Questions that I'm Pondering...
I fell in love with Julia Galef's idea of open questions and her series on unpopular ideas that are worth a ponder. Here are a handful of things I'm (semi-actively) pondering. They will not all be popular.
Technology enables individuals and non-nation organizations to have more and more power to harm, how will we respond to the threat? What would be most effective? How should we?
What should education look like today? How should resources be divided across populations of differing ability? What, as a society, should we be focused on, especially with the uncertainty of the skills required for the future?
I am highly doubtful that, as a human population, we will make thoughtful and deliberate decisions about current and upcoming species-level risks about artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, space travel, space broadcasting, etc. Mostly, this is due to question #1 -- with the right technology, it just takes one person to make a species level decision. Given my pessimism, how should I think about it? How can we best prepare? How can the best voices of humanity intelligently steer the path if we lack control of it?
How will AI impact our lives? How soon will this impact show itself? What, as an individual, can I best do to prepare?
How can we challenge and change the culture of multi-generational poverty? How can we discuss the multiple drivers of socio-economic privilege without triggering all the triggers?
How can we research, discuss and address population level differences without enabling discrimination and xxxx-ism?
How is the lack of natural selection impacting humans as a population? What happens when people who would not have made it (primarily for physical or occasionally social reasons) 100 years ago are now reproducing?
If we separate the discussions of societal and personal responsibility for addressing privilege, what does personal responsibility look like?
How much control do we have over our life, really? Given the different potential answers, how does it change the way we relate to each other? To criminals? To geniuses?
How is phone/social media/addictive gaming impacting us at a population level? What are the strengths? Weaknesses? Is there a way to address the challenges effectively? Given that technology companies goals (get as much attention as possible) are not aligned with optimal human experience, how can we mitigate their influence?
What is motivation? Why is it fickle for some and raised to a 'pro' level for others? Can it be taught?