As winter approaches, it is a good time to contemplate on some of the doomsday scenarios that have been floating around lately due to the rapid expansion of AI. Winter is coming, indeed, but AI may be the least of our problems. The world around us somehow seems more disintegrated and troubling than it has been for a long time, if ever.
I read somewhere that there are now more wars and military conflicts around the world than at any time in history since World War II. A day later I read about how the world’s biggest iceberg, A23a, has broken up and is now disintegrating. I find it almost symbolic to the overall global disintegration of our so-called civilization. I am a student of analytical psychology and find it interesting that Carl Jung believed that our society was in a state of decline before he died. This may be why I see the status of the world in such a pessimistic way. While Jung shared his vision of the future in the late 50’s, I would argue that the psychological state of the average person is even more disturbed today than it was in his time. It appears that we are susceptible to a mass psychosis and that the actions of our political leaders have revealed that they are not of sound mind. This to me is a recipe for a disaster even if it does not mean the apocalypse that some people have been predicting recently.
Today is the birthday of Friedrich Nietzsche. Like him, we are staring at a profound abyss. Yet, many people are blindfolded and unable to see it. Toxic positivity surrounds us and anyone who doesn’t fit into the system is seen as being sick and subject to adjustment. It seems that defense mechanisms popularized by Sigmund Freud are now used more than ever before. People rationalize, repress, suppress, and misplace their feelings at times and this may happen a lot these days. I also see a lot of denial, intellectualization, and projection going on. Some individuals learn to sublimate, channeling their unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable and productive activities. Workaholism is, after all, almost a patch of honor in our society. Each person finds their own way to cope and to survive. Some are more socially adaptive than others. As a result, mood disorders are now more widespread than we have seen for a while. People are anxious and depressed for a reason.
The situation we are in should not need to lead to mass depression and general doom. The truth is found at the cave that we fear. We must be able to accept that something is broken before we can attempt to fix it. Opening our eyes to the painful reality is not easy and it takes vulnerability and courage. However, we must start these discussions as a community and start the healing before it is too late for us all. It is not too late yet, but we must start somewhere. We are facing a collective hero’s journey and must prepare for it before our world turns into a wasteland.
