution. To know is to be conscious.

 

Participating in our own evolution.

By increasing our level of consciousness, we can become willing participants in our own evolution. Instead of being pushed by the wind, we can try to master the wind blowing in our sails.

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