Planet Earth - Total Makeover

For those of you who paid closer attention to Yuval Noah Harari’s presentations during the Davos Forum this article will not sound novice. It will probably act more as a reminder of all that Yuval warned us of by providing us with a very sober and realistic preview of what is coming our way. Not in 100 years but as early as tomorrow. Humans are hackable animals he said. The first time in my life that I hear about the assimilation of a living organism to a computer hard drive. “AI” in the service of the future and all that it holds for our race and the planet altogether. The key to this new approach goes by the name of “biometrics”. The whole population of the world against the lie-detector. The password to this new era goes by the name “mega data”. And the agenda of the game goes by the name “data colonies”.

It was known for some time now that 5g networks will determine the planet’s new economy. Whoever has it will be at the forefront of developments and will be able to dictate the rules of the game. China has it. South Korea, the UK and Germany have it. The US is catching-up and so is everyone else eventually. For the average Joe, not an easy challenge to understand the massive changes ahead. And with the absence of an understanding there is no time for a defensive strategy either. NATO, Turkey and the US have been in hot discussions about the S-400 Russian missile system that Turkey has commissioned from Russia for some time now and as a result, the US has kicked-out Turkey of the F-35 fighter jet program despite the fact that Turkey has been a joint venture partner to the program. You may think that this second paragraph is a disconnect compared to the opening paragraph of this article, but it really isn’t. The global economy, the global warfare and soon our own lives converge to adhere to the same technological developments that are taking place across the board. NATO’s missile defense shield operates as one single network, similar to your home computer, smart TV and printer. They all need the same access code to your network in order to communicate. With using Russian hardware in one part of the network the fear emerges that Russia will be able to hack into the NATO network and neutralize it. This justifies the fuzz around the subject.

Similar to the NATO missile defense network, Yuval believes that our brains are hardware that is connected to a specific network. Whether that network goes by the name “country”, “religion” or “sexual orientation” bears very little significance. The “firewalls” of our brains are linked to our biometrics. And like with conventional computer systems at home, when we buy our “anti-virus” programs to keep us protected from external threats, these very companies are the ones that hold the keys to our fortress. With our biometrics being stored by our “brain’s” and “heart’s” safe-keepers, we become totally controllable (i.e. hacked) creatures. Our safe-keepers will be Governments, Organizations, Multi-nationals to whom we will have voluntarily surrendered our inner whole, our brains and our emotions to experiment with and to shape our otherwise “free” will to their own convenience and purpose. Imagine living in North Korea witnessing the public speeches of Kim Jong Un. Imagine you applauding at the end of the speech and cheering for the dictator, however, your biometrics giving away your true emotions, which may be in contrast with your mannerisms. To make things worse, soon enough our existence and our entire being will be subjected to the majestic authority of algorithms. Our fitness or mis-fitness for any given group or society will be determined by algorithms, our suitability and vocational proficiency will be assessed by algorithms. Moreover, it seems that AI will soon be in position to organize behaviors within any given grouping or society on the basis of algorithms, which will also determine our compliance, our choices and our consumption preferences. Just by way of example. I recently purchased a new car. I was so impressed when I first read about how the manufacturer of that car put so much sophistication in its design and other technological properties. Researching further, I found out that a dedicated team of neuro-scientists were tasked by the manufacturer to identify the perfect sound for the closing of the door of the car, which would then be used to reproduce it during the task. And this is one random example only with rather innocent repercussions.

Another more frightening scenario that is actually materializing these days. At the Greek-Turkish borders we see a massive accumulation of people who want to cross-over to Europe. This has meanwhile escalated into a humanitarian crisis. “Human despair” has been employed and weaponized by Turkey in a “Hybrid” warfare that uses no conventional guns but instead heavy “moral” weaponry. With the support of “Fake News” Turkey is creating an artificial environment of “false perceptions” about Greece that really re-brand any known notion of the term Propaganda. With Greece being in the defensive to restore its humanitarian image around the globe, Greece has already been forced to excerpt efforts and energy, which would otherwise not be required. Moreover, in sealing our borders to protect ourselves and the EU from this violent invasion, we have committed a large number of our military and police forces to the borders and there is an unknown deadline for the restoration of normalcy. In other words, we incur damage one way or the other. We can be easily driven to tiredness and we are dependent on Turkey’s timeline for de-escalation.

In summary, what I am trying to say is that the phrase “the world as we knew it” is gaining momentum. Because I am convinced that in the next decade or so, we will be definitely looking at a completely new world that will have very little to no resemblance at all to today’s world. And with that in mind, it is time for everyone to step-up the “change management” skillset.