Future Chi
Episode 20: Progress
Where did we come from and where are we going? The telescope represents the taoist astronomers’ curiosity about the universe and our place in it. Nikola Tesla and his out-of-this world thinking is represented by his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower (centre), Robby the Robot from Lost in Space asks us if robots have a consciousness, the projector represents Jost’s analogy of the origins of all things and how we perceive them, and the Chinese characters for ‘tao’ and ‘light’ suggest we have to follow the way of the light to get somewhere we actually want to be.
The Episode
If we couldn’t control life before then we definitely can’t control it now, but in chaotic times we can - and we must - keep moving forward. Big disruptions bring about big change and while this comes at the cost of the old world, the new world that is emerging will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
The taoists once studied the stars to understand where it all started and where we’ve been, and it’s now up to us to understand where we are and where the trajectory of life on earth is headed. In this episode, Jost and Leon reflect on the nature of progress; how humans are designed to create, how tools have evolved over time, and how we are in fact moving towards perfection. Jost talks about the duality of creation; that everything we design is both simultaneously good and bad - capable of creation or destruction - and that the intention matters above all else. Leon talks about animals in hot air balloons, the industrial revolution, and how technological progress has given us an opportunity to look back on what we’ve done and what we can do better. Jost discusses the nature of reality, the incorruptibility of the tao, chi, and yin & yang, and how we are very likely living in a projection. Leon wonders how the world would have been different if Nikola Tesla had been a martial artist. Jost and Leon also ponder the impact of AI on human progress, if robots can have a consciousness, and how we must anchor technology through our own principles and spiritual practices.
Before we head back to the stars and on to the next planet, we must get down to earth and establish rock-solid foundations. Each day we are not just building upon the past but carving ourselves anew, and with it carving the new world.