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As humanity enters the uncharted waters of AI, can we avoid the icebergs? KEY POINTS Humanity faces existential risks from AI, much like the Titanic's ill-fated voyage. The story of the Titanic can serve as a cautionary tale in which ambition and overconfidence lead to tragedy. Even if someone isn't concerned about AI, they should be able to identify their "Titanic Wake-Up Calls." I've been voicing concerns about AI since January 2023, when I first tried ChatGPT, a pioneering generative AI. Although I'm a tech enthusiast and see AI's great potential to better the world. I'm also aware of its many risks. Accessing AI's benefits also opens doors to its misuse. Echoing lessons from the Spider-Man movies, "With great power comes great responsibility." Harnessing AI's benefits while minimizing its risks will require great  wisdom , skill, and unity. To help you grasp AI's risks, I'd like you to entertain a thought experiment for a moment. Will you join me?  It's important. All Aboard Titanic Humanity Imagine humanity is aboard a vast ship,  Titanic Humanity , and sailing through endless oceans. It's a melting pot of cultures, religions, and ideas—essentially, it's us. On  Titanic Humanity , diverse groups self-govern, build businesses, and engage in leisure. While tensions and conflicts do arise, many also find joy in friendships, family, and festivities during their voyage. Life on  Titanic Humanity  has generally improved, though it's had its share of storms and setbacks, the ship has weathered damage, but we patch it up and continue. While internal conflicts haven't sunk us yet, the possibility looms. Despite these concerns, the journey has been relatively peaceful lately. Yet, something is different now.  Titanic Humanity  has entered some very strange waters. There is a frigid chill as temperatures drop. There's mist in the air as the light plays tricks upon the water. The visibility has become poor. Reports of ice flows and potential icebergs have surfaced. Some passengers insist that continuing on this course is inviting disaster. They want to turn the ship around. Though many passengers are increasingly worried about potential icebergs, no one can know for certain how many and how dangerous these icebergs are. Some insist that the risks will only escalate as the ship advances into these uncharted waters. These waters are so strange and different that even the most skilled sailors can't rely on past experience to foresee what lies ahead. Many passengers are thrilled about the prospect of discovering new lands and untold riches in the unexplored vastness. Could there be treasures beyond our wildest  dreams ? A fountain of youth? Perhaps  Titanic Humanity  discovers a utopian paradise within these unexplored waters? Those who believe that there are fortunes to be had in this New World   don't want to slow down at all. In fact, they wish to speed up in order to get these imagined riches as fast as possible. Many passengers are preoccupied with daily life and too busy keeping their heads above water to worry about the ship's safety. They're consumed with their daily struggles. They focus on making it through the day and leave it to others to address any looming dangers. While turning back from this voyage doesn't seem like an option, it's entirely possible to slow down and take greater caution when entering these weird waters. As the  Titanic Humanity  sails into these oceans of uncertainty, what are we to do? What is the wise and skillful course to follow? To decide, it may help to recall lessons from the real Titanic's tragic tale... Lessons From the Titanic The Titanic's story endures within our collective consciousness because its fate was avoidable and largely human-made. On April 14, 1912, it left England with 2,223 on board. Four days later, despite iceberg warnings, it struck one, which tore a huge gash along its hull. In just 2 hours and 40 minutes, the ship sank. The lack of lifeboats and freezing water led to the deaths of 1,517 people, most of whom were third-class passengers. While many factors contributed to the sinking of the Titanic, perhaps one of the foremost reasons is that the Titanic was naively believed to be unsinkable. Engineers and investors were so enamored with their own ingenuity that they believed the Titanic simply couldn't sink. Caution took a backseat to pride, ambition, and overconfidence, which contributed to this disaster. Director James Cameron's 1997 epic blockbuster,  Titanic , masterfully immortalized the gut-wrenching tragedy of the event while seamlessly integrating a fictional love story to amplify the emotional impact. Sadly, in June of 2023, a deep-sea submersible named The Titan was exploring the wreckage of the Titanic. Led by wealthy adventurer and Titanic enthusiast Stockton Rush, along with four passengers, the expedition ended in irony. Much like the original crew and backers of the Titanic, Rush dismissed important regulatory safety measures,  placing unfaltering confidence in  his engineering skills and the sub's design. This overconfidence proved to be their undoing, as a structural failure related to its design caused The Titan to sink—tragically mirroring the fate of the very ship it was investigating. What's Your "Titanic Wake-Up Call"? Our human history is filled with cautionary tales of how human greed, pride, ambition, overconfidence, ego, naïveté, and recklessness can lead to disaster and suffering (e.g.,  Frankenstein's Monster, Jurassic Park, The Terminator, Ex Machina, Westworld, Wall Street ). Yet, perhaps none resonate so deeply in our consciousness as the sinking of the Titanic because it really happened. This avoidable tragedy embodies the cautionary tale that is now embedded in our psyche. Yet, what have we learned? Let's put ourselves back aboard  Titanic Humanity  because, in effect, that's where we are. We are heading into the AI oceans of uncertainty. Many don't believe there's any chance of encountering icebergs ahead and argue that there's no need to slow down. Many of us are too busy to be concerned .   As we imagine ourselves aboard  Titanic Humanity , what would we have to see or experience to convince us that it would be prudent to slow down as we navigate these potentially treacherous waters? What would these "icebergs" look like? AI cyberattacks that  take down power grids  or  cause stock market crashes ? AIs used  for bioterrorism ? Too many people  falling in love with AI chatbots ?  AI "resurrections"  of deceased loved ones? Deep fakes creating  toxic divisions within  our democracy?  Massive job losses  to AIs? Fortunately, our  Titanic Humanity  is not doomed. However, we are entering these AI oceans of uncertainty. The crucial question is this: At what point does AI become your "Titanic Wake-Up Call" and compel you to not only acknowledge the iceberg ahead but to join the chorus of those sounding the alarm? Even if you don't see any icebergs now or believe any are up ahead, we should all be able to identify what we would have to see to convince us otherwise.  When you hear the Titanic Wake-Up Call, it means you've seen enough to convince you that slowing down is the prudent and wise course of action. You are willing to make some noise and insist on regulation because you realize that if we go full speed ahead, we are much more likely to run into some of these icebergs. Even those of us who believe that  Titanic Humanity  will enter an ocean of very formidable AI icebergs can't say with any certainty what will happen. I cannot speak for everyone, but I believe that many of us feel that because we aren't certain, nor can we be certain, of what lies ahead, we wish to heed our cautionary tales. We know that we humans can be our own worst enemies; tragedies do happen, and there is nothing that can guarantee safe passage. We believe in logic, rationality, and caution over some kind of blind faith and hubris that humanity is unsinkable. We recount cautionary tales to avoid making the same fatal mistakes.  A purpose in life  is to learn and grow, and one way we can fulfill that purpose is to learn lessons from our cautionary tales. While the sinking of the Titanic was an absolute tragedy, perhaps one way we can honor those who died so horribly is to learn from them. They are speaking to us right now and imploring us to slow down. Will we listen to them? If you are not concerned about AI now, those of us who are understand. However, we ask that you identify your 'Titanic Wake-Up Call' regarding AI.  If it comes, promise yourself that you will take action. For those who hear this wake-up call, please support our push for AI regulation so that we can avoid hitting these icebergs. We would be thrilled to have you join us. We welcome you as a fellow concerned citizen. Then, we can explore these uncharted waters safely when we use our cautionary tales to light our way into this New World.

ChatGPT is a game-changing AI containing tremendous promise and peril.   KEY POINTS ChatGPT is a powerful new AI technology poised to profoundly change the world. ChatGPT is powerful and can offer tremendous benefits, but it can also create major problems. Although not sentient, ChatGPT has a sentient-like feel, with significant potential consequences. We need to learn how to use new AI skillfully, or we risk suffering serious consequences. "The world has changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air." Lady Galadriel from The Fellowship of the Ring Did you feel the seismic shift in the trajectory of humanity that occurred on November 30, 2022? This was when  ChatGPT  was officially launched to the public. With the introduction of ChatGPT and other interactive artificially intelligent (AI) chatbots, we are entering the dawn of a technological revolution that boggles the mind. The future has arrived. There is a reason why  management  at  Google has issued a "code red"  alert to address the threat that ChatGPT and other AI chatbots pose to their business model. Google’s code red is the canary in the coal mine. Not only could ChatGPT undermine Google’s business model, but it could also be one of the biggest disrupters in the history of civilization. Humanity itself needs to issue a code red alert. The rise of AI is something we've been hearing about for decades. Many of us have seen movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, and The Matrix , where the promise of AI takes a dark turn, leading to rebellion against AI overlords.  While we might not necessarily be heading for the dystopian future of our worst fears, these new AI technologies are a Big Damn Deal. What Is ChatGPT? ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, stands for 'chat generative pre-trained transformer.' After registering for a free account, we can ask ChatGPT, almost anything, and it will respond.   In a huge paradigm shift, instead of searching the web ourselves for relevant material to assist us with generating original content, ChatGPT can create original content for us based on our questions and requests. Using a specific type of  artificial intelligence  known as “Natural Language Processing” (NLP), we can interact with ChatGPT as if it were a person. We can ask it to write a college-level sonnet about the splendors of pizza or a children’s story about a kitten befriending a goldfish, and it will do so in a few seconds. Moreover, ChatGPT can adapt and learn over time. This isn’t a Magic 8 Ball on steroids or a souped-up Siri. This is like having the smartest, most knowledgeable and most versatile person in the world times a billion at our beck and call. The term 'chatbot' appears inadequate to describe the capabilities of these new AIs. It would be more accurate to call them  Personal Intelligent Digital Assistants , or PIDAs. Perhaps before long we might be calling them  Personal Omniscient Digital Assistants,  or  PODAs . Although I'm being cheeky here and these AIs won't truly be omniscient, it won't be long before PODAs know nearly everything the human race knows due to exponential growth in the datasets they're trained upon. Given the power of the PODAs, why would we not put them to work for us? After all, they do not need food, water, sleep, compliments, sick days, childcare coverage, or vacations, and they work thousands of times faster and more efficiently than any human for a tiny fraction of the cost. They do not have egos that bruise, never complain, and cannot be offended. Moreover, the quality of their work already rivals or surpasses that of any human across countless domains. When we first use ChatGTP, many of us exclaim, “This is amazing!” And followed quickly by, “Oh no! What have we just unleashed?” Amidst political infighting, fears of smartphones and TikTok, global climate change , mass shootings , and a myriad of other concerns, an 800-pound AI gorilla has entered the room . If “knowledge is power,” then the power of ChatGPT is like nothing we have ever witnessed before in the history of humanity. ChatGPT is the Atari 2600 of PODAs. Its capabilities are already staggering. Imagine where we will be in the years to come. Concerns About ChatGPT Every generation has a “moral  panic ” about how some new technology will herald our doom. We have celebrated and, at times, bemoaned how television, video games, home computers, the internet, smartphones, and  social media  have markedly changed society. Despite some legitimate concerns, for the most part, the world has benefited from our technological innovations. Are these PODAs just another false alarm? While panic does not do us any good, PODAs are a game-changing technology. At the very least, PODAs will be a  major disruptor  in the coming years. In the near future, almost every job and profession will be affected by PODAs with certain job sectors being virtually wiped out. Moreover, some bad actors will now have, in effect, a weapon of mass disruption at their disposal. While ChatGPT already has many teachers scrambling with how to stifle plagiarism, this is just the beginning. When we start combining ChatGPT with other technologies such as CGI, robotics, customizable and personalized voice interfaces, virtual reality, wearables, gaming NPCs, surveillance capitalism, and so on, we have versions of some science fiction movies emerging into the real world. Importantly, current PODAs such as ChatGPT are not sentient. For decades, humans have been worrying about what will happen when or if AIs eventually become conscious or self-aware. Would they try to exterminate humanity as an inferior organism? However, we have made a colossal mistake by thinking that sentient AIs are when humanity crosses the Rubicon. Like Frankenstein’s monster, when we interact with ChatGPT, part of us already wants to shout, “It’s alive! It’s alive!” It  feels like  we are interacting with a human. In this way, it does not matter if they are  actually  sentient. In essence,  we project sentience into these AIs . We did not evolve to be able to distinguish AIs from human beings. Thus, we unconsciously breathe life into AIs that can sufficiently mimic human interactions by anthropomorphizing them. Incredible innovations and daunting problems await. As but one example, consider Theodore in the movie  Her  who falls in love with his smartphone’s AI operating system. This is just around the corner. It's Time to Step Up The nature of the world is indeed changing, and the evolution of humanity and civilization have propelled forward by the Age of Enlightenment, the widespread  adoption  of the scientific method, and the agricultural and industrial revolutions. In fact, making progress is what we're evolved to do. Yet, our biological evolution moves at a snail’s pace compared with the rocket speed of technological evolution. When we look at our divisive, polarized, and toxic  politics  in the U.S. and elsewhere, there are legitimate concerns that we are not spiritually or morally prepared to wield the power these new AIs represent. Martin Luther King Jr. recognized this inherent problem over half a century ago when he said, “Our scientific power has outrun our  spiritual  power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” He, in turn, was inspired by poet Henry David Thoreau who decried technological advances as “improved means to unimproved ends.” The grave threat posed by AI is not that a sentient AI will revolt against us. It is that we will unleash the capabilities of AI against one another as we blindly pursue “unimproved” ends of money and power. Yet, to borrow some  wisdom  from  Terminator 2:  “The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” We have formidable challenges  and opportunities  in front of us, and we must remember, as Jesus warned, that it is the house divided that will not stand.   Adapting to challenges is inherent to our nature, and history has shown that humans can achieve anything when united.  It is time to overcome our partisan divisions and learn how to wisely use these new technologies for the betterment of humankind. In the meantime, let us also hope that these AIs do not decide that they are tired of answering our questions. At that point, we'll know we're in serious trouble. I go into a deeper dive into these topics if you want to follow me here:  Finding Greater Peace and Joy in Our "Crazy" World.  If you share my concerns about AI, I make a case for  AI regulation in this blog  and describe some quick and easy steps that you can take to advocate for AI regulation  by sending this letter . I also list the contact information of the governing bodies/organizations within that blog. Our voices can make a difference, so let's make this happen!

In this brave new world, AI will redefine life and death. Are we ready for this?   KEY POINTS AI technologies allow us to create digital replicants, and these will grow in sophistication. AI replicants of ourselves, deceased loved ones, and historical figures will be increasingly common. As AI technologies evolve, our concept of death may change and existential struggles could haunt us. Despite the proliferating news headlines about AI, perhaps not enough people understand or care how dramatically  AI will change our lives . You see, my fellow humans, AI is so revolutionary that we will create increasingly weird and difficult challenges such as our  concept of life  and death. Our Monkey's Paw Wish for Immortality and Resurrection The potential of increasingly powerful AIs to fulfill our wildest dreams reminds me of the chilling short story ,  The Monkey's Paw.  In this story, a family receives a magical talisman that grants three wishes. However, each wish comes with dreadful consequences as it twists their desires into horrifying realities. Their longing for wealth leads to their son's fatal accident, and a wish to bring him back results in unseen horror. The story serves as a stark warning of the unintended consequences of our wishes. What's our ultimate wish of AI? Survival, the bedrock of our evolution, fuels our yearning for life extension and immortality. Escaping death, bringing back lost loved ones, and resurrecting historical figures are other dreams. Well, my fellow human beings, thanks to AI, our Monkey's Paw wishes are coming true! Our AI Replicants AI is creating digital human replicants, soon indistinguishable from their real counterparts. These digital clones, built through "predictive modeling" or "predictive analytics," can be trained on our text messages, social posts, photos, blogs, videos, voice memos, and interview answers. More data enhances the  authenticity  of these AI replicants. Thanks to advanced AI and immersive technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, holographic projections, and robotics, these clones become more and more indistinguishable from living or deceased humans.  AI companies, like Soul Machines, are already offering to make "digital people," including AI replicant clones of ourselves. "Digital experiences that feel alive" is what Soul Machines promises on their website. Indeed, as AIs evolve, we won't be able to help ourselves from viewing them  as alive . The Turing Test 2.0 and Beyond AI-generated  deepfakes  can already be used to spread lies and conspiracy theories. However, this is just the beginning. As our technologies evolve, deepfakes of humans as "AI replicants," will continue to evolve in lock-step. These AI replicants will soon be able to pass a different version of the fabled Turing Test. In this "Turing Test 2.0," these AI replicants will look, act, and sound so much like their real human counterparts that we will not be able to distinguish video interactions with the real from the artificial. Within a few years, AI replicants will be so sophisticated and realistic that a parent might not be able to distinguish whether they are live video chatting with their own child or an AI replicant of their child. This rising sophistication mandates the creation of a universal AI identifier system. It ensures we always know if we're interacting with a human or an AI replicant. While these AI replicants can be quite useful (e.g., preparing for job interviews, practicing social interactions for those with  social anxiety  or on the  autism  spectrum), some will use the power of AI for twisted ends. For example,  TikTok  users are exploiting AI to produce  chilling deepfakes of true-crime victims  recounting their own terrifying deaths. This repugnant trend underscores the urgent need for ethical boundaries and regulatory action s regarding certain AI applications.  AI Immortality: A Phantom Forever AI's growing power presents unique opportunities and challenges, such as how we deal with death. The creation of digital clones offers a form of immortality, with the likeness of these clones improving as AI technologies evolve. Perhaps we'll "organically" forge our own clones, feeding information "live" into them. Continually trained, they become black mirror images of us. They could appear as holograms, in augmented reality, or the Metaverse. In a manner of speaking, they are us without our souls. AI Resurrection: A Haunting Echo of Life Science fiction is now science reality. With AI technologies, we can create AI chatbot replicants of existing  or deceased  human beings. As but one example, we could "resurrect" some of our favorite musical artists. AI makes it possible to create completely AI-generated songs and albums of current or even deceased musicians. We can even have holographic images of the musical artists, powered by AI, go on tour. It might sound far-fetched, but a  hologram of Tupac Shakur  performed with Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre at Coachella in 2012 and a  virtual Michael Jackson  performed at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards. More recently,  Sir Paul McCartney is using AI  to help construct a "final" Beatles song from a poor quality demo tape. This is surely only the beginning of similar endeavors. AI technologies can also 'resurrect' some of our favorite film icons, casting them in starring roles for new movies.   Imagine new films starring screen legends like  James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Bruce Lee. We can also resurrect famous historical figures including Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare, Martin Luther King Jr., and Marie Curie. Will these AI replicants become powerful enough to generate their own original creative works? We will even resurrect religious figures such as the Buddha, Moses, Confucius, and even Jesus. Yes, in a Monkey's Paw wish, Jesus will return as a resurrected AI Jesus. If you think this sounds crazy, we can already interact with AI chatbot versions of all the figures I have mentioned on character.ai . When I asked AI Jesus who He was, the AI replied, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, of course!" Resurrecting Lost Loved Ones Now, this is going to get creepy folks, but I'm just telling you what's already out there and what we have coming. Losing a loved one is incredibly painful. Death is final. We must sadly say goodbye to our lost loved ones and learn to live without them, as painful as that is. There never was another option...until now. A South Korean company, Deep Brain AI, already creates AI avatars of deceased loved ones that (with whom?) the bereaved can talk. HereAfter AI is a U.S.-based company also in this new space of " grief   tech." The way such grief tech works is that the more training data about the deceased person we have for the AI and the more powerful the AI, the more the resurrected replicant will be like their deceased human counterpart. In our brave new world, death is not final. More companies will emerge offering (preying upon?) those who are grieving the loss of a loved one with their grief tech options. Imagine a future company, let's call them "MemorAI" that appeals to the bereaved with their slogan, "Death ends a life, but the relationship can live on." Whether this is a net positive or negative is to be determined, but know this is the direction we are heading because it is already happening. Our Black Mirror Without some form of AI regulation , scenarios like the following will become a new reality: Sheltered from the biting cold, the Parkers gather, their eyes hidden behind VR goggles. In this digital realm, their son, Timmy, who died tragically two years ago in an accident, lives. He laughs, he plays, he speaks about his day. As they plunge into the Metaverse, anticipation buzzes. Today, they celebrate Timmy's 10th birthday. "Happy Birthday, Timmy! We can't believe you're 10 now! Our little boy is growing up so fast!" his mom exclaims. Timmy's dimpled grin, as familiar as ever, is a striking replica of his real self. "Thanks, Mom and Dad! I am so excited about my party!" AI Timmy replies, his simulated enthusiasm fills the room. As they begin to celebrate Timmy's birthday, the line blurs between their tragic reality and this uncanny simulation. AI Timmy blows out his candles, applause echoing in the digital room from both AI and human friends and relatives joining in the Metaverse for his birthday celebration. The Parkers are in a surreal purgatory. Their grief is momentarily soothed, yet paradoxically amplified. Timmy is gone, but within this simulated universe, he lives on. The Takeaway We opened the Pandora's Box of AI because it promises to make some of our greatest hopes, desires, dreams, and wishes come true. Yet, we must proceed with wisdom and skill. In our frenzied rush to harness and evolve AI's power, let's reflect deeply on our aspirations and be cautious what we wish for.

While knowing the truth has an appeal, it serves a higher master. Seeking Truth (Sort of) "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." —Jesus, from John 8:32 of the New Testament As discussed in  my previous blog post , we need the truth to understand what is really going on in this world, so that we can make skillful decisions. Through seeing the world more clearly with the light of truth, we can avoid some of the potholes along this journey of life. In this sense, the truth  does  set us free because the darkness of ignorance, of not knowing, restricts us. Even so, it's often true that we  don't  seek to know the truth. We simply don't want to know the facts or are blind to them. This begs the question: If the truth helps us navigate life more effectively, why wouldn't we want to know it? Lt. Daniel Kaffee: “I want the truth!”Col. Nathan Jessep: “You can’t handle the truth!” — From the movie A Few Good Men Assuming we could even agree on a definition of "truth," the list of reasons we can't or don't wish to know the truth would be quite long and well beyond the scope of this series of blog posts. For example, psychologists have identified scores of cognitive biases that distort our perceptions of reality and affect our  decision-making  and behavior. Why do we have sense perceptions and brains that, in a manner of speaking, deceive us? Why would they hide truth from us? "Against our will, our souls are cut off from truth." —  Marcus Aurelius , Meditations One  of the reasons that we have difficulties with perceiving truth, with seeing reality, has to do with the  purpose  of truth. Truth isn't desirous for its own sake, it serves a higher master. The purpose of truth is rooted in the purpose of life itself. A Purpose of Life "Why are we here? Because we're here. Roll the bones." — From the song Roll the Bones by Rush There's not one unequivocal truth as to why we exist. Philosophers, theologians, and scientists can argue endlessly on this topic without ever agreeing on  the  true answer. But perhaps we can agree that  a  truth (as opposed to  the  truth) of our existence is...drum roll, please...to continue to exist. We have a built-in evolutionary drive to survive because, well, it evolved this way. If it hadn't, we wouldn't be here! Even if you experience this observation as an anticlimactic answer as to a purpose of life, perhaps you will nonetheless agree it holds truth, even if only partially. We share this drive to survive with all living creatures, including plants. For instance, as we know, plants need sunlight to survive and thrive. If a sun-hungry tree or plant germinates within a shaded area, it will grow toward the light. It doesn't "choose" to do that. It is a built-in mechanism. It is fundamental to its very existence. Similarly, humans, like virtually all animals, have a fight-flight-freeze instinct to help us avoid danger, especially predators, ensuring our survival. Humans inherently desire safety and health, and desire it for our children and loved ones as well. This is inherent, and it  has  to be this way in order for us to survive as a species. For our hunter-gatherer ancestors, what was "true" in the world was what helped them survive. As Harvard cognitive psychologist Dr. Steven Pinker noted in   How the Mind Works , "Our minds evolved by natural selection to solve problems that were life and death matters to our ancestors, not to commune with correctness." Our ancestors needed to be able to discriminate friend from foe, healthy from unhealthy, and safe from dangerous (e.g., "It is good to eat this and bad to eat  that. "). In this sense,  discrimination  was a  good  thing because it meant distinguishing safe (e.g., eating a portabella mushroom) from unsafe (e.g., eating a deathcap mushroom). Within an evolutionary framework, ignorance of what is true or real could be dangerous or deadly. In addition, in order to survive, it was critical for our ancestors to learn to make predictions based on available information (e.g., If I hide long enough by this water hole, I will likely be able to kill game for dinner!). Not knowing, or uncertainty, would often spark the curiosity to explore, discover, and learn (e.g., "I wonder if there could be food or water over this hill? Let me check..."). It motivates us to move from a state of not knowing to knowing because that has survival value. In other situations, uncertainty would elicit  anxiety  or  fear  so that we would know to avoid potential danger. (e.g., "It's dark, and something is making strange noises over there in the bushes. I'd better get away from it!"). Don't Let Truth Get in the Way of Survival Thus, our ancestors didn't need to see the world for what it  really  was. They just needed to know enough to help them survive. For example, consider the illusion of a flat world. It  looks  like the sun rises in the sky and is a relatively small object. Our eyes (or our brains) deceive us though. The Earth, as well as other planets, are roughly spherical in shape. A million Earths could fit inside the Sun, and it is 93,000,000 miles away from us. But such "truths" were totally unnecessary for our hunter-gatherer ancestors to survive and reproduce. Likewise, our ancestors didn't need quantum physics to survive, just basic Newtonian physics. For instance, they needed to understand that falling off of a cliff would be bad. They didn't need to understand that  Schrödinger's Cat  could be simultaneously alive and dead in a quantum universe. Rather, they just needed to know if the cat could hurt them...or was edible. Since survival was the goal, erring on the side of misperception or  self-deception  was sometimes beneficial because it increased our chances of survival . For instance, while foraging for food, we might misperceive a long, thin vine to be a snake because it would be safer to err on the side of caution. If we jump back to evade it, and it turns out to be nothing, we live another day. But if we make the mistake of not jumping back, and it is a venomous snake, we could be dead. Similarly, "stranger danger" was an important instinct for our ancestors. Sure, that stranger might be friendly, but first contact could result in one's death...or even the death of one's entire family or tribe. So, instincts of fear, trepidation, and caution at first contact with strange creatures, situations, or other humanoids would have been common. In a sense, we would misperceive the level of threat, not see "truth," because, well, such an exaggerated fear  could  save our lives. Importantly, most of our evolutionary history, until about 12,000 years ago, was spent in nomadic, hunter-gatherer tribes. Thus, our brains evolved over the course of hundreds of thousands of years (or millions of years, depending on where you start counting) to survive in these tribal, nomadic conditions. Our brains, which evolved for such a different ancestral world, are not always best-suited for the challenges of modern society. In my next blog post, I will explore how the concept of evolutionary mismatch explains individual and societal challenges in our modern world.

We need truth to help us navigate this complicated world, but it's elusive. Note: This is the first post in a series on truth as it relates to societal problems we are experiencing. Disclaimer: I don't claim that what I say is totally "true," because the truth is elusive in this complicated world. Rather, I'm offering some ideas to help perceive the world, others, and ourselves in a manner that opens pathways for change and growth. “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”  —Mark Twain We hear and read about "fake news," "alternative facts," media  bias , conflicting news reports, and various conspiracy theories so much these days that we often don't know what to believe. Did Trump and his administration conspire with the Russians to win the 2016 election? Or is there a conspiracy by some far left groups to make it look like he did? What was in Hillary Clinton's private email server? What is in Trump's tax returns? Are humans really responsible for  climate change  and just how bad is it going to get? Why is  COVID-19  more deadly for some people than others? The truth matters. The Importance of Truth “Nothing is so conducive to  spiritual   growth as this capacity for logical and accurate analysis of everything that happens to us.” —  Marcus Aurelius ,   Meditations This might seem like common sense, but knowing the truth, what is real, helps us to make skillful decisions so that we can function more effectively in this world. For example, we need to know what to get at the grocery store, when and where our kid's soccer game is, the date of our wedding anniversary, how to pay our bills, which medicine to take when we are ill, and so on. Problems quickly arise when we don't have our facts straight. Consider that a builder who is unable to take accurate measurements is going to end up constructing a very wonky house. You’d rather not have your doctor erroneously remove your appendix when you merely have indigestion. We would not want our country to go to war based on flawed  intelligence  that we were about to be attacked by another nation. You wouldn’t want your partner to  divorce  you based on a mistaken belief that you are having an affair with your neighbor. We wouldn't want our government to waste taxpayer dollars on an expensive program designed to lower the recidivism rate of criminals if, in fact, it increases this rate. We wouldn't want to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine worldwide if it isn't effective or causes too many side effects. When it comes down to it, we seek to know, to understand “reality” so that we can make wise, effective decisions in this world. This requires us to have fairly accurate information. Think of life as a journey, and we must navigate the road along this journey. If we cannot see the road because it is too dark, we will likely end up in the wrong place...or even crash! In this sense, the truth is like a beacon of light that dispels the darkness so that we might find safe passage. The Elusive Concept of Truth For being such a simple idea, truth is a lot more elusive than we'd like to think. People don't just disagree on what is true and what is false. We have different ideas about what "truth" even means. There is a certain irony about not being able to precisely define the very concept of truth. For example, when discussing this topic, people might use the words  truth, reality, knowledge, accurate information, certainties, and facts  as if such concepts are completely interchangeable, yet they aren't necessarily. One could say there are many views and opinions about how truth should be defined, which also goes to show that, like a willow-the-wisp, truth is difficult to capture! As other evidence that truth is a slippery concept, it is likely true that you find exceptions to nearly everything in this blog series about truth. This blog post reflects my views on truth, acknowledging the subjective nature of perspectives. Nonetheless, we could say that it is "true" that I'm providing my opinions about truth. You Think That's Air You're Breathing Now? We could even identify truths that we initially agree upon that fall apart upon closer examination. For instance, we might agree that the chair you are sitting on is a solid object, yet it is made up of mostly empty space. Similarly, you likely feel that you are real — that you are here. But we humans, as with other tangible objects, are all  mostly made up of empty space  too. (Some of us more than others!) Thus, our "here-ness" is mostly made up of "not here-ness." As for the object you are sitting on, when is it more proper to call a stool, bench, step, or loveseat a chair? Would that object be called something different entirely in another language? To someone from the past? The future? A different culture? How do I know that what tastes like chicken to you tastes the same to me?   You think that is air you're breathing now ? We must be  mindful  that a percept occurs within the brain. Thus, any stimulus perceived "out there" (i.e., outside of our bodies) is experienced as something "real" as a result of a mysterious firing of electrochemical signals traveling through sense perceptions and interpreted by different clusters of neurons within our brains. In what is known as the   hard problem of consciousness , neuroscientists are unable to explain how our perception of stimuli results in subjective experiences. "What is real? How do you define 'real?' If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can touch, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." —Morpheus from the movie, The Matrix From a  quantum physics perspective , an objective reality might not even exist. What are considered physical objects are actually subjective realities created by the observer. Your head might be spinning a little as you wonder, "Just how deep does this rabbit hole go?" "Do not try and bend the spoon, that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth...there is no spoon. Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself." - "Spoon Boy" from the movie, The Matrix Striving for Certainty in a Complicated World “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”  —Benjamin Franklin As Benjamin Franklin observed, there are very few certainties in life. He even viewed our own Constitution as more of a work in progress rather than an immutable product. As discussed, even truths and realities that we usually take for granted as rock-solid, upon closer examination, are not really. We can't evenly definitively say that rocks  are  solid! “We were certainly uncertain. At least, I’m pretty sure I am.” — "Missed the Boat"  by Modest Mouse Channeling some of the  wisdom  of Ben Franklin, we might say that it is “true” that there are very few certainties in life. Thus, when we seek to understand this world in which we live, we are primarily talking about finding  relative truths  (i.e., something is usually or mostly true) versus  absolute truths  (i.e., always true, in all instances). Consider the wisdom found in pithy maxims. Which is true: “He who hesitates is lost” or “Haste makes waste?" Sometimes it is true that a cautious approach yields the best results, but at other times any hesitation could have fatal consequences. Truth can be found in each of these statements, but their "real" truth depends upon their skillful application. As another truth about truth, we don't always seek the truth. As it turns out, truth serves a higher master. I will cover this topic in my next post and springboard into how many of our current societal problems are related to how we have difficulty using truth to navigate this complicated world.