“I am standing here beside myself” is what Ben Jabituya (played by Fisher Stevens) said in the 1986 classic movie, Short Circuit.
Stevens played an Indian engineer who was looking at a robot, “Number 5,” when he said it.
I was 7 years old watching the movie, and remember thinking What the hell does that mean?
It’s pretty deep, so you could forgive a kid for not getting it. In fact, I bought Def Leppard Hysteria that same year. I also didn’t “get it” when they asked as much in “Armageddon It.”
That was almost 40 years ago. And I finally feel like I get what Jabituya meant.
Here it is. When experiencing intense emotions, it can feel as though you’re outside yourself—which I happen to believe is a prerequisite for peak performance.
The reason? It allows for more objectivity—the ability to observe and monitor yourself.
But that’s not where I’m going. The rise of Number 5, and subsequently AI & Robotics, perfectly coincides with population decline across the globe.
In developed nations, the birthrate isn’t keeping pace with what’s needed for us to continue.
By us, I mean humans (for you 7-year old readers).
In the US, the fertility rate is below replacement. And although it’s above replacement among immigrant families and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds—my wife is from both yet we only have one kiddo.
Maybe I need to go harder at what Allen Iverson complained about.
Get it?
Well, that’s not what I’m getting at either.
What has me standing here beside myself is the fact that humans have been around for about 300,000 years—but right now—as I stand here (thanks to advances in standing-desk technology)—we’re experiencing population decline at the same time as the rise of AI & robots.
And while many “simulation-theorists” are immigrants, they’re hardly low socioeconomic status (Elon Musk ain’t poor). No, they’re getting insanely rich.
Arguments for “simulation theory” are given more credence everyday. As we fade away.
300,000 years of humans, and the autonomous robots coming perfectly coincides with population decline.
Armageddon It?
If not, ask AI. That’s where I got the idea for this article.
