Engineering Society and the Human Experience | Michael Sacasas

Hidden Forces

Demetri Kofinas

Government, Business

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2023

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Episode 306 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Michael Sacasas. Michael is the executive director of the Christian Study Center in Gainesville Florida and the author of The Convivial Society, a widely read newsletter about technology, culture, and the moral life.

Demetri and Michael discuss how we are engineering society and the human experience in ways that could have irreversible effects on humanity’s future. Many of you may be wondering if this conversation is about A.I. Not necessarily. Advancements in artificial intelligence may very well prove to be the catalysts, but if so then A.I. is just the apotheosis of trends that have been in place for decades if not longer, and which are changing the nature of our lives, our societies, and our politics in ways that are not necessarily desirable. Some of these trends threaten the values and traditions that we associate most strongly with human civilization and the flourishing of the natural world. And many of us feel the urge to “do something” to alter our trajectory, but what is to be done? Besides understanding the nature of these trends and the technological and social structures bringing them about what can we do to effectuate positive change and on what scale we can hope to make a difference? This is the central focus of today’s conversation.

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Episode Recorded on 04/03/2023

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up, everybody? My name is Demetra Gafinas, and you're listening to Hidden Forces,
0:06.0	a podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs, and everyday citizens, the challenge consensus
0:13.1	narratives, and to learn how to think critically about the systems of power shaping our world.
0:19.2	My guest in today's episode is Michael Sikhasis, the executive director of the Christian
0:24.0	Society Center in Gainesville, Florida, and the author of the Convivial Society, a widely
0:29.6	read newsletter about technology, culture, and the moral life. I asked Michael to come
0:35.4	on to the podcast today because I feel strongly that we are living through a critical moment
0:40.8	in the evolution of human society, where choices are being made today, in some cases bias
0:46.2	in other cases for us, that will have an irreversible effect on the future of the human
0:51.7	race. Many of you are probably wondering, is he talking about AI? Not necessarily. Advancements
0:58.8	in artificial intelligence may very well be the catalyst, but if so, then AI is just
1:04.6	the apotheosis of trends that have been in place for decades, if not longer, which are fundamentally
1:10.8	changing the nature of our lives, our societies, and our politics in ways that are not necessarily
1:17.6	desirable. For many of us, understanding these trends is not enough. Not where they threaten
1:23.5	the values or traditions that we associate most strongly with human civilization and the
1:28.9	flourishing of the natural world. So my goal in today's conversation is not only to help
1:33.5	us understand the nature of these trends and the technological and social structures bringing
1:38.5	them about, but also to meditate on what we can do about them, how we can effectuate
1:43.8	change, and on what scale we can hope to make a difference.
1:48.6	You can find related podcasts to this one on this week's episode page at hiddenforces.io,
1:54.1	where you can also access our premium content, including transcripts, intelligence reports,
2:00.1	and key takeaway videos by joining one of our three contentiers. All subscribers gain
	...

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