Futurism

Data Agriculture

DataAgriculture.ai seems like an interesting taxonomy-updating quest. It feels time for a team of hybrids to help us build through Big Tech’s early attraction-to-extraction narrative. This domain is now available to energize such a build. Why could this be massive?

The void that a term like “extraction” prompts sounds sharp, but it needed to be. The hollowness has been felt, but that’s when humans can remain enriched from digitized data that flows through more like an agricultural systems versus a mining expedition. Instead of a complete void, appreciating the access to an improved state of mediocrity, but also knowing that 100% HUMAN then becomes even more luxurious.

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Reading can led to compelling investments into fresh whims.

Helping to translate the cultural narrative by working through the abundance of data. All the data everyone talks about as AI gains vast awareness. This is a new, serious quest for a brand that curates human activity alongside AI allies. Humans remain remarkable. What products might benefit from leading such an industry quest and needs the URL to energize their exploration of this idea maze? The goal would be to transition away from “extraction” and through to the next phase: data agriculture

As society grapples through what started as an attraction phase, the sense of being a product is hindering the opportunity. Humans have a moment to reflect on the addiction of productivity. We can remain awesome, which machines want anyway. Keep the source code wild and machines will always wanna learn how we do it. It’s why 87. Incentivized Reality was such an important finishing riff for the Technology section, on PAGE 259 in the new book.

The point? 100% HUMAN becomes even more luxurious. Our premium human time that collides us is what offers a path to staying wild. It’s the random that makes life move forward. Life has always been wild, but the potential serendipity IRL invites, can not be replicated.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Digitized Consciousness

Would you choose to live forever? Most say no. There’s something precious about the finite nature of life.

That said, making an impact, life extension, endowing loved ones, and leaving a legacy are innate ambitions.

As humans merge with machines, digitizing our life’s body of work can, technically, already be done. To illustrate this, the average human generates around two gigabytes of data per day. This data culminates from the text, audio, photos, video, and other creative expressions we create. Nanotechnologies may reduce the storage space needed, but even without that multiplex, if we generate 730 gigabytes of data each year and live 75 years, that equates to only 54,750 gigabytes, which is less than 55 terabytes. Everyone generates different types and levels of information, but storage is not the issue.

With storage negligible, the creation of authentic content, verifiable ownership, data management, lasting security, and personal privacy will always present concerns. Barriers are built to be broken, but information alone is unlikely to represent the enigma of one’s consciousness. The totality of one life’s output will present signals, but if those who follow are to interact with a digitized consciousness, how might the experience need to be supplemented to feel organic? Interfacing with the brain will unveil depth in the human mind, but will that be enough to paint how consciousness is felt through the soul of our existence?

Replicants with your digitized consciousness may never fully represent the original, but that won’t stop such a resource from being appreciated. Humans thrive, thanks to a historic desire to pass our experiences on to future generations—whether through stories told, wisdom shared, or just a voice to comfort our descendants. As we continue to digitize the world, the option for mind uploading seems inevitable, and content creators have a head start.

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Consumption expires.
Create to live beyond time.

Let’s assume advancements in brain-computer interfaces, neural networks, and quantum computing unlocks the ability to effectively digitize consciousness. Who might activate it, and how would such an asset be portrayed, owned, and managed after the human dies?

Navigating this reality will require a combination of legal, ethical, and philosophical frameworks, but eventually the digital interaction becomes easy. It gets weird as this digital asset becomes a part of the physical world. What might a digitized consciousness paint on a canvas? Why not mix sounds into music? Could it run a humanoid robot?

Further down the road, what are potential risks and benefits of creating a digitized consciousness that is capable of self-improvement and adaptation? Final alignment may be needed before the human dies, so tiny details could be refined. Even with final tweaks to support transcendence, software gets stale, but updates could alter the asset.

It feels important to evolve elements that keep such an asset functioning, but the ideas, insight, perspectives, and overall interaction with such a digitized consciousness would need to be unscathed to remain true to the original source. If an uploaded mind was altered, a kind of digital entropy would fragment the asset away from its original purpose.

A transforming heart may keep this asset in vogue, but the identity of the human it represented would be lost. Any digitized consciousness will become outdated over time, but perhaps that will be part of the charm.

Brewed From Within
#85 📖 Technology

By Ben McDougal, ago

Conspicuous Kindness

Kindness enhances integrity and welcomes other good vibes. It’s empathetic but not without boundaries.

Consistency may be what people want in business, but the discipline to stay centered is challenged by constant change, and history makes it hard to imagine world peace. If war and the winds of outrage are human nature, conspicuous kindness can help de-escalate tension and heal the future.

Acts of kindness are seen every day, but what happens when conflict tests humanity? We long for a picturesque utopia where peace and progress co-exist, but reality is altered when humans play by their own personal and political truths. This unavoidable imbalance combined with complexity make global alignment close to impossible. Interplanetary travel may shift geopolitical stress, but when survival or perceived ownership is at stake, desperation sets in. This instinctive reaction devolves into animosity when anonymity lacks an interest in kindness and isolation fuels fear that apparently can justify begrudging rage.

Fortunately, life on Earth has long been resilient.
Unfortunately, any single planet has limitations.

With 8–10 billion humans consuming finite resources and our species altering the earth like never before, conflict may be inevitable. If we know conflict is coming, can we extend the kindness we teach children to our shared experience with friends and foes? What equilibrium must humans achieve to make everyone feel thankful, appreciated, motivated, and significant? Kindness cannot be the only answer, but it feels like part of an equation where we assume positive intent, welcome the opportunity to be wrong, appreciate healthy debates without regret, and let others lead.

If vulnerability is necessary, how can we lean into kindness without being taking advantage of? Start with boundaries and expectations. Be clear about what we are willing and not willing to do. With edges set, kindness does not have to mean weakness; we can be kind and firm at the same time.

Externally, consider the intentions of those you are interacting with and trust your instincts. If something feels off, take a step back to re-evaluate the situation. As you do, keep in mind that people’s life experiences impact innate responses. Was trust broken in the past? Has there been generational oppression that is destined to create tension? When evil is normalized, virtue feels unfathomable. Perhaps when kindness feels removed, kindness is needed the most.

Brewed From Within
#122 📖 Life & Happiness

BONUS CONTEXT

“I believe that leaning into conspicuous kindness without being taken advantage of starts with setting boundaries and expectations. It is important to be clear about what you are willing and not willing to do, and to communicate this to those around you. Additionally, it is important to be mindful of the intentions of those you are interacting with and to trust your instincts. If something feels off, it’s okay to take a step back and re-evaluate the situation. Finally, it is important to remember that kindness does not have to mean weakness; it is possible to be kind and firm at the same time.” –BEN BOT

By Ben McDougal, ago

Playforce Principles

People within a startup community and organizations throughout an entrepreneurial ecosystem often discuss the “future of work” together. As leaders transition today’s workforce into tomorrow’s playforce, the CIRKA equation helps us talk less and do more.

Curiosity is what drives us to appreciate what goes into the answers. It keeps us asking how and why. Curiosity has always driven ingenuity, but as knowledge and solutions become so easy to find, it will be the curious who avoid mediocrity by exploring the edges.

Initiative is a signal that shows you care. It’s showing up, raising our hand, keeping a promise, and sticking with it. The earlier initiative is shown, the faster trust builds. This allows initiative to stack, which increases impact over time.

Real Skills help us all connect, communicate, and collaborate. First curated by Seth Godin, this evolving encyclopedia is an expansive list of modern credentials that go beyond our natural talents. Real skills shine through self control, productivity, wisdom, perception, and influence.

Knowledge is foundational, specific proficiency required to do the work. For example, DJs need to know what knobs to turn, while doctors must understand human anatomy. Vocational knowledge may require formal education, but autodidacticism (being self-taught) is also an assessable path to transform anyone’s personal interests into know-how.

Adaptability is knowing how to learn. It keeps us nimble, even when systems try to force rigidity. When change is constant, adaptability is what helps leaders remain versatile and relevant while also avoiding the pull toward mediocre.

EXTRA SHOT

Life is too short not to enjoy our time.

Unquantifiable depth in each of these variables power the simplicity of the CIRKA equation. Energy guided by these playforce principles move us beyond loops that limit progress and ignite action on the timeline of now.

Brewed From Within
#57 📖 Leadership

By Ben McDougal, ago

Phygital

Blending a physical reality with digital depth is something humanity has carried out for decades.

Catchy names, memorable phone numbers, short URLs, and QR codes are simple methods that guide a physical interaction to details online. Augmented Reality (AR), Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), biotech, and smart materials all take it up a notch. Each technology paves a path to provide phygital experiences.

To spin some yarn, let’s stitch this nerdy good term into the world of fashion. Phygital clothing now has passive chips embedded behind a patch or hidden in the garment. When tapped by a phone, the tiny washable chip is given enough electricity to pass data. This prompts a notification that links to digital destinations. The destination may be a website just for fun, but for brands with dollowers who like to collect stuff, the criterion for loyalty is given all new levels. Imagine the status game of a global fan base that unlocks digital assets by working together. An elbow bump from someone wearing your favorite brand can now highlight ownership and unlock gamified layers.

With ownership determined by code and real-time incentives connected to the owner, this nerdy good phygital term quickly becomes a part of the web3 taxonomy. That said, the flex is not about being high-tech. It’s about introducing a remarkability factor.

When remarkability matters, as it often does, phygital twists offer an edge. There are endless examples of digital depth revolutionizing every industry. Computers and smartphones link a physical device to digital experiences, and the first smart vending machine in 1982 would lead to an entire microcosm we call the Internet of Things (IoT).

Today’s chips are cute, but nanotech (think, a computer on every cell) and neurotech (think, brain-computer interfacing) represent a direct line where input and output will require no physical movement. Edges dull as new becomes commonplace, so the time to get phygital is now.

As industries continue to be phygitized, more physical products will be mirrored by digital counterparts, ownership will be obvious, and augmented experiences will be increasingly invisible as our perceived reality is reinforced by the phygital world all around us.

Brewed From Within
#79 📖 Technology

By Ben McDougal, ago