Like most people trying to deal with the discord and anger that seems to be increasingly pervasive in today’s complex world, one has to wonder just exactly how did we arrive at such a dysfunctional place. I would like to humbly offer one possible explanation; one that is based on fundamental human capacity and behavior.
If one was to graph the evolution of technology, it would clearly show that progress was essentially flat from the 1400’s until the late 1800’s when the Industrial Revolution began to take hold. Even then technology evolution was relatively flat from decade to decade until about 2005 when technology advancement began exponential growth. With the inevitable growth of AI that pace will only accelerate.
This brings us to the challenge we face as human beings, formed more by biology than technology. Biological evolution simply can’t keep pace with technology evolution and the dynamic changes it represents. The cognitive adaptations needed to deal with the challenges represented by the growth of technology are simply behind the curve. One of the challenges we face in a complex, dynamic world is the need to be able to hold two, frequently disparate, ideas in our mind at the same time to discern what is true, what is fact. Unfortunately, many people do not want to expend the cognitive energy necessary to do that. They want a simple explanation for things that are not simple, and when someone offers them that simple explanation, particularly when it confirms the narrative they have already created in their own minds, they gravitate to that easy but erroneous explanation. When our leaders offer that simple explanation, a growing segment of our population is ready to get on that easy bandwagon, which is only then abetted by easily manipulated technology and media. And sadly, the disconnect widens.