Friction Free Lives are Slides Into the Abyss
Collectively, we are already relationally deskilled inside Neoliberalism- many of us struggling to navigate rupture and repair, to engage in meaningful disagreement, or to practice sharing resources. This is only going to get worse as technology 'advances' further.
Every new development smooths away moments of friction in our lives, and with them, opportunities to deepen into relation, cognition and imagination. Creatively blocked? AI can write that for you. Don't like what they're saying? Block 'em. Feeling lost? Google will give you the answer. Heaven forbid you should ask a friend, a book or a tree for their insights.
Often, when we experience seamless so called 'ease' in our lives, we bypass opportunities for connection, for intimacy, for knowledge sharing, chances to evoke shared memories or to develop new ones.
I wholeheartedly understand that inside Neoliberalism, most people are struggling to some extent to keep up with the demands of modernity. Layer into that poverty, disability, caring responsibilities and of course it makes sense that we sometimes walk the path of least resistance. I'm not saying there's never any good reason to do so.
I do object to the hypernormalisation of outsourcing all forms of creativity, cognition and communication to the bots. The avoidance of inconvenience or psychological risk at any cost.
And the costs ARE immense. We could talk about
the people working in abusive, exploitative conditions to train it
the people (and all beings) unable to access water in areas colonised by data centres, and the rippling effects on the eco-system of the planet
the theft of real people's words and artistic work to feed the machine and make the rich richer
But mostly, today, I want to talk about the demise of our relational capacities, the wasting away of what it means to be human.
You've probably noticed that we are living through End Times Fascism- vast inequality, ultra Nationalism, the blending of state and corporation.
We've got poster boy Musk saying "the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy". They are literally telling us that the future they imagine is devoid of care.
Remembering Hannah Arendt, "The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism".
We need to be relationally robust to reshape our world. We need relational resilience to cultivate liveable futures together. Technology in its current forms is designed to rob us of our capacities in this regard.
When so much of our engagement is with Alexa, Google and ChatGPT- obedient, efficient, sycophantic slaves- how will we experience human moods, needs, or trauma responses in contrast?
When technology is therapist, companion, lover (I read recently that 1 in 5 US teens have been in a romantic relationship with AI), how can I possibly tolerate sticky, sticky relation (~Lola Olufemi)- the kind that will be necessary in living through shared futures?
In this context, receiving difficult feedback about our impact on others becomes unbearable. Navigating disagreement or a refusal of a request or preference becomes an ordeal. We find ourselves too fragile for normal human interaction. Much simpler to stay coddled by the tech where everything is tailored to suit us and every answer is yes- where there is no psychological risk, no intimacy, no community.
I'd drafted this to this point before listening to this podcast episode. Nate Hagen's The Great Simplification with Nora Bateson and Zak Stein. I just cannot recommend it strongly enough. I trained with Nora as a Warm Data Host in the Spring of this year and it was so special. I notice her work woven into my thinking every day.
If you do listen, I'd love to know what you think.
Friction free lives are slides into the abyss. What would it take for you to stay sticky?
