Curated Obsolescence
Choosing to design ourselves out...
Aren’t you curious about where we are headed? I find it fascinating!
Just a hundred to hundred fifty years ago, joint families, a strong connection with our community, and a work balance was built-in. Festivals, cultural and religious occasions were celebratory. But there was no money, most of the vaccines we have now weren’t available then, food was simpler and so was living. A simple life isn’t necessarily a better one. It was harsh in many other ways. Healthcare, medicines weren’t available just round the corner. There was a lot of idle time though. Children grew up with plenty of siblings, cousins, friends and outdoors. Parents weren’t the only type of mirrors they faced. Careers and career-chasing was not in fashion, maybe not yet invented. People mattered because those were the only real connections to the larger world. Growing up, your elders and seniors were respected because they had life experience you didn’t yet. The world was smaller. Seeing a new place meant going to it. Meeting new people and cultures meant visiting them. You felt the earth beneath your feet and often got hurt because of it. But you also developed thicker callouses.
And now? And the near future? We will no longer be required. And sometimes it feels like a relief. No need to interact with anyone directly. No need to endure travels, commuting or traffic. No customers and no customer facing roles. No need to put up with another’s mood variations, their personal or relational issues or the continuous process of fitting in. We will not need partners, or siblings, or community or any of those annoying connections. We would be able to design our own little virtual villages and populate them with people we can edit. Our real selves will be insulated from the real world. We will not be needed by anyone. And we will not need anyone. We will have our own AI psychologist, best friend, lover, planner and more. We will have extracted almost all of life’s vagaries away. We won’t be compelled to survive or overcome our circumstances to rise and shine. Me vs the world ceases.
Maybe then we will have the luxury to go out and feel the sun, the wind.
Maybe then we will sit under the stars or bask under the flood of moonlight.
Maybe then we will learn to light a fire and burn our loneliness away…
