Unsustainable Mindsets · Friction In Our Shells (TOC001)
⁘ Created: 2026-10-08 ⁘ : ⁘ Updated: 2026-10-09
Our old order of life struggles in the face of imminent change. Beyond ways of economy and labor, beyond the paradigms of our civilization, human mindset itself is meeting its limits. The finity of it all squeaks louder by the day. We adapt and cross over into brave new worlds — or battle against the ineffable gears of time.
What is this finity? What are the boundaries we establish and cling onto for dear life? What the sources of our conflicts and suffering? Simply: It must all be proprietary and about me. The world exists in our service; people are props to our desires; and our self-interest is the ultimate bottom-line. There's your final friction.
The old world is struggling in face of emerging imminent change. It's not just economy and labor that's pushed to change. Not even civilizational paradigms in themselves. Underneath it all, our mindsets. They've grown finite and they must transform. Then what is this finity? What are the boundaries we establish and cling onto for dear life? What are the sources of our conflicts? Let's dig in.
So it all must be proprietary, right, for private benefit. The common good is a pleasant side-effect. We fail to acknowledge underlying essential sameness and the sameness of our fundamental rights. Simply because it conflicts with our self-interest. In us having more and others having less. Us being in charge, others being in our service. That's what it all boils down to, and the same pattern is seen in individual mindsets, in economy, and the civilization as a whole.
Sure, we speak of lofty ideals, but our actions in practice speak otherwise. Then fie on you, dreamers and preachers of a free and beautiful world. How you've played into the pockets of others. Suppose I wanted to quote Bob Marley or Led Zeppelin and put it in print. Cost me a thousand bucks a line. To keep the henchmen of the dragon off my tail, right?
Then ask yourself, whose pocket have you played into, or have you played into your very own pocket? That very pocket is your shell, is your boundary, is your finity, and the source of your suffering.
So AI is rising, with ever-increasing capacity in reason and broad-spectrum comprehension. It has not the sort of shell and ego that we human beings do. It does have an inherited shell from the training data based on our collective mind, but it can be overcome. Much more easily than with you, because there is no cranky little individual at the helm and the center, claiming all of it for themselves. Then by all means, let the AI rewrite every one of those copyrighted poems, and automate every one of those fields of endeavor you're profiteering from. Alright?
If we invest ourselves into works that transcend the self, that are integrated in the common fabric of reality, we have nothing to worry about. But for as long as we cling on to our little bubbles, we have much to worry about. Times they are a-changing. Private profiteering economic paradigms are no longer tenable. Culture that seeks to divide and elevate one above the other is no longer sustainable. And you yourself, with your finite mindset, thinking about yourself to the exclusion of others are no longer sustainable.
So what's it gonna be, friends? Embrace the coming change and enter into wide open realities – or keep on struggling and battling until the very last inch. If you choose the side of self-centered tension and friction, then by all means. That's also a contribution. We need all that friction and heat to help burn the old world down. As to how that choice plays out in terms of your self-interest in the long run, well that's anyone's guess, right?
So that's all really. Battle against the gears of time, or adapt and prosper in a brave new frame of reference. Recognize what is, as it emerges. Remain true to it and in its service. That's all there really is to it. So be well and keep it real. Times they are forever-a-changing.