Is our decision making ability eroding….as imperatives disappear?

We are the sum of our choices and our ancestors’ choices before us, yet we are not routinely taught how to choose wisely at school. As problems arise we ignore and avoid them so we can delay change and so our problems persist and become more insolvable. We are addicted to quick fixes which fail in the longer term. Systemic solutions are typically longer term based on a deeper understanding of a system and time. We don’t understand time and longer term time frames. Few will commit to interventions now that may not release results until after their death despite these individuals stating their desire for a better world for their children.

Early man lived in a world without words and without time. He was much more in touch with his environment and his senses. He had to be to stay alive. He made fast decisions. If he didn’t he wouldn’t get to pass on his genes. He lived in balance with nature, which in turn ensured our continued mental and physical strength. Without this clear imperative to learn mankind has grown out of touch with his environment and liable to procrastination!

Machines are set to erode our humanity…

It is often quoted in the media that in 25 years’ time, around 65% of today’s primary school children will be doing jobs that do not currently exist. It is possible that many of today’s lower-skilled jobs will be done by robots in future . Nevertheless, policy decisions regarding the education and skills training that this generation will require have to be made today.

Despite this fewer children are interested in STEM subjects. The Government has created the STEM ambassador scheme in an attempt to address this and I am a STEM ambassador. I wonder how this scheme is performing?

Robotics is an evolution of our increasing dependence on machines. This started with the industrial revolution and the creation of the steam engine. (See [[On Machines & Men]].) Before that humans designed and used manual tools to work with the body. In the home, for example, brushes and buckets for washing and cleaning have been replaced by washing machines and vacuum cleaners. Central heating has replaced open fires and so on. These machines consume valuable limited resources and have taken over a huge part of our purpose. They have reduced our physical activity causing a whole plethora of health problems. Many employment options have been lost to machinery as we seek to reduce costs to satisfy shareholder demands for growth in static markets.

Barry Richmond pointed out that only two variables drive the sales of any service offering; the number of customers and the amount sold to each customer. We have artificially increased the number of customers by dividing them into smaller units and discouraging sharing. We have increased the amount sold to each customer through a whole plethora of interventions such as creating addiction; shortening shelf lives and building in obsolescence, but it is never enough as the desire for growth is paramount.

I believe that one of the few things that can grow without limit is our intelligence. However, we are now choosing to delegate even that to machines. Calculators, then computers and the internet are doing the same for our mental activity as the early machines did for our physical activity. The responsiveness of these machines gives an expectation of instant gratification which divides us from each other and erodes our tenacity. GPS navigation and voice recognition mean we are losing our ability to use maps and write. We are gradually becoming dependent. Systems theory tells us dependence is bad, interdependence is good.

And now we face the next wave of super intelligent machines....aka weapons of mass job destruction! See [[Exploring Ethical Systems]].

Opportunities for solutions

It is very difficult to change the behaviour of adults and especially of those who benefit from the existing systems. I believe the solution is with the children.

With children thinking systemically and working together to learn, share and achieve, the role of the teachers will have to change from expert to facilitator. The NHS will need to change to become a true health service rather than an illness system that masks symptoms using medicine to make the pharmaceutical industry increasingly profitable. As crime falls, our criminal justice system will need to evolve as will the many charities, who feed on masking symptoms rather than fixing root causes. I imagine that the majority of our current employment is “symptom masking” rather than root cause fixing.

Changing all of this is within our power.