If you long for high quality conversation about topics that will stretch you as a human being (not just as a human brain) I’m starting a monthly free online Conversation Beyond Intelligence. It will be Thursday evenings in USA, which is Friday lunchtimes in Australia – 3rd week of every month.
For the last few years I’ve been growing more and more fascinated with the power of conversation. I’ve experimented with many friends and clients to find ways of talking that produce deep satisfaction and enjoyment.
I’m exploring ways of talking that go beyond intelligent or intellectual conversation and connect us at deeper levels, because that’s where I find real creativity lies.
When we let go of any need to prove ourselves as individuals and are able to explore meaningful topics with the common goal of expanding our awareness and deepening our consciousness there’s an innate pleasure that, for me, is far greater than any other form of entertainment currently available.
This will be a place for listening more than speaking and maintaining an open heart and a calm spirit. It’s surprising what you learn when you let go of having to be the best (or the worst) and how the simplest of conversations can have a profoundly moving effect on you.
The purpose is to explore one of the biggest questions of our time: “How we can have the greatest experience of being human in the face of rapidly evolving machine intelligence and other technologies?”
My personal aim is to stimulate participants to reflect deeply on what it means to be human, especially in an age where our very definitions of life and human life are likely to be challenged; also how we can each contribute to creating a world where life flourishes at all levels and where we have a “right” relationship with machines and technology.
It will be genuine conversation (no teaching) in large and/or small groups on topics that will emerge from the interests of the participants, relevant to the question above. The aim is to talk at a level that takes us beyond the intellect into a deeper place of honesty, wholeheartedness, lightheartedness and creativity.
It’s free and you can attend when you want, although I encourage you to come regularly so we can build high quality conversations with some sense of continuity. You are welcome to invite friends who are interested in the topic.
Who is it for?
My wish is to attract people who are truly interested and engaged in creating new and radically improved versions of life that will affect many generations to come. If you care about any of the following enough to do something about it, this conversation is for you:
- The world that today’s children will grow up into
- Our relationship with technology
- How much technology you want inside your body in the future
- How you contribute to the future now and how you can create greater impact
- Creativity and new ideas for the future
- Your personal vision of the future
- Being a gamechanger
- Who are we?
- Who are we becoming?
- Who do you want to become?
What can you expect?
- Some challenging, stimulating and at times disturbing, but important conversations
- Increased creativity in your own life
- Hope for future generations
- New ideas
- To become a catalyst in your family and community for thinking more powerfully about the future
- Exploring how you can make a significant difference to the future
- Taking action
If you’d like to participate you can find more details here:
If you want to know more about the background to this idea, please keep reading.
Do you want nanobots?
Nanobots are robots the size of blood cells. They can be released into your bloodstream. They will control your emotions, regulate your weight, maintain your health and turn you into a nicer person than you really are.
Most people will probably say yes, if they can afford it. Surely the benefits outweigh the risks. And by the time we discover the risks we’ll be able to find solutions to them anyway. Technology will move so fast that keeping up will not be an option. Just let the experts tell you what you need and follow the instructions.
And nanobots are a tiny fraction of what’s becoming possible. 3D printed food, including meat, is already on the way. Automated organic farming exists right now. Space mining and tourism, unlimited free energy, converting trash into new materials – these are easy.
And then there are human beings.
Those quaint old-fashioned relics of the past, almost neanderthal in their appearance. Primitive, emotional, sick, ugly, aggressive – what can we do with them? In a world where we can design perfect looking machines that never age, never deteriorate and never behave erratically, where will humans fit in?
We’ve seen different versions in movies, some of them horrific, some of them pretty benign. We thought they were science fiction, but increasingly it looks like they might have been predictions of the future.
Personally I believe it’s a very exciting time, but only if we get very very active in learning how the future gets formed. Because it’s happening now.
Why is this important?
There’s massive investment of money, time and energy in developing technology currently. At the same time there’s a huge wave of people “waking up” and asking questions about how they can be better humans, how they can live happier lives and how they can reduce the suffering so many of us experience.
My greatest fear is that we’ll react too slowly and change will creep up on us (it’s already happening) until it’s too difficult to change direction. We’ll have created software that started out harmless enough, but becomes impossible to control as it learns and grows under its own programming. We’ll have replaced much of our work without asking what our purpose is. We’ll have become half human, half machine, and missed the opportunity to become superhuman – ie to stretch ourselves way beyond what we currently imagine.
I like technology and I’m very sure that there’s a place for it in the future. I know people who shun it as much as they possibly can and want to return to a simple, natural life. I know others whose lives are intimately wedded to it and will embrace any improvement it can offer them.
I believe there are major questions here that need to be opened up, discussed and reflected upon. I believe we need to be profoundly challenged in our attitudes and expectations of the future, until we are each actively engaged in creating a better world than the one we were born into.
And I want the conversation to push us each into new territory until we’re able to listen to each other and understand each other, regardless of whether we agree with each other. This is a place where our humanity unites us, not our intelligence or education, and where we can explore who we really are and what we’re really doing on this beautiful planet.
Here’s the link again: www.sarahmccrum.com/beyond-intelligence