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AI: Slimme Technologie die ons dom zal maken?

  Zal Artificiële Intelligentie ons afnemen wat ons menselijk maakt? Moet er nog zand zijn? Artificiële intelligentie overheerst het publieke debat. De wildste speculaties doen de rond over de toekomstige rol ervan in onze samenleving. Ik zou graag stilstaan bij de diepere impact van AI op onze menselijke psyche. Welke gevolgen kan AI voor ons hebben als mens, als sociaal en cultureel wezen? AI wordt ons verkocht als het technische wondermiddel dat alles sneller en efficiënter zal maken. Dat kan goed zijn, maar de vraag is: tegen welke prijs? Op het eerste zicht helpen de grote taalmodellen ons zeker om sneller teksten te schrijven, filmpjes te maken en antwoorden te vinden op onze vragen. Op termijn zullen we dus minder zelf schrijven, en ook minder zelf denken. Dit houdt een risico in. Elke menselijke vaardigheid vraagt oefening om te ontwikkelen en te onderhouden, zo niet gaat ze verloren. Na de industriële revolutie verdwenen vele ambachten, aangezien ze overg...
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Humanity 2.0 - 10 Principles for a Compassionate Society

Great news! I co-authored a book, and it finally got published! It is called Humanity 2.0 - 10 Principles for a Compassionate Society . I wrote it together with Aviram, the founder of Sadhana Forest , the community in India where i lived for 7 years. In a nutshell, it is a book about the vision and values behind Sadhana Forest. It offers an in-depth discussion of the ideals of Aviram and his family, on which he built Sadhana Forest and which he has been putting into practice for over 20 years. So it is not a book about Sadhana Forest as such, but about how to create an inclusive and compassionate life and community, in terms of parenting, education, health, economics, community etc. Quite broad and ambitious! The book is based on Aviram's experience, combined with a lot of research.  What was my role in the birthing of this book? When i came to Sadhana Forest, i always felt so inspired to hear Aviram talk, and i wanted everyone to be able to receive his wisdom. I approached Av...
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What's the matter with foreign aid? (3) Towards collaborative aid

In the first part of the essay, we sketched the economical and political historic background of the current aid system. In the second part, we looked at things in the current NGO-based aid system that are not quite optimal. In the final part, I will start addressing solutions, based on my own experience. What does impactful, effective NGO work look like? We should focus on a paradigm of collaborative, community-based aid, rather than aid delivery. How to create good conditions for people? An impactful paradigm is grassroots and not top-down. Local people should be co-creators, who, with the support of aid agencies, move towards becoming more independent and self-sustaining. Aid oughtn't be ‘pushed’ on local people. The Listening Project talks about a ‘collaborative aid system’.(1) You could also call it a community-based approach, where you strengthen local communities by building strong ties with them and giving them the support that really need. You achieve this by taking your ...
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What's the matter with foreign aid? (2) Delivery issues

In the second part of this three part essay on foreign aid, I am going into the functioning of modern day NGOs, and the structural issues they are facing. I grew up in the '90s, when NGOs were presented to me as progressive, independent, trustworthy actors that would solve the problems that governments were not able to solve. They almost had an aura of invincibility around them. Having worked in this field for seven years, my view of them totally changed.  The current paradigm can be described as an 'aid delivery' system. To overcome its shortcomings we have to move beyond good intentions and focus on  a long-term and bottom-up approach. Beyond good intentions Before I start, it is important to say it is not my goal to point the finger at anyone. I do not want to blame or scapegoat any particular organization or institution. Often aid work is done with the best intentions. Yet good intentions alone are not enough. As one author on the matter says, we have to go ‘beyond good...
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What's the matter with foreign aid? (1) Development as colonialism

This is the first part of a three part critique of our aid and development model. This first part of this essay is a brief look into the historical context of our current development paradigm. (1) I grew up believing that something changed after WWII, there had been a global awakening, and the start of a period marked by international collaboration and respect for human rights, advanced by such historic achievements as the founding of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the independence of former colonies. Based on these new foundations, there would be a steady progress towards, peace, freedom and equality, thanks to a process called 'development'. I am a bit older now, and have worked for nearly 7 years in this field of development. My optimism has faded, and I am starting to fear it may have been a naive childhood illusion. Has anything really fundamentally changed? Development as we know it today started after the second World War. At the end of...
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Happiness is overrated

  A plea for lives built on ethics I don’t seek for happiness.  I don’t bother about whether I am happy or not.  I do what I feel as true and good and I don’t care about whether it brings happiness or unhappiness.  Only the mediocre mind seeks for happiness.  A truly cultured mind seeks for higher values like truth, beauty and goodness and it will seek it even if it leads to much pain and suffering.    Albert Einstein Personal happiness seems the ultimate goal for many in modern society. However, this is a very individualistic value. In a world filled with injustice, we too easily ignore our conscience, which may well be the reason so many of us are unhappy. Let's try to refocus our lives on living ethically and virtuously, and we may find this may end up giving us a much more profound kind of happiness. True happiness is not an individual, but a collective and a moral matter. The cult of the individual It seems like our Western society today is o...
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Bringing life back to the Forest

 Little interview i did with a vegan brand about Sadhana Forest.
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