There is a movie called "Idiocracy" produced in 2006. It is basically about a future world where being idiot is the new norm. You don't have to watch the movie because i will point out the most important aspects of it. Then i will explain how it can't be the reality of 2100 or something. Finally, i will point out that the situation is darker than we see in the movie and we have only a limited time to fix things.
The depiction in the movie is dark humor but also amazing. It basically presents you "what would happen" if humanity goes on like this, if dumb people overpopulates the world. A lot of people started seeing this movie as actually a warning for the future or a documentary. The movie starts with a below average intelligence guy and a woman. They end up being forgotten in hibernation and they wake up in the future where dumb people reproduced more than intelligent people. The average guy and woman basically stand out with their very basic intelligence in that world and things get weird and kind of funny from that point. This is the overall scenario, and now, let's take a look at some details of that world.
When our average guy wakes up in the future, he realizes that the world turned into a huge dumpster. There are trash mountains and taking out trash is literally a business all by itself. As matter of fact, nobody has the perception of "not polluting the world". Accumulating trash is one side of being an idiot.
Our average guy struggles in that world, since no proper order is established. People can't actually work, professions are mostly gone and handed over to machines or some manuals. For example, he goes to a hospital and the nurse basically pushes buttons on a machine to get a diagnosis based on his complaints. So basically, the professions that require brain is carried out by machines. I know what you are thinking, AI right?
There is another perspective in the movie. Sexual references are considered funny and sex is a big part of humanity. For example, people are literally watching a naked but farting in a movie and laughing at it. Also, sex workers are kind of everywhere. Basically, brain and butt have switched places.
One thing really made me laugh was this sentence: "But it has electrolytes". In the movie, people actually forgot how to use water and its properties and they started drinking a new type of beverage instead of water to get electrolyte supply. Also they use it to grow food in the farms but it is not working much. Water is only considered to be used in the toilets. When our average guys says water is used to grow crops and regulate human blood and you don't need that weird beverage, the government representative says "but it has electrolytes". This basically points out that you will forget what you know unless you use it. I know what you are thinking, AI right?
There is a strange reliance on technology in the movie. Since people are not capable of actually carrying out complex tasks, people are marked with some barcodes and there are surveillance everywhere to track you. Actually this is spot on. If you want to get rid of abilities that you need to be able to live, you must have some form of invention that would carry it out for you. But you also need to maintain those inventions too. I know what you are thinking, AI right?
These are the noteworthy mentions i see in the movie. There is a president of the United States in the movie, who is trying to protect his position because he sees our average guy as a threat or something. Weird and somewhat funny stuff happens in the movie but it was not actually made to be a warning. It was rather a comedy based on some facts. Nowadays, we are living towards the results of those facts, which are mostly neglected or ignored. I have said the situation of the world is darker, but before that, let me explain why a world like that in this movie is impossible, even though it seems like we are headed towards it.
First and foremost, the natural resources that we are depending on is limited. Dumb or not, you can't keep reproducing and expect to live forever. For example, you can't keep piling up your trash, it will cause ecological disturbances. You can't have unlimited water for unlimited people either. Not all places in the world is equally easy to habituate, so you will need different ways to retrieve and store the necessary resources for billions of people too.
In the movie, machines are helping people do things. Again, machines need intelligence to be built and maintained. You can't just get dumber and invent stuff to help you at the same time. Remember "it has electrolytes" line. People will actually start forgetting the useful stuff and will invent less useful stuff. I know what you are thinking, AI right? :)
The question is, will AI make us dumber or smarter. It depends on you and how you use it. If you try to add more to your knowledge with AI, you win. If you use it to make things easier for you or to hand over your responsibilities, you lose. What do you win or lose? You lose your brain's capability to work. Your organs will degrade over time unless they are used. That is a whole other subject that people are actually warning you about by calling it "brain rot".
But here is the weird truth. No, we can't have a world of Idiocracy where AI rules. Because we humans as a species had to create an interconnected system on the world. AI is just another outcome of human intelligence. Technically, humankind is getting smarter everyday on average, since we are able to retrieve more information then we used to. But as strange as it sounds, we start destroying things when we are not using our brains. We are destructive and blinded.
For the last 40 years or so, some people are warning us about population crisis or global warming. Also democracy being in danger and human life being devalued is a problem. Wealth gaps and AI related brain rot are recent problems. These are the main problems that humanity is facing. You see, this is the first clue that Idiocracy can't happen. We are already on a destructive path rather than "somewhat" sustainable. Even a utopian world like that requires some form of order.
Let's take a look at those big threats. Some people say the world is over populated and resources are not enough. But very few people say we should invent technologies for sustainable ecosystems. The ones that promote the word "sustainable" are mostly big companies trying to capitalize on the buzz word. Some people actually believe that natural selection must eliminate people. Well, de-humanizing the humankind is not a good solution. Also, even natural selection favors the rich people these days. So, basically this is a real problem without any sincere solution proposal.
Global warming is an issue. Some people say "it is all ok and natural" and i don't know what they are basing this on. A lot of data shows you more extreme weather events are happening and they are getting more intense every year. What are people doing about it? USA and China or maybe Russia or India are contributing the biggest portion of the emissions but they don't show any incentive to slow down. Because they would lag behind the imperialism race. This is another problem without any sincere solution proposal.
And democracy? Who cares about that in this millennia. People are not looking for equality, they are looking for privilege. Therefore, big masses are reluctant to raise voice against tyrannies or autocrats. Also, even the seemingly democratic regimes are not doing well. Does anyone even value human life and rights these days? I know some people do but unfortunately you need more smart people than idiots to overcome them.
Wealth gaps? Everybody knows it but few people tries to fix it. Because taking advantage of the system is easier and more beneficial than fixing the system. When you say things like "tax the rich" or "corrupted governments" they can present you professionally crafted lies that you can't track down. They probably believe that natural selection is on the wheel and poor people must be eliminated. I have written about the dysfunctional economical situation in the world.
AI brain rot? This basically means AI doing the brain heavy works for us and us losing the capabilities of our brain. It basically means we become unable to do reasoning or critical thinking or inventing or dreaming ..etc. Losing multitude of abilities. People are screaming about this danger but others, usually tech owners, are claiming that people are just exaggerating and they are fundamentalists.
Doesn't all these situations sound idiotic to you? Are we really heading into a better world with all the technology and whatnot? How come the world is mostly driven by "not so sane" people? But there are other sides of the world that are crumbling and they will eventually be destructive too. Humankind is not good at judging and taking the right action when necessary, even for itself. Let me give you more facts:
After the world war 2, US dollar became the international currency and it was sort of controlled by gold. But around 1970 or something, president Nixon cut the dollar and gold relation, basically boosting the imperialism and it was a dick move towards the whole world. Now we have a race for a dollar-free economy, like BRICS or etc., and it is probably heading into another world war.
Gold? It is a big part of history and technology and it is the most durable earth metal to acquire and keep. But is it finite too. Around the year 2040 or 2050, the known gold deposits will be mined. Unless someone invents a new discovery to dig gold more efficiently, we won't have more gold supply everyday. Also technological devices will be probably super expensive. I have no idea what will that situation cause in the world, but stocking gold would attract sharks and imperial forces i guess. Smell of a new war.
Oil? Well we have vehicles that are running on fossil products for transportation of goods at the least. We have plastic and other materials for our daily requirements. A reminder that we have a microplastic problem too. But guess what, oil won't be there forever. Unless someone knows or finds a huge reserve of oil, we might run out of oil around 2050. By that time you need to invent a whole new world that is able to utilize another material to be used in a big portion of our lives.
Let's assume someone invents alternatives for fossil products and gold, there are problems. New discoveries require technology and development by humankind. It won't happen suddenly. Even if someone has an idea to replace fossils, it will attract the hell out of the world. And by experience, we are sure that the world won't be in piece with it.
Forget oil and gold, invent all you can in the near 20 years. You will have a hellish world due to climate change. That will cause serious migrations and disturbance. You want to kill, let's say, 3 billion? Go ahead, use nuclear weapons and make climate even worse. Also get rid of the doctors and engineers or mechanics that will keep you and your utilities alive. Also, have a consensus with other superpowers to do it. Good luck with that.
Overall, what i mean is, there seems no peaceful way to go back from the way we are headed. It requires a utopian collaboration. Actually collaboration is not utopian but humankind lost the perception of it, by being selfish and indifferent to realities. The world these days depends heavily on technology. Unless you go back to hunter gatherer era of humanity, you will need health equipment, clothing and education for agricultural information and resource distribution somehow. But you can't just play Age of Empires in a world with 8 billion people. It will eventually get chaotic. So unless you are planning on having a big farm with multiple products and animals near some river or something, you are in serious trouble. Even though you think you can produce for your own, which requires other resources and education to run, you will be living in an irreversible world, since not much technology is usable because of gold and oil shortage. Even being rich won't save you in a logically acceptable way.
So long story short, around the year 2040, things will start getting nasty. Around 2050, we won't have a livable world in today's projection. No one will have the upper hand in that situation. The extra materialism focused world will not go down peacefully or shrink and adapt strategically. If i am missing any aspect, please enlighten me. You can't have a world like Idiocracy because today's idiocracy is way too destructive and blind but tell me if it is otherwise. Some people are working on it right? Well guess what. Some people won't be enough this time. This has historically never happened. We never ran out of resources at world scale. The climate was never this much unpredictable and harsh before. We were never this much crowded and technologically destructive. I have no hope that humanity can survive this under these circumstances. It requires a global-scale collaboration without any non-sensical agendas, like getting rich or domination. But we know a little bit of reality. So next time you mock the people in the movie "Idiocracy", take a look at the world we live in. See you at the next post.
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