I recently read this piece by Charles Eisenstein called “Machines will not replace us” about what AI won’t/can’t replace, and the value of embodiment. I’d really recommend reading it.
This is something I have thought a lot about. Eisenstein talks about the ideological emphasis on quantity and the measurable, rather than quality and that which cannot be measured. This ideology pervades many of society’s systems including health care. For example a patient about to undergo treatment for cancer may be told the statistical likelihood that they will survive X number of months or years, but little about the quality of that life in terms of what matters most to them. That involves a level of personalised medicine that is simply not practised widely. Beyond this, I really resonate with the idea that much of what we have automated in life (for example being able to look up anything on the internet, fast travel times, microwave meals etc), has taken away some of the beauty, wonder and meaning of life experiences, even if the convenience may also sometimes be a good thing. Having a think about and maybe even converse about the answer to a question rather than looking it up on the internet, or taking a personal, unique journey somewhere rather than hopping in a car or aeroplane, and taking the time to cook a meal from scratch, being intimately involved with the ingredients, and the process or changing them into something else, are all ways of living a truly embodied life and having a full experience of something that you miss out on if your sole priority is convenience. Why are we all so obsessed with convenience anyway? What is the end we’re trying to get to?
I’m currently reading “4000 weeks” by Oliver Burkeman where he talks about the peculiar modern obsession with time, for example “making the most of time”, and maximizing productivity, which started with our ability to measure time. Once that happened, time became an instrument to use, which is partly to blame for our unhappiness and inability to just relax and idle away or enjoy the time we have. The ideas in this book tie in quite well with Eisenstein’s essay, in terms of valuing patience, a different perspective of time, and living a more embodied life. The book reminds the reader there is no “end” in sight – a perfect reality we will get to if only we would hurry up and get all the things on our to-do list done. Life is right now, and this is all there is. A parable mentioned in the book which really stuck out to me is the one of the Mexican fisherman – about a New York businessmen on holiday, who ends up talking to a Mexican fisherman who tells him he works just a few hours each day, and spends the rest of the time relaxing , drinking wine in the sun and playing music with friends. The businessmen is appalled at his poor time management and tells him if he only just worked harder, he could invest his profits into a bigger fleet of boats, pay others to do the fishing, make lots of money and retire early. The fisherman then asks “what would I do then?”, and the businessman replies “Ah, well then you can spend your days drinking wine in the sun and playing music with friends”.
This parable reminds us that life is about enjoying the present, rather than being fixated on work and profit just so some day you might be able to enjoy the present.
This brings me to something that stood to me on a post on Alexander Beiner’s The Bigger Picture : “Stop scrolling. Listen to the sounds around you. Feel the swell of your breath. Touch the vast and mysterious landscape of your emotions. This is freedom, and it is with you in every moment. When you pay attention to life without reacting or categorising, you have escaped. You have touched reality. There is a Zen saying that ‘The sound of the raindrops needs no translation.’ “
Living an embodied life is something I believe is essential to health and happiness. More recently I have realised that some of the things that give me most joy and fulfilment are those things where I am using my body (cuddling my kids, walking/exercising, creating something with my hands, gardening, playing the piano) and especially when I am out in nature doing so. And as Eisenstein and Beiner say, I believe it is really important for us to prioritise this just not for our health, but our sanity also. We live in a world of social media, echo chambers, and growing AI, which comes with it more sedentary screen time and a loss of what is valuable, priceless and truly human. I don’t believe this is good for our bodies or our psyches, and because of the addictive, alluring nature of these things , sometimes we need to read an essay or a book like the ones mentioned to snap back out of it.
MODERN PRIMAL 