Читать книгу Homo narrare. Narrative Intelligence 3.0: Managing Reality and Influencing People - Арсен Аветисов - Страница 8

Modern knowledge already enables us to deliberately shape worldviews according to externally imposed meanings and externally pursued goals. We are both perfect and imperfect at the same time. The prevailing imperative of consuming in the here and now, characteristic of us all, already casts doubt on the existence of future generations. One thing can be stated with confidence: the majority of humanity, having managed to survive under dubious regimes and in a toxic environment, will inevitably be enslaved by the stories told to them, no matter the circumstances. And enslaved, dependent people always underestimate their own abilities and potential.

We do not notice changes because we live in a world of stereotypes – stereotypes of perceiving meaning. Our brain and body seize every opportunity to avoid activating consciousness because they do not intend to rely on it. All our lives, we try to train the mammal that we are – or at least explain and justify its behavior to ourselves. A person cannot be understood merely as what they do, say, or think. Behavior can be shaped by entirely different and hidden causes: actions by the instinct to impress or escape, words by the desire to dominate or defend, and thoughts by fear or love – or both at once. But a person is all these things together; they are all these narratives about admiration, submission, fear, and love. Or at least they seem so to us…

The expression «to be, not to seem» carries a paradoxical meaning. We are as we are, and our environment sees us as we are. At the same time, we seem to ourselves as we are, and then we become what we seemed to ourselves. What is fulfilled is what you strive for, not what you avoid. Movement «toward something» differs from movement «away from something.» It is like replacing forecasting with planning. We persistently follow the scripts of our meanings because meanings are what our brain creates to confirm the coherence and identity of our personality, as well as the consistency and causality of our actions. The brain is constantly focused on justifying our existence and deeds. Deep down, we always forgive ourselves our mistakes, viewing them as well-thought-out and wise schemes that simply did not work for various reasons.

But do we truly think? What do we mean by «thinking»? The term «thinking» emerged from an unsuccessful attempt to describe our mental activity. Even today, when we know incomparably more about the source and location of «thinking» than in past millennia, there is still no reliable picture of how we actually think.

There are some facts and assertions. For instance, thinking is influenced by associative memory and prevailing narratives. All our judgments, preferences, tastes, and decision-making systems are based on this memory. Even when we decide what is good or bad, right or wrong, beautiful or not, it is all determined not by our sight, smell, or hearing but by memory and the stories tied to these evaluations that we tell ourselves.

According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, language determines our thinking. The work of artificial intelligence operates similarly – a system of words, corresponding images, speech constructs, and associated concepts. It is an imitation of mental activity, a game with connections to the real world.

Most children raised in contemporary culture cannot adequately describe the processes happening around them because their vocabulary no longer matches their growing, diversifying experience. To some extent, both language and its established codifications are to blame for our simplified perception of the environment and superficial thinking. With the current pace of development, we need more words to formulate problems. However, the vocabulary used to describe them is catastrophically shrinking, even as new terms accompanying progress emerge.

Every day, we make hundreds of choices and provide hundreds of answers to questions humanity faces. Yet we lack both the time and understanding of the essence of these problems. People involve artificial intelligence, transferring responsibility to machine code. But they forget that in any case, the conclusion to their decisions, choices, answers, and intricate life narratives will ultimately be a stone bearing two dates: the date of entry and the date of exit from the tiresome necessity of choosing. It is worth remembering that after the exit date, there is not only no choice but, strictly speaking, nothing at all. However, there is nothing only for the individual, not for the artificial systems they created to simulate thinking. Where and how does the boundary of trust in such decision-making programs lie – programs indifferent to the lives of specific men and women and bearing no responsibility for them?

The very first question God asked Adam, «Where are you?» has echoed through the air of human civilization for thousands of years. Where are we in relation to God’s plan? Where do we walk, and why? What do we seek, and is it what we find? And while people strive to answer these profound questions, stories with ready-made answers, narratives with meanings and goals, artificial intelligence, and other distractions have already been prepared for them to bypass the tedious moment of philosophical reflection and start entertaining themselves and spending money. Money they will again have to earn «by the sweat of their brow,» as God promised in response to Adam’s timid justification for his transgression.

But not because all these enticing stories about success, struggle, consumption, and power were invented by some greedy members of a secret club of hidden knowledge, worshippers of the cult of capital, and global domination. Of course not. Simply because these club members are also compelled to spend money by other narratives and other secret clubs. Such is the endless carousel of life, commonly referred to as the spiral of development.