This is a deeply engaging piece, and I find myself strongly aligned with your perspective.
In particular, the passage distinguishing “work” from “hobby” felt almost like art to me. And the invitation to think together is something I find impossible not to resonate with.
If I may add one thought, very cautiously: there is one person in my life whom I would, honestly, describe as lazy. But he was not born that way. Over time, childhood trauma and repeated misfortune accumulated, and eventually he stopped leaving his home altogether, even refusing therapy or counseling.
Watching this up close has made me a little more careful with the idea that humans are never lazy by nature. Once inertia hardens into habit, escaping it can require a level of willpower comparable to breaking an addiction—sometimes even more. And I’m not convinced that such strength is common.
For that reason, while I agree that automation is an unavoidable trajectory, I also believe we need to diversify human desire away from money as a single axis of value. Modern society makes a structural mistake by measuring human worth—and recognition—almost exclusively through financial success.
If we could find ways to guide or satisfy our need for recognition through means other than money, I think we would move closer to a healthier society.
Interestingly, even the isolated person I mentioned seems to seek recognition and connection through the internet, using it as a way to engage with others.
Thank you so much for this, I really appreciate how carefully and thoughtfully you’ve engaged with the piece.
I was especially moved by what you shared about the person in your life. What stood out for me most was exactly what you named yourself – that he was not born that way. That distinction feels very important. What you describe sounds less like “laziness” and far more like someone shaped over time by trauma, misfortune, and an environment that offered diminishing support, until inertia became a kind of survival response.
I agree with you that once those patterns harden, finding a way out can require a lot of inner strength, care, and support – often far more than we tend to acknowledge.
This is also where I think the surrounding socio-economic conditions matter deeply. Systems that tie worth, security, and recognition so tightly to productivity and financial success can quietly reshape how people see themselves and others, especially when they’re already struggling. Over time, that can turn difficulty into shame, and exhaustion into withdrawal.
I can relate to what you said about seeking connection online too. Living with chronic illness and periods of depression has, at times, made physical connection much harder for me – but the desire for connection itself never disappeared. It just found other pathways.
I also strongly agree with your point about money becoming a single axis of value. When recognition and worth are measured primarily through financial success, it can quietly condition behaviour over time – amplifying anxiety, comparison, and fear, while diminishing curiosity, care, and more cooperative aspects of our nature.
I don’t see this as a simple nature-versus-nurture question either. Human behaviour is shaped by biology, experience, trauma, culture, and to a large degree the systems we live within. That complexity is exactly why designing environments around dignity, care, and multiple forms of contribution feels so important to me.
Thank you again for sharing this so openly – it genuinely added something meaningful to the conversation for me. 🌿
Thank you, I really appreciate you reading and sharing your thoughts. I agree that technology can become controlling when it’s shaped by narrow values or used without care. Implementing it in both productive and healthy ways feels really important here. For me, it’s less about the technology itself and more about how we choose to design and use it within the systems around it. 🌿
It can certainly feel like our species has taken a step backwards at times, especially in the current political climate. I hope our systems and values are able to catch up and align with our technological ability. 🌿
Thank you, I really appreciate you saying this. I like how you put that, daring to imagine something better. I’m glad it felt like a place where that could surface. 🌿
This felt calm, thoughtful, and quietly brave. I appreciated how you didn’t blame the technology, but gently questioned the system around it. The way you spoke about work, worth, and human potential really stayed with me. It felt like an invitation to imagine something kinder and more sane, without forcing an answer. Thank you for writing this.
“Humans are not naturally idle” — I couldn’t agree more, we’ve let ourselves get lazy and comfortable in the mundane. It’s important to move, continuously learn, and explore.
Thank you, I agree about the importance of movement, learning, and exploration. When people have the space and support to engage with life beyond survival pressures, those impulses tend to surface more easily. 🌿
Such a juicy debatable topic thanks for pouring this one out! It really is an exciting time, if we CHOOSE to see it as such.
It's up to us, to promote ethics and values. It is in the conscious choices that we make, with what we focus on and what we actually WANT to do with our beautiful lives if we don't have a 'job'. In some ways, it's seen that AI is 'taking away' our cogitative functioning.
Also true - we are going to have to become MORE creative and innovative to carve out the role we want and create the life we live. Beyond woo, it's a daily practice of intentional living - switched ON- not tuned out. Thank you for this!
Thank you, I really appreciate this. I agree with you that there’s a genuine opportunity here if we choose to meet it consciously.
I also appreciate what you said about AI being seen as “taking away” our cognitive functioning. To me, that feels less like an inevitability and more like a question of how we choose to use it, and what we value. Used passively, it can certainly dull engagement, but used thoughtfully it can also free up mental energy for deeper thinking, creativity, and more intentional ways of living.
I like how you frame this around intention and values. If human time is no longer organised primarily around jobs, then questions of what we want to create, contribute, and care for really do come to the foreground. That feels less like something being taken away, and more like a shift in what’s being asked of us. 🌿
It’s all a big test simulation of consciousness/intelligence levels, at least in my reality.
Imagine! A whole load of us wild beings out here without jobs, left to our own creative ways...(though I think many of us here kinda already are - I certainly am, like a big unsupervised child).
That image made me smile – “a big unsupervised child” feels very apt. There’s something quietly liberating about imagining people trusted with their own curiosity again, free to explore what wants to emerge. 🌿
Great article that touches on a lot of concerns of mine. I have embraced AI from the start, contrary to a lot of my peers. Because I can see the possibilities. The problem is that AI development is so explosive, regulations and ethical concerns simply can't catch up. In regards to possible future wealth distribution, I can only say: Where's a will, there's a way. Even though we are talking about a technological area, this battle will be won in the most human areas of ego, solidarity, compassion and ethics.
Thank you, I really appreciate this. I agree that the pace of AI development makes it hard for regulation and ethics to keep up, but the deeper questions were always going to be human ones.
I like how you’ve put that – ego, solidarity, compassion and ethics feel like the real terrain this will be decided on. Technology may accelerate change, but it’s our values that shape where it actually leads. 🌿
I have often dreamed of a society where everyone was given equal value resources but they could choose within those resources how to allocate them. So if some people cared more about their clothing then say what they ate, they might go for the more luxurious fabrics, and have simpler food. Of course this would apply to much larger and essential things as well. Also the idea of everyone having access to Fresh and healthy foods, not overly processed foods that have been cheaply produced, keeping the health and quality of life low for those who don't have enough money, and in the system, making it even harder for them to make more money because they are unhealthy.
There is enough and to spare a food on this Earth. It is a matter of logistics and seeing it distributed. But we use basic human needs as Leverage, to make ourselves feel powerful by having something someone else needs. I would like to see a change. I would like a new system. But I fear, that it won't happen planned or organically, but after everything has broken completely, and we've been brought to our knees forced to rebuild. Maybe it needs to come to that. I hope not.
Thank you for such a thoughtful reply, I really appreciate you sharing this.
I especially resonate with what you said about equality not meaning everyone having the exact same of everything, but having fair access and the freedom to allocate resources differently based on needs, values, and preferences. That kind of adaptability feels essential in any system designed around human wellbeing rather than control.
I also agree with you about food – and more broadly, about resources in general. There really is more than enough to feed, clothe, and house everyone many times over. And as you said, it’s less a question of scarcity and more one of logistics, distribution, and the values we’ve chosen to organise around.
And I share your concern about meaningful change only coming once things have broken down far enough that we’re forced to rethink them. That fear feels very real to me too, and I don’t have an easy answer to it. I think part of what matters, at least for now, is being willing to name these possibilities and tensions honestly, and to keep imagining alternatives even when the path toward them isn’t clear. 🌿
Some may call these thoughts indulgent idealism. But I think imagining a better world is what keeps us from complete collapse. We need idealists, because even in failing to reach their lofty goals, some progress may happen.
As a religious person, my belief is things are pre-designated to become very bad before they get better, but it is by holding to ideals and principles that the storm will be weathered. Not by shrugging and saying the world is horrible and can never recover, and giving up values and the ability to see humanity in a different way. Not by adopting the motto "When in Rome, do as the Romans" any more than is necessary to survive.
I really appreciate how you’ve put this. I agree that imagining better possibilities isn’t indulgent, it’s often what prevents resignation from taking over. Even when the path isn’t fully realised, the act of imagining and aiming for something more humane can still shape what becomes possible.
What you said about holding to values through difficult periods resonates with me too. Letting go of curiosity, compassion, or the ability to envision alternatives feels far more dangerous than the risk of idealism. Refusing to simply drift with whatever is “normalised” can be a quiet but powerful form of care. 🌿
I often try to resist letting some things become normalised, but there are a few things that slip past my notice. I only realise that I let it through when I examine past journal entries and see how different my principles were, and where I've let down the sides. On the other hand, there are some 'ideals' I have relaxed and think I am better for it. I would say some of my old 'ideals' were prejudicial in nature. It is tricky figuring out which are the ones to hold on to, and which to let go.
But, yes, resisting is a form of self care. And that resistance doesn't need to be loud or shouted from the rooftops. We can be silent observers, standing behind the one-way mirror, waiting for a moment when our principles can bring value back to a world that is willing to receive them.
I really appreciate what you said here. That process of noticing where things quietly become normalised – and only realising it in hindsight – feels very human. I recognise that tension too, between holding on to what still feels grounding and letting go of things that no longer sit right, or that we later see were shaped by fear or prejudice rather than care.
I like how you frame resistance as something quiet and attentive rather than performative. Being a silent observer, staying in touch with our principles, and waiting for moments where they can genuinely be of use feels like a kind of patience that’s often overlooked. And I agree that kind of resistance can be a form of self-care as much as anything else. 🌿
Definitely think we need to start planning for a world where human time doesn't revolve around work as we know it. But perhaps it will be a world where creation and thinking finally has room to breathe...
Beautifully put. I agree that it’s not technology that’s driving collapse…it’s revealing what our systems actually prioritise. There is a need to stop normalising what no longer serves us, and to start imagining structures built around human wellbeing, care, hope and possibility. 💛
Yes, I’m very familiar with his work. “The Best That Money Can’t Buy” and “Future by Design” have stayed with me over the years. I appreciate you noticing the connection, and thanks for reading. 🌿
Thank you for sharing that. I feel the same, there is so much potential in how it can support and expand what we’re able to do. It’s the bigger picture that fascinates me most too. 🌿
This is a deeply engaging piece, and I find myself strongly aligned with your perspective.
In particular, the passage distinguishing “work” from “hobby” felt almost like art to me. And the invitation to think together is something I find impossible not to resonate with.
If I may add one thought, very cautiously: there is one person in my life whom I would, honestly, describe as lazy. But he was not born that way. Over time, childhood trauma and repeated misfortune accumulated, and eventually he stopped leaving his home altogether, even refusing therapy or counseling.
Watching this up close has made me a little more careful with the idea that humans are never lazy by nature. Once inertia hardens into habit, escaping it can require a level of willpower comparable to breaking an addiction—sometimes even more. And I’m not convinced that such strength is common.
For that reason, while I agree that automation is an unavoidable trajectory, I also believe we need to diversify human desire away from money as a single axis of value. Modern society makes a structural mistake by measuring human worth—and recognition—almost exclusively through financial success.
If we could find ways to guide or satisfy our need for recognition through means other than money, I think we would move closer to a healthier society.
Interestingly, even the isolated person I mentioned seems to seek recognition and connection through the internet, using it as a way to engage with others.
Thank you so much for this, I really appreciate how carefully and thoughtfully you’ve engaged with the piece.
I was especially moved by what you shared about the person in your life. What stood out for me most was exactly what you named yourself – that he was not born that way. That distinction feels very important. What you describe sounds less like “laziness” and far more like someone shaped over time by trauma, misfortune, and an environment that offered diminishing support, until inertia became a kind of survival response.
I agree with you that once those patterns harden, finding a way out can require a lot of inner strength, care, and support – often far more than we tend to acknowledge.
This is also where I think the surrounding socio-economic conditions matter deeply. Systems that tie worth, security, and recognition so tightly to productivity and financial success can quietly reshape how people see themselves and others, especially when they’re already struggling. Over time, that can turn difficulty into shame, and exhaustion into withdrawal.
I can relate to what you said about seeking connection online too. Living with chronic illness and periods of depression has, at times, made physical connection much harder for me – but the desire for connection itself never disappeared. It just found other pathways.
I also strongly agree with your point about money becoming a single axis of value. When recognition and worth are measured primarily through financial success, it can quietly condition behaviour over time – amplifying anxiety, comparison, and fear, while diminishing curiosity, care, and more cooperative aspects of our nature.
I don’t see this as a simple nature-versus-nurture question either. Human behaviour is shaped by biology, experience, trauma, culture, and to a large degree the systems we live within. That complexity is exactly why designing environments around dignity, care, and multiple forms of contribution feels so important to me.
Thank you again for sharing this so openly – it genuinely added something meaningful to the conversation for me. 🌿
I enjoy your work and this did not disappoint!! Bravo!! Thanks for sharing!! :)
Thank you, Gloria, I really appreciate that. I’m glad it resonated. 🙂🌿
So well written
Thank you, I really appreciate that. 🌿
I really love this perspective. We must continue to take action to seek clarity. Although there is a time and place for stillness. 🩷
Thank you – yes, that balance between action and stillness feels really important. 🤍🌿
There is a say " if you do not control technology, it will control you in future"
Technological advancement is necessary but in a controlled way.
Thanks for sharing your article and keep writing 💫
Thank you, I really appreciate you reading and sharing your thoughts. I agree that technology can become controlling when it’s shaped by narrow values or used without care. Implementing it in both productive and healthy ways feels really important here. For me, it’s less about the technology itself and more about how we choose to design and use it within the systems around it. 🌿
We're cavemen with nukes. We either take an evolutionary step forward or we destroy ourselves.
It can certainly feel like our species has taken a step backwards at times, especially in the current political climate. I hope our systems and values are able to catch up and align with our technological ability. 🌿
We 'uns here around Substack seem to be stepping smartly forward! 👌
It does feel encouraging to find pockets of thoughtful, forward-leaning conversation here. Grateful for that sense of shared direction 🌿
This is a very eloquently put vision of the same things I occasionally allow myself to dare dreaming of.
Thank you, I really appreciate you saying this. I like how you put that, daring to imagine something better. I’m glad it felt like a place where that could surface. 🌿
This felt calm, thoughtful, and quietly brave. I appreciated how you didn’t blame the technology, but gently questioned the system around it. The way you spoke about work, worth, and human potential really stayed with me. It felt like an invitation to imagine something kinder and more sane, without forcing an answer. Thank you for writing this.
Thank you, I really appreciate how you’ve put this. I’m glad the piece came across as an invitation rather than an answer. That means a lot. 🌿
“Humans are not naturally idle” — I couldn’t agree more, we’ve let ourselves get lazy and comfortable in the mundane. It’s important to move, continuously learn, and explore.
Thank you, I agree about the importance of movement, learning, and exploration. When people have the space and support to engage with life beyond survival pressures, those impulses tend to surface more easily. 🌿
Such a juicy debatable topic thanks for pouring this one out! It really is an exciting time, if we CHOOSE to see it as such.
It's up to us, to promote ethics and values. It is in the conscious choices that we make, with what we focus on and what we actually WANT to do with our beautiful lives if we don't have a 'job'. In some ways, it's seen that AI is 'taking away' our cogitative functioning.
Also true - we are going to have to become MORE creative and innovative to carve out the role we want and create the life we live. Beyond woo, it's a daily practice of intentional living - switched ON- not tuned out. Thank you for this!
Thank you, I really appreciate this. I agree with you that there’s a genuine opportunity here if we choose to meet it consciously.
I also appreciate what you said about AI being seen as “taking away” our cognitive functioning. To me, that feels less like an inevitability and more like a question of how we choose to use it, and what we value. Used passively, it can certainly dull engagement, but used thoughtfully it can also free up mental energy for deeper thinking, creativity, and more intentional ways of living.
I like how you frame this around intention and values. If human time is no longer organised primarily around jobs, then questions of what we want to create, contribute, and care for really do come to the foreground. That feels less like something being taken away, and more like a shift in what’s being asked of us. 🌿
Yes! Great perspective.
It’s all a big test simulation of consciousness/intelligence levels, at least in my reality.
Imagine! A whole load of us wild beings out here without jobs, left to our own creative ways...(though I think many of us here kinda already are - I certainly am, like a big unsupervised child).
I wonder what magic is possible?!
That image made me smile – “a big unsupervised child” feels very apt. There’s something quietly liberating about imagining people trusted with their own curiosity again, free to explore what wants to emerge. 🌿
I can fully confidently confirm it's a magical way to live 🙌✨
Great article that touches on a lot of concerns of mine. I have embraced AI from the start, contrary to a lot of my peers. Because I can see the possibilities. The problem is that AI development is so explosive, regulations and ethical concerns simply can't catch up. In regards to possible future wealth distribution, I can only say: Where's a will, there's a way. Even though we are talking about a technological area, this battle will be won in the most human areas of ego, solidarity, compassion and ethics.
Thank you, I really appreciate this. I agree that the pace of AI development makes it hard for regulation and ethics to keep up, but the deeper questions were always going to be human ones.
I like how you’ve put that – ego, solidarity, compassion and ethics feel like the real terrain this will be decided on. Technology may accelerate change, but it’s our values that shape where it actually leads. 🌿
I have often dreamed of a society where everyone was given equal value resources but they could choose within those resources how to allocate them. So if some people cared more about their clothing then say what they ate, they might go for the more luxurious fabrics, and have simpler food. Of course this would apply to much larger and essential things as well. Also the idea of everyone having access to Fresh and healthy foods, not overly processed foods that have been cheaply produced, keeping the health and quality of life low for those who don't have enough money, and in the system, making it even harder for them to make more money because they are unhealthy.
There is enough and to spare a food on this Earth. It is a matter of logistics and seeing it distributed. But we use basic human needs as Leverage, to make ourselves feel powerful by having something someone else needs. I would like to see a change. I would like a new system. But I fear, that it won't happen planned or organically, but after everything has broken completely, and we've been brought to our knees forced to rebuild. Maybe it needs to come to that. I hope not.
Thank you for such a thoughtful reply, I really appreciate you sharing this.
I especially resonate with what you said about equality not meaning everyone having the exact same of everything, but having fair access and the freedom to allocate resources differently based on needs, values, and preferences. That kind of adaptability feels essential in any system designed around human wellbeing rather than control.
I also agree with you about food – and more broadly, about resources in general. There really is more than enough to feed, clothe, and house everyone many times over. And as you said, it’s less a question of scarcity and more one of logistics, distribution, and the values we’ve chosen to organise around.
And I share your concern about meaningful change only coming once things have broken down far enough that we’re forced to rethink them. That fear feels very real to me too, and I don’t have an easy answer to it. I think part of what matters, at least for now, is being willing to name these possibilities and tensions honestly, and to keep imagining alternatives even when the path toward them isn’t clear. 🌿
Some may call these thoughts indulgent idealism. But I think imagining a better world is what keeps us from complete collapse. We need idealists, because even in failing to reach their lofty goals, some progress may happen.
As a religious person, my belief is things are pre-designated to become very bad before they get better, but it is by holding to ideals and principles that the storm will be weathered. Not by shrugging and saying the world is horrible and can never recover, and giving up values and the ability to see humanity in a different way. Not by adopting the motto "When in Rome, do as the Romans" any more than is necessary to survive.
I really appreciate how you’ve put this. I agree that imagining better possibilities isn’t indulgent, it’s often what prevents resignation from taking over. Even when the path isn’t fully realised, the act of imagining and aiming for something more humane can still shape what becomes possible.
What you said about holding to values through difficult periods resonates with me too. Letting go of curiosity, compassion, or the ability to envision alternatives feels far more dangerous than the risk of idealism. Refusing to simply drift with whatever is “normalised” can be a quiet but powerful form of care. 🌿
I often try to resist letting some things become normalised, but there are a few things that slip past my notice. I only realise that I let it through when I examine past journal entries and see how different my principles were, and where I've let down the sides. On the other hand, there are some 'ideals' I have relaxed and think I am better for it. I would say some of my old 'ideals' were prejudicial in nature. It is tricky figuring out which are the ones to hold on to, and which to let go.
But, yes, resisting is a form of self care. And that resistance doesn't need to be loud or shouted from the rooftops. We can be silent observers, standing behind the one-way mirror, waiting for a moment when our principles can bring value back to a world that is willing to receive them.
I really appreciate what you said here. That process of noticing where things quietly become normalised – and only realising it in hindsight – feels very human. I recognise that tension too, between holding on to what still feels grounding and letting go of things that no longer sit right, or that we later see were shaped by fear or prejudice rather than care.
I like how you frame resistance as something quiet and attentive rather than performative. Being a silent observer, staying in touch with our principles, and waiting for moments where they can genuinely be of use feels like a kind of patience that’s often overlooked. And I agree that kind of resistance can be a form of self-care as much as anything else. 🌿
Definitely think we need to start planning for a world where human time doesn't revolve around work as we know it. But perhaps it will be a world where creation and thinking finally has room to breathe...
I really like how you’ve put that – creation and thinking having room to breathe feels like such an important part of this. 🌿
Beautifully put. I agree that it’s not technology that’s driving collapse…it’s revealing what our systems actually prioritise. There is a need to stop normalising what no longer serves us, and to start imagining structures built around human wellbeing, care, hope and possibility. 💛
Thank you so much, I really appreciate this, and I’m glad it resonated. 💛🍃
Jacque Fresco's "Venus Project" came to mind as I was reading this. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, I’m very familiar with his work. “The Best That Money Can’t Buy” and “Future by Design” have stayed with me over the years. I appreciate you noticing the connection, and thanks for reading. 🌿
well I'm old and I love AI. Personally it has been VERY useful for me and the bigger picture use/case intrigues me. It's refreshing to see your post.
Thank you for sharing that. I feel the same, there is so much potential in how it can support and expand what we’re able to do. It’s the bigger picture that fascinates me most too. 🌿