X-Message-Number: 10942
From: 
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 16:10:07 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Money, self-esteem and the future

There is a belief that there is something sacred about intellectual creation.

But like anything else, if it becomes common, its value drops.  


There is also a supposition that PEOPLE will be the source for future "designs".


I expect that machines will almost certainly replace the faulty human mind in 
this area as well.

In memory and computational skills, the computer has already done so.

None of this is bad.


I would rather have an electric washing machine do the wash than use a 
washboard.

I would rather drive a car 100 miles than walk.


I would rather use a computer tax accounting program than hire a human 
bookkeeper.


(The IRS actually found fewer errors resulting in audits from computer tax 
program users than 
professional tax prepared returns.  This was true for me, personally).


There is an underlying hubris regarding the need to NOT see that anything a 
human can do, a 
machine can or will probably do better in the future.

Technological advances will give us immortality.

Technological advances will enable cryonauts to be revived.


As technology progresses and surpasses all human potential, you had best not pin
your "worth" 
(money-era concept) on your skills, creativity or any other quality or ability.

John Henry learned this the hard way.

It killed him.


People still feel a need to place a monetary value on just about everything - 
especially 
themselves.

This is called "self-esteem".

What actually works for "mental health" and enjoying life is NOT self esteem.


What works is self-acceptance.  (See books by therapist Albert Ellis for more 
detailed 
treatment).

It is rare.

More commonly, an individual identifies himself with something he can DO.


This is why most people would rather be dead RIGHT and buried six feet, than 
WRONG.

I can see how machines will inevitably DO EVERTHING better than ANY human.

Of course, the symbiosis of man with machine will redefine what "human" means.


Those who then identify with their human skills (creativity, etc.) will feel 
inferior.


...Unless they give up the need for self-evaluation in favor of self-acceptance.


Eventually, the current human state will be a distant memory, no more relevant 
to that future 
"human" than our evolutionary history as fish.

But this issue has much to do with what is important RIGHT NOW.

The need to BE RIGHT is the emotional child of self-evaluation (self-esteem).

It clogs the flow of technological progress.

It calcifies the minds of each generation of scientists.


I read right here on the cryonet example after example of smart people who DON'T
READ what 
others write but dash off replies to prove their own views correct.

What would happen if you truly realized you WERE NOT SURE of your views?

(The future is still UNKNOWN, right?  Ever been surprised?).


Then information and ideas different from your own would not be perceived as 
threats.


The "threat" comes from the NEED to prove your views are "right" and others' 
"wrong".


This NEED comes from identifying yourself with these views AND evaluating 
yourself.

You exist.

You don't NEED to be "right" or "valuable" to exist.


Coming from self-acceptance (dropping self-esteem as a mental step) is 
liberating.

Then the whole of the universe of experience just "becomes" what it is.


Information which otherwise might be "threatening" to "your" view/opinion, 
"becomes" just 
information.


By the way, if the concept of self-acceptance seems difficult and self-esteem 
somehow a golden 
standard, consider what PERFECT self-esteem would be.


A person with PERFECT self-esteem would never feel bad no matter what mistake he
made and would 
not identify with his actions and creations (mental and physical).


In other words, a man with PERFECT self-esteem would NOT EVALUATE himself based 
upon the 
qualities of his actions.

In other words PERFECT self-esteem is identical to NO self-esteem.

What is left is simple self-acceptance.


I urge all of you who strive for long and happy lives to consider 
self-acceptance.


Imagine how things would change if more and more people would concern themselves
with what is 
true, instead of proving their views are right.

Imagine how rapidly negotiations in any arena of human life could be concluded.

But then these are just my ideas.

I am not my ideas.

I simply AM.

Ideas are something I do.

In summary:

"He who dies with the most toys is ...dead."

"I am Ozmodias.  Look upon my mighty works and despair."

I am George Smith.  So what?

-George Smith

P.S. Ozzy is dead.  His mighty works and Ozzy are BOTH gone.

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