To create an ideal world for humanity, we must understand a
little bit of biology.
Every human being has core basic needs, which, if not
satisfied, causes health problems and unhappiness. Some psychiatrists separate those needs in
categories, but since I’m a biochemist, I prefer to look at them all from a
biological standpoint.
We all need the following to feel comfortable, content and
healthy:
- Oxygen
- Water
- Food (variety, not only cheeseburgers…)
- Sleep
- Shelter
- Low stress levels
- Physical contact with other animals (humans or otherwise)
Oxygen, water and food are obvious: these provide our bodies with the molecules
we need for our physical bodies to replenish, repair, grow, and generate
energy. If you miss some of them for a
certain amount of time, you will eventually die. That’s about as basic as it can get.
Sleep is interestingly just as important as food. It allows our brain to go into a “reset mode”
that stabilizes and clears it up ready for activity and thought[1]. At the same time, our bodies go into a sort
of repair mode when we sleep. If we
avoid sleep for an extended amount of time, we could suffer from paranoia,
hallucinations, mood changes, memory issues, high blood pressure, weight gain,
a weakened immune system and of course muscle pain. Over time, those issues will kill you too[2].
The need for shelter is related to our need to have cover
from the elements such as too much heat or too much cold. Both of which could have serious effects on our
health and well-being. If we are exposed
to rain or snow, these make us feel colder by drawing warmth from our body and
releasing it into the atmosphere. Being
comfortable is important to keep our stress levels low not to mention to avoid
all manner of health issues associated with living conditions such as high/low
temperature or overcrowding[3].
Physical contact seems to affect our biochemistry somewhat
as well. Some say we are social
creatures because we have a need to touch others. When touching others, our bodies produce
oxytocin, a hormone that makes us feel attachment with whoever we are
interacting with[4]. The hormones released when touching each
other’s skin also helps regulate our sleep patterns and body temperatures. It is especially important with babies and
infants, who are trying to grow their very own biochemical systems and rhythms,
such as breathing, sleeping patterns and such.
They are part of the parasympathetic nervous system which stimulates the
body to go into the “feed and breed” and (then) “rest-and-digest” cycles. When the parasympathetic nervous system is
fully active, stress levels are low, and all our body’s systems are being
maintained for health.
Low stress levels is what activates this regulatory
system. Low stress means we feel safe
and secure. Conversely, when stress
levels rise due to personal safety concerns, financial distress, worry for
others and so on, our bodies produce hormones that help us manage these states,
such as cortisol as part of the sympathetic nervous system response. Cortisol prepares our bodies for the fight or
flight response by flooding it with energy and by increasing our heart
rate. That’s great if we need to run
from danger, but it’s very bad long term.
Constant activation of the sympathetic system, thus regular release of
cortisol into our blood stream unbalances our blood sugar levels leading to
diabetes, weight gain, immune system suppression, gastrointestinal problems,
cardiovascular disease, fertility problems and other issues[5].
So, in an ideal world, we must have all these basic needs met
to avoid health concerns and discomfort.
Simply put, if any of the above is out of whack, we are not comfortable,
we cannot think straight and all we are motivated to do is to search for
relief.
Thankfully, we have the technology today and most of the
infrastructure to provide most of these basic needs to every individual through
automation. We only need to design and
build the automated systems. It is, just
like everything else in this book: a question of will.
Oxygen
All we need is clean air.
So, let’s make sure we keep regulating emissions so that both plants and
animals such as ourselves thrive and have good non-polluted air to breathe.
Water
Industrialized countries have had this licked for a long
time. In many other countries, drinkable
water is still an issue. Wells can be
built and there are plenty of new technologies out there today that allow, for
example, to draw pure water from air that has as low as 20% humidity using only
sunlight as a power source[6]. There is no reason why we wouldn’t be able to
ensure everyone has access to nice clean water today.
Food
Some entrepreneurs have been deploying fully automated farms[7]. Many transportation companies, such as DHL,
have been investing huge amounts of money into automation among many
others. So, food could be taken from
automated farms to population centers for redistribution or door to door if we
really wanted to. These farming and
transportation systems could be solar powered, or battery powered with recharge
times spent connected to solar panels.
When it comes to meat, the same thing applies but we are also on the
verge of being able to enjoy quality and inexpensive vat-grown meat, reducing
meat production carbon footprints by 90% and land use by 95% compared to
raising traditional livestock[8]. Plus, these meats can be produced in the
middle of the city no problem.
Shelter
We know in North America that we have more empty living
areas than we have homeless[9]. The simple solution is to house the homeless
in those empty homes and apartments.
However, that’s a simplistic solution and unfair to builders and
property owners (even if some are banks).
To ensure everyone has shelter, we need to ensure everyone has the basic
discretionary funds to pay for basic housing.
Enter the concept of universal basic income (UBI) where the governing
entity provides every adult and child with a certain amount of money every
month to be spent on basic needs (like shelter, but also food and anything else
the individuals may need). I talk about
UBI more in the economy chapters later in this book.
Low stress levels
To keep stress low, individuals need to avoid worrying about
stuff in general. We need to keep our
bodies off the sympathetic nervous system response unless we need to flee
danger, which happens rarely, and it is needed only in very short periods. While it is everyone’s responsibility to
manage their own stress control, there is plenty that we can do as a society to
ensure basic social stresses are at their minimum. The most important stress in our society
today is regarding financial and personal safety. If we must work to live, we will have
work-related stress. One of the best
ideas in circulation right now is to ensure UBI to resolve most of these issues. Personal security can be taken care of through
police drones augmenting law enforcement officers until we don’t need the police
force anymore thanks to further advancements in automation and a much lower criminal
rate. One of the best studies on
reduction of criminal rates due to UBI was seen in Namibia where the local
government started a Basic Income Guarantee (different name for Universal Basic
Income) pilot with researchers in 2008. The
region affected by the pilot saw its crime rate drop by 42% overall[10].
There is a compounding effect of stress reduction here where the lower risks of
physical discomfort reduce crime rates, which in turn reduces the likelihood of
being attacked, which further reduces stress and so on. Stress-free individuals think more clearly,
chooses to get better educated and chooses an occupation that they really like
instead of the first one they can find out of necessity since their parasympathetic
nervous system is fully active.
Sleep and physical
contact
With stress low, shelter available, sufficient food, air and
drink, people are more likely to connect with each other, which further reduces
stress levels (another beneficial chain loop) and causes physiological balances
ideal for good sleep[11].
Different societies have different views
about the amount of physical contact that is desired or normal but generally, when
stress is low, positive physical contact is indeed more natural and sleep is
biochemically much easier. No need for
high technology to facilitate this.
Thus, all the above basic needs can be cleverly provided to
all individuals through fully automated systems that repair themselves and
power themselves with minimal human supervision and by the states providing
everyone with a universal basic income.
It’s simple but still a tall order because these automated
systems still must be deployed. Our
economy and governing systems must also be reorganized to prioritize the
construction, reliable operation and supervision of all these complex systems
used by all.
But it is entirely doable with current technologies and about
2-5 more years in AI development, giving us time to wrap our heads around the
concepts and plan.
This type of world is what Peter Diamandis, describes as “a
world of abundance”[12]
where artificial intelligence and robotics are using renewable energies to
autonomously produce everything we need to live and to thrive in this world.
That is the dream.
Once we have the basics covered, we can focus our time on purpose,
interests, social debate, leisure, adding value to each other’s lives and all
manner of activities that we, humans, are interested in doing with our
time. Without the risk of being deprived
of life and health, we could then spend our time in occupations that may be
thought of as jobs today out of pleasure or interest.
That’s a much healthier way of making our place in the world
isn’t there?
[1]
Why Do We Need Sleep?. National Sleep
Foundation - https://sleepfoundation.org/excessivesleepiness/content/why-do-we-need-sleep
[2] Ann
Pietrangelo and Stephanie Watson, reviewed by Dr. Deborah Weatherspoon, PhD,
RN, CRNA (June 2017). The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body, - https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/effects-on-body#1
[3] Jake
Eliot (2014). The three housing problems that most affect your health. - https://www.theguardian.com/society-professionals/2014/aug/08/housing-problems-affect-health
[4] Mary
Bauer (August 2017). Importance of Human
Touch. - https://www.livestrong.com/article/186495-importance-of-human-touch/
[5] Dina
Aronson, MS, RD (November 2009). Cortisol – Its Role in Stress, Inflammation,
and Indications for Diet Therapy. - http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/111609p38.shtml
[6] Robert.
F. Service (2017). This new solar-powered device can pull water straight from
the desert air. - http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/new-solar-powered-device-can-pull-water-straight-desert-air
[7] Nick
Summers (September 2017). Shropshire farm completes harvest with nothing but
robots. - https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/07/farm-robot-harvest-hands-free-hectare/
[8] Christina
Troitino (August 2017). Memphis Meats’ Lab-Grown Meat Raises $17M With Help
From Bill Gates And Richard Branson - https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinatroitino/2017/08/24/memphis-meats-lab-grown-meat-raises-17m-with-help-from-bill-gates-and-richard-branson/#75856c293fd0
[9] MintPress
News Desk (July 2015). Empty Homes Outnumber The Homeless 6 To 1, So Why Not
Give Them Homes? - https://www.mintpressnews.com/empty-homes-outnumber-the-homeless-6-to-1-so-why-not-give-them-homes/207194/
[10] Claudia
& Dirk Haarmann (2014). Pilot
Project. Basic Income Grant
Coalition. - http://www.bignam.org/BIG_pilot.html
[11] Ray
Williams (March 2015). 8 Reasons Why We
Need Human Touch More Than Ever - https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201503/8-reasons-why-we-need-human-touch-more-ever
[12]
Diamandis, P. H., & Kotler, S.
(2012). Abundance: The future is better than you think. New York:
Free Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment