Are we gods?

I’ve been reading a bestselling book called Homo Deus. The premise, as far as I can tell, is the author tries to evaluate the next stages in human evolution and an agenda for humanity as we slowly put to death wars, plagues and famine. It is a well-informed book with lots of research and citations.

The author accurately points out that since the end of the twentieth century, suicide, over eating, diabetes and death by natural causes, far exceed death by war, plague and famine. He makes several other reasonable assertions on what likely goals humanity will pursue, as these age old struggles are conquered. Several huge Silicon Valley corporations are spending billions on research to extend human lifespan with the ultimate goal being near immortality, outside of accidents. He points out three paths; genetic engineering, cybernetic enhancements, and artificial intelligent beings, made of inorganic material.

His theories thus far have been very interesting and not entirely surprising. What I did find surprising was his treatment of gods, deities and philosophies in the evolution of human beings. Most fascinating was his comparison of the Greek gods of mythology and the current state of human technology. Humans in that era, say 500 BC, gave their gods lots of superhuman traits and abilities. He compared some of their traits with our abilities now and I came to the realization that things we now have at our disposal, and that we even take for granted, are attributes far exceeding the Greek gods.

We have made cyberspace an everyday reality, putting nearly all human knowledge at the disposal of anyone with a smartphone and fast internet connection. We can now communicate across the planet instantaneously with nothing more expensive than a $25 Track phone. Israel built a huge desalination plant on the Mediterranean bringing water to the desert. For a couple hundred dollars you can sit in a chair and fly across the planet faster than the ancients could ever imagine. We’ve discovered thousands of planets orbiting nearby stars. In ancient Greek times people rarely survived until age 40. It wasn’t that people didn’t make it into their seventies and eighties because some people did, but they were felled by things they couldn’t see. And now, not because we have extended life, but because we have identified germs, pathogens, virus’s and other maladies they couldn’t imagine. Medical care is learning and growing and research is continuing nonstop on curing all diseases. Food production vastly exceeds anything they could have imagined in their time. Neighboring countries rarely now invade and plunder each other. In 1913 Europe, France and Germany were normally planning war with each other with peace just being a fragile interlude between wars. Now war between them is unthinkable. The list goes on and on.

We have achieved a demi-god like life for ourselves which is affordable and convenient and wholly taken for granted. Wow, what more could we possibly want? Everything, is what we want. We are not satisfied with any achievement once the newness wears off. We want a faster phone, a faster airplane ride, a higher resolution TV, a better body, better medicine, the list goes on. We are never satisfied. Are we truly happy? What is happiness? More stuff, more pleasure, better stuff?

You could probably say happiness is pleasure, or at least the lack of pain. Scientifically it’s simply biological sensations that feel good. Epicurus said over-pursuit of physical pleasures brought not happiness, but more pain. Buddha said something similar. I for one, am going to look at ways to moderate these pursuits and maybe spend more time being happy in the moment, and appreciating what glorious times we truly live in.