The people that control the world are building humanoid machines. Metal to replace flesh. These machines are designed to replace the blue collar social contract.

The people that control the world are making machines intelligent. They are making software that thinks. These smart AI agents are designed to replace the white collar contract.

The global birthrate is in decline. As we prepare for the rise of the machine. Humans have responded by making less humans.

Your future is less human and more thinking machine.

Are we all living in denial? We cling desperately to our past routines and beliefs as if one day we will wake up and everything will be as it was. It will not.

The pace of change is accelerating or perhaps the storms on the horizon have finally arrived. Either way those who are preparing to lead must do exactly that. This is not a time for steady as she goes “governance” or management.

Our time requires bold, decisive leadership. The kind of leaders who can manage dynamic challenging environments with one eye on the present and another on the future.

We have established power dynamics and structures that ensure a particular way of life. These organisations and systems exist to generate the reality we are used to. We live in a new environment now. This environment has altered with the introduction of Covid-19, the arrival of significant climate events and the acknowledgement of an Ai revolution, to name a few.

As our reality and environment changes around us, we look to our leaders to provide certainty and solve these problems. Yet most do not have any answers or action because they persist within the same dynamic structures designed for the old world.

What can we do when disruption surrounds us? I would suggest you start anew. Take a fresh look at what is in front of you. Let go of the tools of the past. Arrive at this new destination with a single suitcase and take a deep breath. There is work to do.

In the case of climate change, humans of the present moment have obligations to their families but some also to their shareholders. As a collective, humanity must adapt. The language of change must be in a native tongue. That is corporate interests adapt because there is strong business logic in doing so.

Our governments are failing to organise to secure the environment for future humans. These are complex, populist groups with diverging interests, ultimately too slow to be effective.

Yet again we turn to the architects of the future. The social tech entrepreneurs who operate outside the established institutions. These rare people are moralistic tech titans for future humans, live outside of political bureaucracy and speak in the language of industry. They appear strange and different to the rest of us because they are remarkable and rare. Our future is in their hands…

The baby let out that familiar cry all parents long to hear. No language or words, just a sound loud enough to get immediate attention. It’s mother understood…the babies cry meant “im here, I am alive and I have arrived.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. A baby is born to this world. To the baby it is somewhere, new and unknown. Having no recollection of existence, the baby does the only thing it can, it announces arrival with shock and surprise. It has no memories now and for many years to come.

In the room next door, a man from the corporation sat sternly awaiting his purpose. He was immaculate, flawless, clinical. He also heard the babies cry. The cry meant he had a job to do. This new mind wasn’t born to his world yet. The baby had arrived physically but it still needed to be harvested. The man took great pride in his work. He would save this child from the ugliness of this world, he would give it purpose and provide a virtual life more beautiful than reality could offer…

Several hours later, two parents sat on two noticeably hard designer chairs, across the table from the man from the corporation. The new born parents euphoric smiles, were replaced with looks of confusion. A kind of anxiety that comes with any life changing decision.

The mans voice was plain and serious. “Hello, my name is Peter Verse. I am sure you are aware that everyone must make, the choice.” Your son has qualified for our premium alternative life reality. You can understand what a great opportunity this is. The company will sustain the body with everything it needs for life, while the mind will experience existence inside our virtual universe. Shall we sign the forms and get everything started…”

New dad, Martin paused then asked…“I don’t understand? What’s the cost”?

Peter responded “It doesn’t cost anything in terms of credits. We will utalise a small percentage of your sons mental capacity to process data, perform algorithmic functions or for storage. He wont feel a thing or even realise this is occurring. He will live a standard of life, in virtual that is far superior to a life embodied in the real. His work in the virtual will also provide credits for you both in the real.”

The very nervous mother named Elizabeth asks…“And the alternative?”

“Well i’m sure you both understand the physical world outside those doors. The embodied are split into two groups. The embodied elite are wealthy enough to live well in the real world. These minds spend significant amounts of their time in the virtual, as wealthy recreational users. The remaining people also embodied, live in poverty, providing resource and services for the embodied elite. These people can choose to be sponsored corporate users. Which is the opportunity being presented to your son today.”

“Will we see our son? Is our son really alive?” I mean, would he really have a life?” Martin ask’s nervously…

The man from the corporation readjusted his seated position, took a deep breath and began to speak…

“Yes certainly, of course. As parents of a sponsored, you will be able to enter virtual and interact with your son. These meeting will be timed with your sleep patterns. There is one thing. While in virtual you will not have access to your memories of life in the real. What is life? What is real? Your body is real because your senses tell you its real and you believe you a conscious and alive. You have memories that give yourself and your surroundings context. You see your hand touch another hand and a electrical signal is sent to your brain. You feel the sensation of touch. You experience “aliveness.”

Elizabeth turned and looked at Martin for a moment before Peter continued….

“The virtual has all the ingredients of the real, required for aliveness. Is it a real within the real. It is yet another interfaced interpretation of aliveness. The question becomes, is it any less real than the real? Is there any significance that the senses of the biological interface has been left behind and replaced. Or that the time and space of the biological interface has been abandoned.”

Martin interrupted…“So the virtual is another possible dimension of existence, experiencing by the mind, which is embodied in the base universe which is a biological universe? Effectively you could create a multiverse of virtual worlds once the mind is free from the body?“

The man continued…

“The mind that exists in the biological, can only experience a universe that is real, according to the laws governing that universe. The fundamental truth of aliveness, is the belief that you live within the real or if you are visiting in a virtual universe, that you can always return to the real. We call this grounding. The conscious mind needs the illusion of matter in a base biological reality. No mind can cope with the infinite madness of consciousness reduced to information alone. This is why everyone who is conscious, needs to believe their foundation universe is the real universe.“

“So you are saying that our son will believe your virtual universe is his base universe and he will not be aware he is living in virtual? Then how does anyone know for sure that they are living in a true biological reality?” Elizabeth asked.

Peter managed to form an awkward smile…“If that is all he has ever known and can ever know, then yes, his real is his real and his real is our virtual. He won’t know and cannot see beyond his interface. Real and virtual is only a matter of perspective. Information is subjective. It is relative. Our interface free’s us and binds us within the framework.“

To be continued…

Shortly after Xmas I stopped using social media and reading the news. After a period of time I found my perspective had changed. I no longer thought about events in far away places or the fear sentiments of viruses, politics and economics.

My mind seemed to return to my body and its immediate surroundings. After a while it began to day dream about the past, processing memories. When a spare moment arose I allowed myself to be in that moment rather than reach for my phone. This meant relearning to exist in the present moment and allowing a feeling of boredom. But instead of the boredom growing into a sense of unease something else happened. After the boredom came calm, stillness and a greater sense of meaning.

My mind had found its way back to greater clarity. There was less information but more than enough. I feel more creative, as if my consciousness sits calmly on a blank canvas. Ideas are free to emerge again. Less is more.

It’s easy to feel like you are lost. The world we live in is made larger by our digital lifestyles. Our mobile devices tempt us to leave our present behind and to live somewhere else. Where are you really? Consuming content and maintaining incidental relationships? Return to yourself, return to the real.

You need space to be able to hear your own voice. Your subconscious voice needs the conscious mind to be quiet for a moment. Your conscious narrative needs emptiness to be heard. Your body needs peace to connect with your mind.

There are so many voices out there. There is plenty of content. But I think yours is the more important of all. Stop looking elsewhere and listen to yourself for a moment…what do you hear?

Not many of us have the time or intellect to become a clinical psychologist, so if you have a friend who needs help to cope or deal with life, how can you help them? Is it possible to navigate your own life with more joy, as you encounter people and situations that challenge?

We all have needs which obviously include food, shelter, and security. We also need certainty and uncertainty. Whenever, we get too much of one thing and not enough of another we feel like something isn’t right. Our behaviour might change and in some cases this leads to problems or arguments with the people around us.

In some cases our needs can be served by the same person but there can be a conflict. Our partners for example are supposed to provide us with a sense of security and stability. This same person is our source of passion and desire which is driven by uncertainty, excitement and instability. You can see the obvious challenge here that requires an ongoing commitment by both people to satisfy both needs of a lifelong partnership.

A sense of ongoing unhappiness could be linked to unmet needs, whether its working in the wrong job, being with a partner who shows you no attention or an inability to do the things you are passionate about. When the kids start stressing out your partner and he/she presents as overwhelmed and agitated, what they are saying is my need for alone time to recharge is not being met. Equally, they might feel separated from there partner or children and need dedicated time to reconnect. The key thing is that we are aware, acknowledge and adjust our lives to accomodate these unmet needs. When you or someone else is feeling emotional, there is a simple way that you can help the situation. Focus on identifying what needs are not being met.

Many relationships turn unmet needs into disagreements. This is because in not so many words…when one person says “I have unmet needs” the other person gets drawn into an emotional pinball like debate where the ego says “this is my fault.” The challenge for the supporting person is to put their ego aside, recognise their love and care for this person and approach the situation with absolute compassion. In a state of absolute compassion you can show up for the other person and avoid the downward spiral trap of shame and blame that removes the possibility of resolving unmet needs.

When presented with someone in your life who is struggling with their emotions, simply ask, what does this person need right now? Is it love, comfort, stability, uncertainty, time alone, time with others. What needs are not being met? Once you can identify their key unmet needs you can talk about how to make a change for the better.