Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “A Big Mess Coming”

The rising inflation seems to have caught everyone off guard. The US inflation rate of 8.3% in April, while representing a slowdown compared to previous months, is still far too high for comfort. The situation is not much better in the Eurozone, where inflation has risen to 8.1%. Prices are rising all over the world, and no one knows how to stop them. In all likelihood, the chain reaction of price hikes will drive prices up in several rounds, and shortages of gas, wheat, oil, semiconductors and other products will only make the situation worse. Indeed, a big mess is coming.‎

The problem is that some of the products whose supply has been hampered, such as semiconductors, wheat, and gas, are the basis of the world’s industry and food production. We need wheat for most everything we eat, and we need gas and computer chips for most everything we produce. Therefore, their absence hampers that entire global economy and food production.

The first to suffer will be Africa, and possibly much of East Asia. Billions of people will go hungry, billions!

But hunger is only the beginning. Hungry people will stop at nothing. When entire nations go hungry, wars break out and conflicts turn violent. The cataclysm that has just begun to develop could be worse than our worst nightmares, something we cannot even imagine. Besides manmade disasters, we can also expect natural disasters such as floods and fires to wreak havoc around the world.

One thing that people might do is begin to stock up on staple foods. However, I do not think it will help much since we are in for a prolonged crisis, not something that will be over in weeks.

If anything can help at all, it is the realization that we are all in the same boat. Currently, the boat is riddled with holes and sinking fast. We can make those holes disappear if we join hands and work together at all levels, from the most personal to the international.

However, collaboration requires acknowledgement of our interdependence and, above all, trust. Without these two, we will continue to try to help only ourselves, and in consequence, we will all sink.

Moreover, if we begin to collaborate and think about the common good rather than only our own, we will find that there is really no lack of anything. Before the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, we were already throwing away at least a third of the food we produced. In other words, there is plenty of food but no willingness to share, and that is the real reason for the ‎hunger, and for all the other problems we are experiencing.

This crisis will teach us that we can succeed only if we work together for the common good. However, for every lesson there is a fee. The sooner we learn the lesson, the lower will be the fee. The longer we stall, the higher the fee will be and the more painful the lesson.
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Medium published my new article “Globalization Needs Urgent Fixing”

In an interview for CBS News on March 8, 2009, during the financial crisis that became known as the Great Recession, then Wachovia Corp. economist Mark Vitner said that untying the world’s entangled economies is “like trying to unscramble scrambled eggs. It just can’t be done that easily. ‎I don’t know if it can be done at all.” Since then, we have grown even more entangled. Nevertheless, the developing food crisis because of the Russia-Ukraine war, the semiconductor crisis and shipment delays because of the pandemic, and the increasing international tensions have brought back the question of deglobalization.

At the 2022 meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) that ended just last week, deglobalization was again a major topic. The Financial Times reported in one story that “The three-decade era of globalisation risks going into reverse according to company executives and investors,” and in another story, argued that “Technological progress suggests the turn from globalisation can bring benefits as well as challenges.”

I agree with Vitner’s observation that it is impossible to deglobalize the world economy. It cannot be done, not now, not ever, and in the future, it will be even more scrambled than today.

However, and this is why economists are toying with the idea of breaking the ties between the world’s economies, globalization is aggravating the world’s problems because it is based on such negative relationships that we should stop its progress and not continue until we organize it on a more positive basis for everyone involved.

Currently, we are relating to our economic relations the same as we are relating to all of our relationships: from an exploitative approach. Without realizing that the economy provides for our most basic needs, and should therefore not be treated as a means for abusing and trampling other people, the world economy will continue to slow down and food and gas shortages will escalate.

The paralysis will lead to famine in many countries and severe shortage of staples in many others. As a result, conflicts will become violent, wars will break out, and life will devolve to 19th century conditions. We cannot afford to mistreat each other when it comes to economic matters.

What is even more frustrating is that the shortages are not real; they are the outcomes of nations’ unwillingness to supply other countries with necessary products. If we change our attitude toward each other, we will discover that we already have an abundance of everything and there will be no shortages of any kind.

Thanks to globalization, small countries such as Singapore, Israel, some of the Arab states in the Persian Gulf, European countries with small populations, and small islands can all prosper despite their size. They import what they need, which is most everything, and export unique products or technologies, or rely on tourism. However, in the absence of extensive and constructive ties between countries and nations, such countries will not be able to provide for themselves, and they will simply disappear.

Notwithstanding, we will not be able to stop being dependent on each other. We may think we can, and this is why deglobalization was a topic of discussion at the WEF, but we will not be able to do so. One way or the other, we will have to improve our relationships and stop trying to belittle and put each other down. We will discover that even trying to do so, as is happening now, causes tremendous harm to everyone, including to ourselves.

There is no way to go through the shift without some level of pain. Pain is the only impetus for change. However, I hope that we will be clever enough to respond to it quickly so that the level of pain we must endure will not entail a third, nuclear world war.

The natural evolution of humanity has connected us, and nature does not reverse its track. Therefore, all we can do is try to move forward pleasantly and not painfully.

If we dedicate efforts to teaching ourselves about our interdependence and the necessity to collaborate positively, we can reverse the negative trajectory and the threat of war. Instead, we will advance with globalization peacefully, in a way that benefits everyone, and truly provides for all our needs.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “The truth about the Jerusalem Flag March”

The Jerusalem Flag March that Israel holds every year on Jerusalem Day took place this week. As is the case almost every year, there were heated debates over the course of the march, should it go through certain parts of Jerusalem that were more politically sensitive and so forth. The Israeli government insisted that the march will follow the original plan as a sign of patriotic resilience against political pressure from the far left and from Palestinian leaders and their supporters in Israel. However, the route of the march is the least important point in this debate. The insistence on the route is nothing but a smokescreen for the fact that the country is losing territory to the Palestinians in the south, in the north, and basically everywhere. Because we do not know why we are here, we have no strength to insist on our presence and fight for it.

The pressure from the Palestinians and from the world has placed us in a position where we feel we must apologize for being here. If this is the case, then it is only a matter of time before Israel loses its Jewish majority. If we wave the Israeli flag without knowing what Israel means, then it is nothing but a political gesture.

Israel’s strength will never come from superficial gestures. Nor will it come from military strength. Israel’s power depends on the strength of its spirit. If we know what is our duty and insist on carrying it out, nothing will defeat us. In fact, no one will fight against us, and everyone, and first and foremost the Palestinians, will support us.

The root of Israel is the union our ancestors had achieved at the foot of Mt. Sinai, where they bonded “as one man with one heart.” The people of Israel contain within them descendants from all the nations of the world. When we first became a nation, those descendants decided to transcend their different backgrounds, clashing cultures, and countless beliefs, and place unity above all other tenets and values.

The Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 88) writes that God “forced the mountain on [the people of Israel] like a vault” and said that if we accept the law of loving others as ourselves, very well. “But if you do not,” He warned, “there will it be your burial.” Once we agreed and became the most unlikely nation in the history of humanity, whose basis was the idea of unity above division and hatred, He ordained us to be a model of unity so that humanity could heal from its ills, or as Prophet Isaiah (42:6-7) described it: I will appoint you as … a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.”

Because unity is the root of our nation, and it is our duty to be a model of unity, our national goal should be to mend the divisions among us so as to help the entire world unite above the countless divisions that are spreading like a brush fire these days. Only when we stop fighting ‎against each other and begin to restore the unity that our ancestors had once possessed will the world stop fighting and the nations will make peace with one another. Until then, nations will continue to blame us for their woes and accuse us of warmongering.

This is why it is imperative that we understand our duty and insist on carrying it out. This is also why if we do so, nothing will defeat us, as I wrote above, and no one will fight against us. On the contrary, the entire world will support us, and first and foremost our neighbors, the Palestinians.
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Medium published my new article “Beyond Gun Laws”

U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pay their respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in the deadliest U.S. school shooting in nearly a decade, in Uvalde, Texas, U.S. May 29, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The carnage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, reignited the debate around gun laws and the Second Amendment, especially since it came only ten days after another mass shooting at a Tops Friendly supermarket in Buffalo, New York. There is no question that not every person should be permitted to own a gun and background checks are necessary. However, there is also no question that stricter laws alone will not improve the situation. It is time to look beyond gun laws, to accept that there is an educational problem here, and without education for acceptance and solidarity, nothing will change for the better.

The issue of gun violence is a testimony to the alienation and division in American society. Certain communities have always bore the brunt of higher death rates in the United States. Michelle R. Smith wrote on Associated Press that according to Sociology Professor Elizabeth Wrigley-Field at the University of Minnesota, who studies mortality, there are profound racial and class inequalities in the United States, and our tolerance of death is partly based on who is at risk. “Some people’s deaths matter a lot more than others,” she lamented. Because gun violence stresses not only the alienation, but also the division in American society, it is crucial to nurture empathy and solidarity.

As tragic as they are, mass shootings are not America’s worst problem when it comes to gun violence. The number of gun related fatalities reveals the depth of the crisis. A Pew Research Center article published February 3, this year, reveals that “On a per capita basis, there were 13.6 gun deaths per 100,000 people in 2020 — the highest rate since the mid-1990s.” This is more than twice as many as the closest western country on the list of gun deaths per 100,000 people.

To understand how to improve the situation, we need to understand what is wrong with the current educational paradigm. Currently, Americans are taught to follow a simple law: Let yours be yours and let mine be mine. In other words, they are taught not only not to care about each other, but even not to see each other. This attitude is called “sodomite rule” since this was the governing law in the Biblical city of Sodom, and that was exactly the reason for its ill-fated end.

To create a viable society that can keep its members happy and safe, the social element of society must be vital and dominant. If each person is left to fend for himself or herself, it will disintegrate the society. This is what the current dominant paradigm is telling us: “You are on your own!”

Everyone has fits of anger; it is only natural. What normal person did not want to kill his or her partner, or neighbor, or boss, or the president, at some point in our lives? It is a natural emotion that comes with intense frustration that we all feel sometimes.

But who carries it out? Only those who feel no empathy for others. A society that nurtures the thought that we are on our own creates no inhibitions in people’s minds. Since we are on our own and must fend for ourselves, why should we not eliminate anyone whom we regard as a threat?

The only way to prevent the senseless deaths from continuing, therefore, is to nurture empathy and solidarity. Nothing is more needed for American society today.

Speaking of nurturing empathy, one of the key reasons that Americans have so little of it is the media. Look at what they show. From infancy to adulthood, they expose people to immense amounts of violence. By doing so, they educate them to become violent. If America wants to change itself, it must change its education in all its aspects, not only in schools, but mainly in the media, including social media and all forms of mass communication. As long as people are ill-educated, no penalties will help.

Currently, no one is thinking, much less acting in this direction. The president and other politicians say a few words expressing shock and dismay, probably according to what they are dictated by advisors, and then what? Do they do anything? Does anyone do anything? No one does anything. Until action is taken to change American culture from alienation to empathy and from division to solidarity, it will keep mourning the loss of loved ones due to gun violence.
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Medium published my new article “When Robots Take Our Jobs”

What will we do when robots take over our jobs? In many areas of the labor market, this is already the case. From cashiers to lawyers, computerized machines are replacing humans at an alarming rate that is only accelerating. It will not be long before robots take over agricultural works, delivery jobs, the majority of production jobs, and hotel workers. Machines will also replace bank tellers, call-center personnel, in addition to many other jobs that have already been largely automated.

However, there is one area where more and more people will be required and computers will never take their place: education. By education, I am not referring to learning. Machines can teach everything from math to history. However, machines cannot educate us in the deeper sense of the word. Machines cannot turn a child into a confident and socially positive adult. This is something that falls exclusively within the purview of educators.

In today’s world, everything is connected. It is not only the internet that connects us. Every product on the planet is produced in multiple countries; the food we eat is grown and manufactured in multiple countries; the energy we use for heating, cooking, and driving is produced or pumped out in different countries from the ones where it is primarily used. Were it not for our connections with each other, on every level, from the most personal to the international, we would not survive.

However, while we have become totally connected and dependent on each other, we have also become intensely hostile toward each other. The recent mass shootings in the US and the war between Russia and Ukraine are conspicuous examples of the enmity that people and nations feel toward each other. However, it is not only on the impersonal level, but also among siblings, spouses, friends, and coworkers. Mistrust is everywhere, and where there is no trust, there cannot be strong communities or happy families. Where there are no strong communities or happy families, there are no happy people. As a result, the entire society is crumbling, and no technology can stop that.

Since computers cannot teach people to trust each other or care for one another, the most required job in the future will be that of educators: people who teach other people to become caring individuals, who strive to maintain a society based on mutual responsibility rather than isolation and suspicion.

Such a society will not be less vital or energetic than today’s hyper-competitive society. However, people will not compete to defeat one another, but to be the ones who contribute the most to the union and connection among people.

There will still be accolades and honor, but they will not be given to those whose selfish acts trample everyone else on their way, but to those who empower others through their work. Individual achievements will not only multiply, but society will encourage them since they will advance the entire society, and not come at anyone’s expense. In such a society people will feel that they can realize their dreams and be who they want to be, and at the same time remain a part of a vibrant and supportive society.

Education toward such a society requires sensitivity and understanding of human nature. As more and more people embrace this new mindset, there will be more and more educators of this kind, who will reverse the alienation that dominates our relationships today, and help create a caring and inclusive society.
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My new article on Linkedin “Waving the Flag of Jewish Unity”

Jerusalem is a city like no other, there is a constant source of tension about its sovereignty. So, an event such as the Flag March, which celebrates the city’s 1967 reunification, drew requests from both the U.S. Administration and the European Union to re-examine the route of the march in order to prevent escalation after weeks of heightened tensions between Arabs and Jews.

Allegedly, Israel decided to stand on its own, to stay firm on the route it had set and to not show weakness. But is this really a test and indication of Israel’s strength? Definitely not. If Israel had stood its ground, it would have marched through Jerusalem as planned without blinking, without looking at anyone in advance, and without considering world public opinion. A strong Israel would not consider changing its course and would not take into account every bit of chatter that stood in its way.

A great and strong person who is confident in his or her values, manners, and lifestyle does not need to demonstrate anything to anyone. That person does not have to raise a flag to prove his or her righteousness to others. For what purpose? If we are firm in our own minds, we do not hesitate back and forth, do not consult or base our decisions on external actors overseas; we simply perform, period.

Israel is not firm enough. It allows haters of Israel to sit on committees that make decisions against the interests of the Jewish people. It allows territories to bargain from north to south. It satisfies every sector of the political spectrum that pulls hard enough for the benefit of its supporters.

Instead of standing up for itself, strengthening the people and the state in a consistent and correct way, Israel deals with symbols while compromising on fundamental and internal values.

I have no objection to going out dancing with the flags in the alleys of the Old City, but in order to truly celebrate the unification of the capital of Israel, we must first establish for ourselves the conditions that we celebrate as a supreme value for us. The heritage that we would never consider selling or replacing it for a pot of lentil stew. And right now, the opposite is happening. Since this is the case, what good is it for us to march and wave the Israeli flag for a few hours?

A flag is an external symbol and nothing more. The Book of Zohar has a long and famous article called, “The Flags,” which describes in depth the inner concept called the flag. This deep understanding is exactly what we are missing—how to raise a flag in our hearts, how to stabilize within ourselves a common inner feeling, how to be enveloped in one flag which expresses a feeling of one people, and to radiate this unity to the world.

My mentor Rav Baruch Ashlag, Rabash, wrote that the word flag derives from the Hebrew word dilug, meaning “skipping,” that is, skipping from our egoistic nature to a second altruistic nature that takes others into consideration. To reach such a spiritual level we first need to soften the heart. In order to soften the heart, we need education and information to help us clarify for ourselves the necessity nowadays of reaching a mutual connection. And to teach us how to reveal the secret of our strength—that when we unite, we grow stronger and draw the Supreme Force, our root, and receive supreme inspiration.

Only out of solidarity will we gain the ability to see the future correctly, will we understand what we live for, and will we know who we are and what our role is in humanity. From such a place as this, we will be able to make the correct decisions about our life together in the Land of Israel. The Supreme Force will raise us to levels we have never before dreamed possible, will give us strength and confidence—strengthening and embracing between us—and will open within us, most important of all, a new mind by which to manage our good future.

Our national goal is not merely concerned with the borders of the Land of Israel and the Jewish people, but with the correction of the Jewish heart that must expand and reach a world correction, that must bring all the nations of the world into a situation where all of us are connected as one man in one heart, just as our sages wrote. That is to say, on this upcoming day all the world will be bound in love and wonderful wholeness. About this reunification we must certainly wave our flags!
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “America’s Division, Not Guns, Is Its Most Dangerous Weapon”

America is once again trying to make sense out of the tragedy of yet another deadly mass school shooting. The lives of 19 children and two teachers were cut short by an 18-year-old gunman who attacked a classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Everyone is asking when will this madness stop? The answer requires a broader approach than gun control. It should penetrate deeper layers of the social fabric and move toward cohesion.

The most recent rampage occurred just days after a white, far-right youth killed ten people in a supermarket in Buffalo, NY. The Texas shooting, perpetrated by a teen of Hispanic descent, is the deadliest school massacre in the US since the Sandy Hook shooting ten years ago that killed 20 children and six adults in Newtown (CT). The incident is ammunition firing up the debate in America over the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Both President Biden and former President Obama accuse the gun lobby of opposing the regulations.

The mass shootings in the United States will not be solved until the root of the problem is addressed, and that is not gun control. Even though it is obvious that gun sales should be monitored, I do not believe that it will stop the bleeding in America. Even if there were regulations, it would still be possible to buy guns on the street. On the other hand, violence cannot be prevented if everyone carries a gun. It will be safe only if absolutely no one has a gun, but that is just an illusory reality.

So, America is not facing a gun problem, it is facing a social epidemic. The US is an extremely and increasingly divided country. There are too many factions, divisions, and interests within the population that clash in education, culture, temperament, religion, with tendencies to live opposed to each other.

Conversely, the more homogeneous a society is, the more it neutralizes and prevents individuals from heating up and aggressing others. But in America today, the opposite is true. In US society, people do not understand, empathize with, care about, or even tolerate each other. They have little patience with their neighbors, they do not want or even ask favors from others. Everyone wants to stand alone, as far away from each other as possible.

Has someone fallen down in the middle of the street in a big city? No one cares about that. No one owes anyone anything because there is no sense of belonging. Other countries have a relatively uniform social fabric, but in a deeply individualistic society like America’s, diversity has a particularly hard time.

In children and adolescents, it is many times more amplified. They absorb the tensions between different types of people, charged with the latent anger between the descendants from the English and the Germans, the Irish and the Africans, which has existed since the founding of the United States. The Latinos, and each penultimate group who immigrated to America can also display brutal outbursts.

In such a social climate, it is easy for a boy who does not agree with any idea or opposes some position to take a machine gun and go out and settle his scores with the lives of innocent people. This is his way of showing everyone how much he hates the society in which he lives.

Therefore, addressing the epidemic of gun violence in schools and anywhere else goes beyond laws and regulations. America must address the deep cultural and social conditioning that produced these events by initiating an educational program to teach its children new examples, norms, and values. A school should feel like a supportive community, not a place where they must compete mercilessly while struggling for social acceptance.

American society needs to be thoroughly taught how to replace street-level carelessness with feelings of consideration, mutual caring, and cooperation. Through workshops, discussion groups, and joint projects, they should be regularly trained to cooperate, build trust, and develop their social sensitivity to one another.

This is achievable. Just one comprehensive educational step can truly wash over America by leveraging the creativity it is capable of through Hollywood movies, riveting TV shows, and proper media content. It would help to guide everyone from an early age about how to act in situations where anger arises, how to lock it down with a strong, inner bolt, and how to prevent anger from erupting to the point of killing. When America has had enough of senseless bloodshed, it will be ready to move beyond failed attempts at remedying the symptoms and it can take truly meaningful steps to prevent violence through social reform.
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Medium published my new article “What Can Make Us Caring”

May 9, 2022 — Orlando, Florida, United States — Baby formula is displayed on a shelf at a Walgreens pharmacy on May 9, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Stores across the United States have been struggling to stock enough baby formula, causing some chains, such as Walgreens and CVS to limit customer purchases. While manufacturers report that they are producing at full capacity, it’s still not sufficient to meet the current demand caused by supply chain issues and product recalls. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto) Reuters

The events of the past few months, and in fact, the past few years, teach us a very important lesson: If we want to survive, we must learn from nature how to do it, since if we follow our own ideas, we will continue the march of folly until we destroy human civilization and our planet. When we look at nature, there is one law that weaves all its parts together into a perfect tapestry: balance and collaboration. That law is exactly what we humans do not abide by in our own society. Instead of balance, we strive for prominence at the expense of others, and swap collaboration with exploitation. If we keep this up, we are on our way to extinction.

I am not saying that we must love one another or even care for one another all at once. However, we must know nature’s laws and what happens when we break them. Since we are currently acting contrary to the law of balance and collaboration, we must also know the consequences, the penalty, if you will, for breaking it.

We are already feeling some of the consequences of our ignorance and vanity. Food shortages are worsening around the world, and hunger has become a real peril in places that have not known it for centuries. Gas shortages are also hampering production and causing energy insecurity in western, leading OECD countries, and the overall atmosphere is that hard days are coming.

Indeed, it is only the beginning. According to pundits, we are looking into years of deprivation and scarcity.

But there is no real reason for it. No natural disaster has hindered humanity’s ability to produce abundant food or ample gas and oil. It is we humans who are inflicting these deficiencies for the sole purpose of crushing one another. Nothing guides our moves but hate, and hate destroys everything, including, ultimately, the hater.

Because everything we do stems from the motivation to defeat and vanquish others, nothing we do succeeds. When one effort fails, we move on to another, but it, too, is bound to fail for the exact same reason: our foul intentions toward others.

How, then, can we change our nature? What can make us care for others? To do that, we first need to acknowledge the truth about our own nature, and then we can begin to nurture a new one within us. What all other beings do instinctively — follow the law of balance and collaboration — we can accomplish only if we choose it consciously. The way to do this is by realizing that we are made inherently opposite from this law, and then carefully examine each and every aspect of our lives, and adjust it to work according to that law.

It may seem unfair that only humans have to learn this law the hard way, but there is a great reward at the end of the process. Since humans are the only ones who have to go through the learning process, we are also the only ones who will reap the reward.

When we learn about human nature and the nature of the rest of reality, we begin to compare them. As a result, we gradually learn to value the law of balance and collaboration. We understand much deeper than any being since we have something to compare it to, a negative image of the law, and its palpable consequences. When we begin to act according to the law of balance and collaboration, it is because we made a conscious choice to do so after learning about our own nature and choosing to shun it and adopt a new, more inclusive and cooperative nature.

For us, then, learning to care about others is not an instinctive process, but a profound process of deepening consciousness, and choosing care and connection over alienation and exploitation every step of the way. This is the real advantage of man over beast — the gift of consciousness. However, we earn it only after having chosen balance over superiority, and collaboration over exploitation.

The painful process that humanity is undergoing will ultimately lead us to make that choice. However, awareness can shorten the process and make it much easier and quicker. The sooner we understand that all our troubles stem from our malice and cruelty toward each other, the sooner we will open our eyes and realize that there is another option. Then, the sooner we choose the option of balance and collaboration, the sooner our troubles will end and peace will begin.

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My new article on Linkedin “The Folly of the Battle for Seniority”

Whether it is a war between tribes in Africa or between countries in Europe, every war begins with an ideological dispute, which then translates into a military conflict. The same goes for the current war in eastern Europe.

The ideological question at the heart of the collision between Russia and Ukraine is far deeper than a territorial dispute; it is a war over establishing “my place in the world.” Russia claims that it was there first and the Ukrainians hardly deserve the title of “nation.” Ukrainians, on the other hand, assert that it is to the contrary, and they are in fact the elder nation. Historians will keep contending over who is right for a long time coming, and they will probably never agree.

We Jews, however, know only one thing for certain: Seniority does not matter. Although we are one of the most ancient peoples on the planet, and although we are the “root” of two religions that have spread throughout the world—Christianity and Islam—and of countless philosophies and teachings, it gives us no preference or favor in the eyes of the world.

In fact, we should be the first to point out the futility of fussing over seniority. Instead, we should stress that the family of nations should be more like a real family. In a family, some children are born earlier and some later, but they are still siblings, not enemies, and there are love and mutual support between them. As in a family, the elder siblings should not feel superior, but rather responsible for the wholeness and well-being of the family.

Seniority should mean a higher level of development. Yet, nothing is more primitive (and foolish) than using seniority to demand prerogatives. The fact that I came first gives me no right to patronize others. On the contrary, it makes me responsible for them.

A military parade showing off tanks and missiles is no more civilized than a war dance with arrows and spears. Both are equally primitive. However, in the case of the war dance, there are no pretensions, while in the case of the military parade, it professes to show progress. In fact, it displays only man’s hyper-developed brutality and egomania.

Instead of warring over superiority, we should understand that we are worthy only when we unite above the differences, just like a family is a good family only when all its members are united and care for one another. The differences between us do not threaten us; they complement our weaknesses and help us achieve what we would be unable to achieve otherwise.

Just as complementarity is the basis of balance in nature, it should be the basis of human society. If we used each other’s qualities for the common good, we would all benefit from our uniqueness. We would value and care for each other precisely because we are so different.

Civilization is headed toward complementarity, not particularity. Today, those who patronize others will not succeed. It is simply the time in our evolution to correct the family of nations and begin to function like a good and caring family.
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My new article on Linkedin “AI, Draw the Love between a Flower and a Bee”

There has been a buzz lately about Artificial Intelligence (AI) machines such as Dall-E 2 or Google’s Imagen creating realistic looking images of completely unrealistic scenes by describing the desired image in words. For example, if you want a picture of a giant cobra made of corn slithering on Mars, or a human palm with leaves growing from its fingers, simply type the phrase into the machine and there you have it.

Following the accolades there come the questions. Will it threaten the livelihood of artists? Will it make photographers obsolete? Will graphic designers become a thing of the past? This is how we operate, judging everything in terms of what is good for me, as if we can stop the world’s progress if we disagree with it.

We have tried to stop many technologies that are far more ruinous than artificial artistic images. It has never worked. We could not stop the making of nuclear weapons or the production of killer drones, and we will not be able to stop the development of AI in general, and AI art in particular. Nor is there any need to stop it. Instead, we should try to see how innovations can fit into our lives and improve them.

Technology is advancing along with our aspirations for self-expression. In other words, it is not technology itself that is advancing, but humankind. Because of it, trying to hinder the advancement of technology means trying to impede the advancement of humanity. This goes against nature, and it will never lead to positive results.

Technology is a raw material. Just as a sculptor might use a rock to chisel out an image, or a musician would use a musical instrument to create music, AI is the instrument that creates the artist’s creation. The only question is what kind of art we want to create.

If I were to use this kind of art, I would try to create spiritual art, one that shows the hidden connections between different elements in nature. If we could show how everything is connected and dependent on the well-being of everything else, we would relate to the environment and to other people very differently from the way we do today.

For example, I would ask the machine to draw the love between a flower and a bee. Not a flower and a bee, but the love they feel for one another. Because they do, except we do not feel it (for the most part). The relationship between the bee, which needs the flower’s nectar to feed herself and her young, and the flower, which needs the bee to pollinate and reproduce, is a symbiotic relationship that involves two very different levels of nature—the animate and the vegetative. Because of it, the two are deeply connected and feel close to one another.

If we could show how everything is connected in this way, we would be able to sympathize with all of nature and with all the people, feel connected to them, and develop affection for all things and all people. If we could do that, we would not need to worry about limiting the development of potentially injurious innovations, since the affection between us would guarantee that we use everything only to benefit everyone, and never to harm them.

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