By Ron Pevny
In these confusing times of ever-accelerating technological change, I find myself often reflecting upon the most important gifts we elders can leave to our descendants. The archetypal role of the elders has since time immemorial been to use their wisdom, the fruit of their lifetimes of experience and growth, to teach the younger generations about those enduring values that support the best of human potential—those values that define our humanity regardless of everchanging external circumstances. What follows are some of my reflections about those values.
I am amazed at the depth of emotion that has been arising in me as I become increasingly knowledgeable about the unprecedented power of Artificial Intelligence to both improve and degrade human wellbeing. Proponents of AI, ranging from the ultra-rich whose fortunes are tied to constantly pushing the limits of technology to teachers of spiritual growth who claim that it is the next step in human evolution, have no difficulty finding venues and eager ears for their perspectives. At the same time, the human spirit needs strong voices—voices passionately speaking with elder wisdom—who remind the modern world and our descendants of our inborn native intelligence and what constitutes true human flowering, in contrast to the threats to our humanity posed by unthinking embrace of all that glitters technologically. It is not all gold.
The work of the Center for Conscious Eldering has always been to remind us of our human potential and the necessity of having healthy relationship to our planet home, our human community, and our innate capabilities. This is the legacy I leave to future generations—my contribution to human wellbeing and evolution. As I attempt to understand the role of AI in both supporting and diminishing human wellbeing—very much a work in progress—in this article I offer several passionate reminders of what it means to embrace our native humanity and potential for growth.
We grow by taking time to mindfully create, write, and think matters and problems through for ourselves rather than always racing to AI to get answers, ideas, wording, analysis or summarizations. The process of our endeavoring and the satisfaction we get from completing our efforts is at least as important to our wellbeing as the product. I heard from someone recently offering (for a fee of course) to use AI to write articles for this journal on any topic of interest to older adults. I responded that words created by human beings carry energy and experience as well as information. I want my journal to touch hearts as well as minds. So no thanks.
We honor and feed our humanity by allowing ourselves to do things slowly and with presence rather than and living our lives as multi-taskers, always seeking ease and speed. Just because AI helps us do things easier and quicker does not equate to serving our development as capable human beings.
We cultivate our abilities to think creatively by giving ourselves space to daydream, be quiet, allow and move through boredom, carefully observe what is in our internal and external environment, and savor the often-subtle possibilities in each moment, rather than feeding the addiction to constant stimulation conditioned in us by technology’s devices. We cannot hear the subtle voice of our inner wisdom when our inner and outer lives are filled with noise.
We can choose to learn from, and be supported physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually by the natural world in which we are intrinsically imbedded rather than living increasingly virtual lives in a virtual world. Today, at a time when unbridled technology more than ever is undermining what is natural in and around us, we need the healing, heart-opening energies of nature. And yet most of us spend countless hours indoors connected to our devices, further disconnecting us from what is natural in ourselves.
As we go about the daily tasks of life, such as shopping or banking, we can make the decision to prioritize interactions with other humans, which give energy and spice to life and serve as catalysts and mirrors for our growth. The interactions that are vital to human community are being replaced by (often stressful) interactions with AI on our phones and computers. We still have some choice. Do we usually choose ease at the expense of human connection?
It’s critical to remember that growth does not happen in isolation. We grow only by being pushed outside our comfort zones as we learn to better understand the strengths and weaknesses, needs and aspirations, of ourselves and others. If we are committed to growth in our elder years, we need kindred spirits to support and be supported by. Many participants in our conscious eldering retreats have teamed up afterwards to support each other in doing the challenging work of aging consciously. Imagine—Real committed human beings, with their strengths and flaws in a relationship of mutual respect and growth sharing their journeys! As AI expands its hold on our psyches, do we choose to cultivate such real human relationships, or to have “relationship” with an AI bot, which is now being promoted by some, and which cannot share our experience of being truly human and requires very little of us?
Growing and developing wisdom are not the same as accumulating information, no matter how inspiring that may feel. For all Zoom’s benefits in providing a sense of connection and potentially useful information, talking to people and hearing spiritual teachers via small boxes on a computer screen is far from equivalent to sharing each other’s energies, personality dynamics, challenges, breakthroughs, experiences, and hugs while sitting with them in circle, face to face. Since the pandemic, I know that many people now won’t even consider in-person retreats or other growth experiences because they can “get the information, or do some practices, on Zoom.” Again, real growth and the development of our human wisdom require stepping outside our comfort zones. Stretching ourselves. Committing to prioritizing some growth experiences, if at all possible, in person with others.
As the world’s wisdom traditions have taught us time immemorial, our minds have immense untapped potential. This age-old wisdom and more recent psychological breakthroughs have shown us numerous paths and practices to tap this potential. Our natural intelligence is readily available to us if we are willing to stretch beyond our perceived limits to discover and use it. The work of conscious eldering and many other pathways to genuine growth, is to help people learn to tap our innate intelligence in ways that support our planet’s ecosystems, thriving communities, and our obligation to bring forth the best of our humanity. The elder’s role is to help model for society commitment to the built-in natural potential of today’s and future generations and to stand up for those human values that must endure even as many of the enticing technological creations of the human mind threaten to undermine what is best in our humanity. It is our elder wisdom that can, and must, help modern society discern and support what is truly golden in a landscape filled with ever-more pervasive and glittery fool’s gold.
