The Age of the Mk2 Human... [Goofy thoughts while walking around Toronto]...

I've been in TO nearly 2 weeks as my 94 year old mom is in the hospital. She's done great for her age in every category, but if you get old enough stuff happens eventually.

Anyway I've been staying at her condo while I am here and visiting her everyday at her hospital [she got moved partway through to a different one]. I've been walking to/from the visits which was 17km and now 15km round trip so I have had a lot of time to think. I don't like to listen to stuff when biking, running or walking. I like to know what's going on around me and I like the time to noodle over stuff.

This part of TO has excellent sidewalks and pedestrian crossing infrastructure. However, I pretty much do not see any other humans out walking/running. OTOH there is a constant stream of cars ripping past. My mom's reaction to me walking every day was to offer her VISA card so I can get a rental car. I politely declined and explained I had plenty of my own money, but it didn't make sense to get a car, then need a special visitor parking pass at her condo, then deal with traffic getting to/from the hospital, then finding/paying for parking at the hospital, etc... She must have told some relatives as I had some well meaning emails from locals that researched what buses I could take and give me tips for riding the TTC. My mom tried to give me her TTC card so I had money to take the bus. I politely declined and showed her my own TTC card with $50 on it.

All this got me thinking about how humans were changing. I feel like one of the last Mk1 humans surrounded by Mk2 humans. I figured this must have been the kind of thing that happened when Neanderthals were replaced by Mk1 humans. My category system is totally made up:

Mk1 Humans - Early humans characterized by their ability to use human power to move themselves, build things, farming, etc.. They did use some animals and limited machines [wind/water/steam powered] to assist, but their lives were characterized by the use of their bodies to generate useful outputs/transport.

Mk2 Humans - Modern humans characterized by the use of motors and computers to conduct most tasks. These humans live sedentary lives relying on machines to move them and to compute for them as much as possible.

Mk3 Humans - Future humans characterized by the use of AI systems, robots and VR tech to conduct all aspects of life. These humans "live" inside a VR world that is totally digital with their bodies being tended by robots to maintain them.

When I got to TO my first thought wasn't get a rental car otherwise how will I live?!?!?! I just looked at a map and anything 10kms or less away is something I know I can walk to without killing myself. If I am in a rush or it's pouring rain I'll look for a transit option. But, my first instinct is to walk...when traveling. At home I'd grab a bike after 4-5kms. But, living in a Mk2 human world that's clearly not how people think anymore. My mom grew up in Europe during WW2 so I'm not patting myself on the back for being hardcore. I feel soft and weak in terms of how easy my life is at every turn. A quick walk or bike ride is not hardship.

They had a bit of snow recently here. I was walking past quite a few people trying to get less than 1" of snow off their driveways and their sidewalks. It was amazing how much trouble everyone was having bending over a bit and pushing a bit of snow around. I'm not talking older folks, but late-30's/40's/early-50's. The Mk2 human is not well matched with physical labour even light tasks. I was imagining these folks going back inside and popping some advil with a beer or glass of wine to deal with the strain/pain. I wonder if there is a Strava category for "shoveling snow"?

No real point to this post. I'm just bored hanging out at my mom's condo waiting to set out for the next visit. If there are any Mk1 humans out there reading this stay strong brothers and sisters. We may be the last of our kind, but no reason to be sad. We had a great run of thousands of years and did a lot of amazing things before technology made us obsolete.

BTW - I think the reign of the Mk2 human will be [relatively] short. I feel like Mk3 humans are coming pretty darn soon and the last of us Mk1's may see the Rise of the Mk3's before we die.

Hey Vik, I hope your visit with your mom goes as well as possible and I'm sure she's happy to have you there.

Where in Toronto are you?

I was born and raised in Scarborough, then moved to several places right on the edge of the city. There's some difference from one area to the next with whether people are Mk1 or Mk2 ish, in my experience. In summer you might not have had so many sideways looks for going human-powered there, but in winter they can be pretty dramatic about an inch of snow or a bit of wind chill.

Will our future be like that of phones where it takes a long time to develop a Mk1, but then further revisions come fast and furious? Are we becoming phones ourselves?

I'm in Etobicoke. It all feels like Mega City 1, but I know there are differences in areas. It's not warm outside at the moment, but in terms of Canadian winters it's pretty mild with just a touch of snow now and again.

I do think/guess the Mk2's will be short lived relative to the Mk1's. If AI doesn't turn evil and destroy/enslave us then I think/guess the Mk3's could last a long while. Mk4 would be the transfer of the human mind to a computer and getting rid of the body. It depends how hard that is. If it's super hard the Mk3 could last a long time. If it's not super hard they may be short lived as well. It might be reasonable to say Mk4s aren't human any more in any important sense.

Just so it doesn't sound like I am denigrating newer humans I can see a future were Mk3 or Mk4 humans create AI/robot systems that explore/colonize parts of the galaxy. That's amazing and not something us lowly Mk1s would ever be able to do. If humans are going escape from this solar system it's going to be the Mk3 or Mk4's that do it.

Thanks regarding my mom. At 94 she was living at home alone until Nov so I'd say that was a win. I try and look at it that way. She did great in most categories. You can't look at end of life stuff and think bad things. We all die. No one gets out of this place alive! We sort of all aspire to long lives in the general sense. That's great, but if you do live to your mid-90's things will start to go wrong and your body/mind will fail in one or more ways. When I compare her situation to a typical 94 year old I think she's doing well. When I compare it to my life I am horrified.

Etobicoke - I don't think people walk much there if given a choice. I get it now.

Living alone until 94 is a win for sure.

I don't fear the dawning of AI. I think it will keep us like pets.

Wishing your mom well, Vik.

I recognize the horror and disbelief from Mk2 people (and the offers to drive me back) when I tell them I walked half an hour or even an hour to meet them.

I have also noticed asking a stranger in the street for directions nowadays is often met with suspicion. "Why doesn't this guy just look on his phone, he must have malicious intentions!"

Sadly people have also become afraid to try something new or different, like just randomly walking around in a strange city and picking a restaurant because it looks inviting. They rather go on their favourite review site and pick the same restaurant everyone else goes to because it has good reviews. Just the idea of running the risk of having a disappointing experience is enough to deter them from experiencing something new and maybe discovering a hidden gem.

I'm definitely guilty of checkin the review sites for restaurants.. if I'm gunna be forking over good money for something I'm gunna wanna make sure it'll be worth it.

I enjoy walking everywhere, I definitely can see how doing that in toronto would raise a few eyebrows, or even calgary, really for me it's the snowy sidewalks that would deter me,
I think a lot of it is people are so busy with working long hours just to afford to live that they don't have time to spare to do things like spend extra 20 minutes or half hour to walk somewhere vs driving there in 3 minutes. that and I feel like they're mostly hella lazy, like literally drive across the road to park in the other parking lot to get to the stores there lazy.

Whenever there's a power outage I always laugh how folks sit around & stare into space. No idea what to do without electricity. Go for a walk, play a game, read a book, chop some wood etc. All the old skills are fading. Good luck with your mom, VikB.

Vik, I feel like we're on the same brainwave here. I just moved from the island to Toronto to visit my family for the holidays. I've been thinking similar things about how technology has infiltrated our lives. Actually, I was surprised when my dad wanted to replace a ~20 min walk with a subway ride. Really?  At the same time, I'm almost as dependent as everyone else - google Maps is one of my most used apps, both for reviews and navigation. 

I often wish I could reduce my tech use, like try spending a day without screens. I like the idea of leaving the phone behind one day and seeing what fun can be had without it - just check out cool places without worrying about the reviews or the instagram pics.

Posted by: [email protected]

Wishing your mom well, Vik.

I recognize the horror and disbelief from Mk2 people (and the offers to drive me back) when I tell them I walked half an hour or even an hour to meet them.

I have also noticed asking a stranger in the street for directions nowadays is often met with suspicion. "Why doesn't this guy just look on his phone, he must have malicious intentions!"

Sadly people have also become afraid to try something new or different, like just randomly walking around in a strange city and picking a restaurant because it looks inviting. They rather go on their favourite review site and pick the same restaurant everyone else goes to because it has good reviews. Just the idea of running the risk of having a disappointing experience is enough to deter them from experiencing something new and maybe discovering a hidden gem.

I'm pretty sure my relatives think I am broke. Why else would you bike/walk/skateboard everywhere???  I confuse them by buying a house in a HCOL area and having a fancy pick up truck. I don't think people understand how much it costs to live somewhere that the houses might be cheaper, but you have to drive away from all the time to be happy. My truck is 12 years old and I am hoping to get another 10-15 years out of it. I want an EV, but I figure I should get the full life cycle out of the current vehicle and by then EVs will be mature and the choices will be great!

I love Google Maps as a starting point, but it often fails so I don't trust it fully. Locals know the best way to get places so I'll ask them if I can to confirm GMaps is on the right track.  It's easy to game reviews and I have a good Spidey sense about restaurants so I don't look at reviews. I also don't eat out a ton so it's not that big a deal. I hated the Lonely Planet effect when that was a thing and I was travelling more so I would intentionally not go to places that were popular with tourists. I rarely regretted it. 

I find people have this weird reaction to strangers talking to them. They don't like it at first, but once you demonstrate you are not asking for money or going to bother them they like to chat. I think social media provides a ton of fairly meaningless connections with other so it seems like you have a social life, but you kind of don't. Anyway I try to be friendly to anyone I meet. At least on a bike or skateboard I want to be a good ambassador so we get treated well when it comes to land use/planning decisions. I definitely find in Comox people are more friendly and more willing to engage. That said it's kind of an affluent place with a small population so I think that changes people's attitudes vs. a bigger urban area.

Posted by: Adam-West

I'm definitely guilty of checkin the review sites for restaurants.. if I'm gunna be forking over good money for something I'm gunna wanna make sure it'll be worth it.

I enjoy walking everywhere, I definitely can see how doing that in toronto would raise a few eyebrows, or even calgary, really for me it's the snowy sidewalks that would deter me,
I think a lot of it is people are so busy with working long hours just to afford to live that they don't have time to spare to do things like spend extra 20 minutes or half hour to walk somewhere vs driving there in 3 minutes. that and I feel like they're mostly hella lazy, like literally drive across the road to park in the other parking lot to get to the stores there lazy.

The only time I go to really $$$ places to eat is when my GF decides that's what we are doing and I have no choice! So no point checking reviews. She is NEVER wrong. ;-)

I lived in YYC for 17 years I biked and walked a lot there. I mean depending what you are doing a trip in the city can be 50kms so there is a limited to how far I'll walk and bike without giving it a second thought. That said I lived downtown and I didn't have to drive too often as there was lots to do right there. I did do a lot more urban riding than MTBing though. The 90min trip each way to get to the mountains sucked.

I made peace with the snow/cold. I got a fatbike and just turned each trip into an adventure. 

I agree that people are generally both lazy and busy. That makes walking hard to do. A lot of people could be less busy if they took a critical look at what they were spending their time on and given how unhealthy people generally are some waking would improve their quality of life, but you can't force people so they drive.

Although during peak COVID I actually had to plan my day around bike/ped traffic on the bikepaths in Victoria. We started to get rush hour problems! Kinda good. Kinda bad. Great to see more people out moving with meat power. Problem was riding a bike safely in a high traffic situation is not a skill a lot of casual cyclists have.

Posted by: Stuminator

Whenever there's a power outage I always laugh how folks sit around & stare into space. No idea what to do without electricity. Go for a walk, play a game, read a book, chop some wood etc. All the old skills are fading. Good luck with your mom, VikB.

Very true.  It always boggles my mind when people tell me they are bored [even if the power was out]. It just seems like a failure of imagination. Without doing any paid work I could fill 48hr long days every day forever and still leave lots of stuff I'd love to do undone.

Posted by: jgshinton

Vik, I feel like we're on the same brainwave here. I just moved from the island to Toronto to visit my family for the holidays. I've been thinking similar things about how technology has infiltrated our lives. Actually, I was surprised when my dad wanted to replace a ~20 min walk with a subway ride. Really?  At the same time, I'm almost as dependent as everyone else - google Maps is one of my most used apps, both for reviews and navigation. 

I often wish I could reduce my tech use, like try spending a day without screens. I like the idea of leaving the phone behind one day and seeing what fun can be had without it - just check out cool places without worrying about the reviews or the instagram pics.

I use GMaps a lot. I'm obviously on the computer right now. I am not anti-tech at all. No more than I am anti-motor/car/etc... Tools are great we need them and they make life better...when used with some critical thought. I have had great MTB road trips. I hope to have a lot more in the future. That said I am happier when I do most of my riding locally and even better if I ride to the trails. When I do a road trip I want to go for long enough that it makes sense. I'm not going to Moab for a weekend or even a week. That's just too much travel for too little shred. 2 weeks okay...more shred time = more better!

For SM I don't post to FB or IG, etc.. I do have accounts as that's the easiest way to contact people often. Since I don't post my first reaction to a sweet sunset is to enjoy it...not to take a selfie. My general rule with tech is that the more I am choosing what content I see/read the better. So infinite scrolling FB/IG feed = bad. Choosing to read NSMB because I know it's mostly quality content that I am interested in = good. People send me videos and links a lot and I often ignore them. I honestly never need to see another shralping/steezy MTB video or Danny MacAskill video again. Not putting down pro riders that do edits. I just don't care and I have seen enough I can mentally replay them in my brain without needing the internet. 

I have turned off all notifications on my phone other than calls and texts. So my phone rarely makes any noise and I only look at FB or if I want to and have a purpose like sending a message to a friend.

I think the key for everyone is not to be a slave to tech. Look critically at your life and use tech in ways that legit make it better. Don't use it in ways you don't enjoy. When in doubt try to reduce/eliminate tech and see what happens. If you like the change keep it. If you legit feel life was better with the thing you got rid of you can always go back to it. I reduced my SM use over time and at every step life was better. I didn't 100% get rid of SM because some low level of SM connectivity felt better to me than the social isolation of zero SM.

There's this idea/theory that human are inherently "lazy" and that it's actually part of our physiology/evolution. The thought is that as we were evolving and for many thousands of year after most of our time was spent securing food/shelter or avoiding being something else's food, so taking advantage of rest and avoiding unnecessary activity was an important part of our survival. Fast forward to the past hundred years or so and for people living a modern lifestyle food/shelter are relatively accessible and most jobs don't require significant physical labour, so there is no need to be active all the time and that drive to conserve energy takes over. What's weird is that this is at odds with research that shows moderate physical activity is not only good for our physical well being but our mental well being too. I think the other big factor is social conditioning, especially when it comes to time and convenience. The idea of "wasting" time walking/cycling to something  when it can be done in a faster or more efficient manner seems counter-intuitive in our society which seems more focused on doing as much as possible or as efficiently (easily) as possible. 

I wonder if we are slowly marching towards a Matrix or Skynet like future - whether the "machines" are in control or not.

It seems pretty clear to me we are headed towards a VR future within my lifetime. That tech is well enough along that it seems inevitable. OTOH nobody has come up with tech for a general purpose AI yet. There are lots of area/task specific AI systems that are doing well, but it could well be that we don't have a general purpose AI in my lifetime. It's an active area of research so we just have to wait and see.

So I think Matrix like future = yes.

Skynet = hard to say at this point. I'd give it a solid maybe.**

** - for a full Skynet future we not only need a true AI general intelligence, but it needs to be superior to human intelligence, evil and escape whatever control systems we put in place for it.