[Recording Start]
Rick Rosner: Go on.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the ’emptying world’? What do you mean by this? How does it play out? Why did this concept emerge?
Rosner: Essentially, the question is, what will the world look like once humans are no longer the dominant information processors on the planet? My wife and I, along with our daughter and her boyfriend, went to Florence for a week to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We had visited Florence for a couple of days for our 25th anniversary and loved it so much that we decided to return. It seems Florence is quite popular, particularly with the English upper crust, due to its appeal. Florence, in relation to Tuscany, is somewhat like Vancouver is to British Columbia – it’s a central, defining part of the region.
On our trip, we couldn’t land in Florence due to fog, so our plane kept attempting to land, then diverting to nearby cities like Pisa and Bologna, which aren’t too far. We kept trying, but it just wasn’t possible. However, this gave us a chance to fly over the countryside at a low altitude, offering us a unique view of the area. Florence, it turns out, is a wonderful place. Contrary to what one might expect, it’s not prohibitively expensive, especially when compared to cities like L.A., San Francisco, or London. There’s a well-established way of life there, with civilization dating back thousands of years and a current lifestyle that’s been around since the post-Renaissance era. The architecture is fairly standard – stucco two-story apartment houses with tile roofs.
Jacobsen: I’m sure Florence has its less appealing parts, but we didn’t visit those. It’s a place where you could live reasonably, considering its historical and cultural significance. The area has been civilized for centuries, with a relatively stable architectural style.
Rosner: So, that’s an argument for the continuation of human forms of existence, even as humans might no longer be the top species. A lot of human activities will likely persist, and many models for life – economics, commerce, relationships, group dynamics – might remain influential, even as humans fall behind in the information processing race. These forms of existence will probably continue to be prominent because there’s a history of certain human systems working. Smarter, more powerful, hybridized or augmented humans, along with AIs, will use human history as a foundation for future developments. And, of course, there will still be billions of people who enjoy being human, as we’ve evolved to do.
[Recording End]
Authors
Rick Rosner
American Television Writer
Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Founder, In-Sight Publishing
In-Sight Publishing
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Rick Rosner 