SFI President David Krakauer

In an article published yesterday in Forbes, SFI President David Krakauer talks with Forbes contributor Robert Wolcott about human evolution and how the human experience might continue to change with advancing technologies.

Technology has changed rapidly over the past two hundred years; A person from the 1800s and a person from today would scarcely recognize the other’s world. But morally, we’d easily find similarity with people from Sumer 3,000 years ago. “The timescale over which core human values change is very slow,” Krakauer tells Wolcott. 

Still, ideas and technology can’t really be considered apart from morality; ideas change our ethics. 

One of the ethical issues that most concerns Krakauer is how willingly we cede control over our personal data and privacy, he tells Wolcott. “I’m most concerned about unthinking acceptance of convenient short term solutions.” Couple that with a human tendency toward laziness, and Krakauer worries about a future where people aren’t willing to deal with challenging issues. 

As technology continues to evolve, we’ll need more research, more diligence, and more personal responsibility to navigate these changes, writes Wolcott.

Read the article, “Laziness, Technology And Brain Scanning A Billion People: A Conversation With David Krakauer,” in Forbes (July 31, 2017)

Watch the video, "David Krakauer on the Future of Humanity: An Interview with Rob Wolcott," on YouTube (July 30, 2017)