For the first time in history we humans are in a position where we can once and for all solve the big problems that have accompanied us since the dawn of time – hunger, disease, back-breaking work – and focus exclusively on ‘maximizing our happiness’ (more on what a “Utopia” is here). The ‘to-do’ list with issues we need to take care of in order to get to this point is finite and their difficulty remains stable, i.e. cancer is not getting harder to cure, it just is hard (a). At the same time the potential of science and technology (innovations with the greatest multiplier effects ever) to solve problems is rising exponentially. In fact, the concrete trends of progress (how this potential to make improvements manifests itself) (read more about them here and here) are also growing faster and faster. Looking at these trends it becomes clear that we are close to a tipping point:
If we think of the level of development of humankind as a rocket, it means we are going increasingly faster and are about to hit escape velocity, i.e. the speed at which we can leave the serious problems of this planet behind. However, that can only happen if the engine keeps running.
As stated before, and a major argument of my work, is that people (society) are lagging behind in making use of the increasing innovation potential. In other words, we are not taking enough action, arguably even less and less over time. Instead of becoming complacent and resting on our laurels all we actually need to do is make one last push. As our living standards have risen remarkably over the last few generations (34-60%) we have to be careful not to become too idle or lazy.
When we look at the world in a static, or what I call two-dimensional, way then indeed, the more wealth and progress we create the more we should also enjoy it. In the West, life for most people is already very good. With the existing jobs we create a much more comfortable way of getting the things we want, i.e. a hundred times more than our cavemen ancestors had (the input-output matrix). It is arguably a natural thing for us humans to enjoy comfort and unless there is serious urgency (e.g. “we will starve if we don’t hunt more”) or motivation to increase our input (e.g. work) we don’t. In that sense, we have to be careful not to fall victim to a “not more to improve” fallacy, i.e. that we can’t go much further than this anyway. Similarly, regarding the remaining problems we have, from inequality to extreme poverty or cancer, many people might feel like they’re a never-ending story and don’t believe they can get solved, or at least that they could do anything about it.
But a core message I want to get across is that now is the best time ever to make additional improvements and to take action to help make the world a better place, because with one final push there will be nothing more to improve. When you reflect on this fact enough, it will absolutely blow your mind.
However, if our attitude is to just chill and that we won’t get much more in return anyway if we push, then it certainly leads to less action. In terms of resources and technology we can definitely end extreme poverty or climate change, but how much action (e.g. donations or switching to renewable energy) do we actually take?
That is a major goal of this project, to show people that actually if we took some more of the right action (not even necessarily more work) we could do extraordinary things now and the payback for any individual is a life that is almost certainly even better than we could imagine now. The more we get the urgency across the more I think we can inspire and motivate people to take more action. Even if it’s just 1% more, considering most of us don’t spend 1% of our time on topics of innovation this could be enough to function as a final push.
But it’s not that simple you say?
Yes, automation will eliminate some jobs, but the return is that in a generation we won’t have to work anymore at all. Yes, shifting towards green energy and public transport (or better: shared autonomous vehicles) carries an initial cost and burden, but the return is that we will create thousands of dollars of value per person due to the increased efficiency (multiplier effect).
And the more progress we make, problems we solve, and higher living standards we create, the more leftover resources we have to reinvest into making even more progress and focusing on fewer remaining problems (read about this here). So that gives us even more momentum and the individual leaps of progress we make get bigger while the remaining problems get fewer. But this beautiful effect only happens if we don’t relax more and more, but hold our ground.
Hence, I also argue we have to set our goals higher, all the way that is! We cannot accept that there are still six million children who starve each year or to work in so many jobs we hate when they could be automated and enable us to work in more meaningful jobs. If the goals are high enough, the outcome will be greater even if we fail than if we didn’t set any goals to begin with.
Finally, we need to go in for the kill, killing the remaining problems we have. Just like when we can see a vaccine program to start working and the curve of the number of infections declining, that’s when we know that what we do is working; that’s when we know to not pull back but keep making the final push. The same is true with building a Utopia – and the time of that tipping point is right now.
Hence, I’m arguing for a “just do it” of building a better world. And the unifying logic around which we can align our actions is innovation (because it makes the cake bigger through implementing the biggest multiplier effects) and then to make it a habit and get into a flow, just like runners during their runner’s high approaching the finish line. After we’ve eradicated poverty, starvation, solved climate change, cured cancer and can all make our hobbies our “jobs” we can still get complacent, idle, lazy and take as much time as we want solving new, smaller problems.
Summary
We can build a Utopia in this coming generation, but only if we actually do it. That means we first have to set it as a serious goal (e.g. in the form of checkboxes) and then go for it. The returns of any innovative action we take now at this historical tipping point has a gigantic, exponential return. So much so that we just need one last push to reach a sort of escape velocity that allows us to transition into a Utopia – a world without serious problems and where people can focus completely on pursuing their happiness.
Footnotes:
a) With some exceptions and new problems, like addiction to social media in developed countries.
Generation Utopia 