Innovators: The Initiates of the flame
At times it feels like a dream. At times it feels like a nightmare. We have woven an advanced series of cultures, social structures, and processes together through thousands of years of iteration, and trial & error which has propelled the advancement of our species. Innovators are the initiates of the flame, blazing a path for others to follow. Allowing us to know what we know today. This is the construct.
At the time of reading this, you likely have more access to information through your phone, or computer, than any single living person 100 years ago today had in their entire life combined.
Leading up to my last year of building and working on integrations and systems to power real-time artificial intelligence for predictive analysis with a surgical degree of accuracy… I’ve since a young age grappled with trying to find a rationale for why we are here, why we love, why we lose, why we suffer, why we leave, and why we don’t get to bring this life with us where ever we go. Very near and dear topics in my heart.
Let’s examine how and why our presence here today is necessary for the progression of the world we will one day leave, and how there is an overlying consciousness we power with our presence today. Lastly, the importance of leaving a legacy within it.
December 17th, 10:35 am 1903, Kitty Hawk North Carolina, the first flight.
What if this moment, for any probability of not happening, didn’t? Would there have been brothers like the Wright brothers with such a unique outlook on a subject as to be able to be the first to take flight? This moment has implications that could never fit into every black or white or gray pixel in the image above. From warfare to being able to jump on that red-eye flight from Philadelphia to England at 9:30 pm and landing the next morning in England, skipping weeks of travel by the seas of the Atlantic Ocean.
Do you know who this is?
Likely, you don’t, shoot I didn’t either. Even though he is a man who made a difference in the world, so great that without his existence you likely wouldn’t be reading this message… even though he died August 25th, 1867… 153 years ago. This is Michael Faraday an English Scientist who discovered electromagnetic induction, electrolysis, and diamagnetism. He is considered the father of electricity.
Without him, there are no computers. Without him, there is no story.
Both the Wright Brothers and Faraday have something in common, their ability to uniquely interact with the world around them to solve problems in their way. Each one of us has this power within us. We are all provided an opportunity to take our bite out of the Apple. In fact, did Steve Jobs have a destiny to leave the kind of mark he left? No, he just dared to dream big and pay attention to details. It’s there from birth in all of us. We uniquely possess the talent or equipment to solve something between our birth and death. But how, but why?
We have all had different experiences, different memories, thoughts, and influences. In fact, our unique inputs to our unique brain and central nervous system, over time, create influences or weights, and with vast enough experience, or education, it develops a highly unique perception.
Moreover, new ideas spark new ideas, which spark new ideas.
A former systems admin of NASA’s Numerical Aerodynamic Simulator told me that it would take an infinite amount of time for humans to catch up to all of the potential ways existing mathematics can be used. While we only understand ~1% of the world around us.
Attempt, Variance, Recollection.
We Are Artificial Intelligence
In 2023, we are Artificial Intelligence. Information distributed through artificial systems, and electronic devices are the basis for the opinions of the majority. This information can also serve as the inspiration and knowledge needed to address increasingly difficult barriers to innovation, and the resulting “rate of innovation” as Elon Musk calls it. If you have ever gained a piece of information through any kind of digital technology, you are a part cyborg.
The Innovators
There are needs for innovation surrounding us at all times. If you have ever taken a train between Manhattan & Long Island and experienced the train stalling, and complaining, it’s an innovation waiting for an initiative to solve it. Much of the tristate area’s trains and subways have not been innovated in over 100 years now, and the transit system powering them has not been updated either. There is a need to innovate in the government, in healthcare, data privacy, and security. In fact, a need today for technological innovation in decreasing the time it takes for computer algorithms to figure out potential vaccines for novel diseases and viruses like COVID-19. Additionally, there is a need for technological innovation to carry humans to colonize mars for us to secure the continuity of our species.
This speech brings emotion to me as someone who found a calling in a topic because of its degree of difficulty and meaningful nature.
It was big dreams, prestige, and honor, some 50+ years before the iPhone which started an iterative cycle and resulted in all sorts of unexpected technological advancements. Ever grab the mouse off a computer? A result of research at NASA this moment inspired me. This moment created urgency, it created a spark, and the bravery JFK spoke of is the bravery it takes to risk failure, to risk annihilation, to be great.
Heart of Innovation
The positive contribution every one of us can make to any array of issues facing the world today far outweighs the risks of inaction. In fact, everything massive and great started with something small. Because, the heart of innovation is in the human ability to engineer. A true engineer is someone who can simplify a complex concept. Start small and simple on an idea. Create urgency and iterate.
Consequently, we possess an advantage that allows us to solve problems that have never been solved before. We benefit from all the advancements, research, and failures of those who came before us, giving us a unique flavor in this endeavor.
We are the last Generation.
To be unaugmented.
That is to be intellectually alone.
Finally, the last to be limited by our bodies.
We are the first Generation.
To be augmented.
That is intellectually together.
The first generation is to be limited only by our imaginations.
(someone I’m connected to on LinkedIn wrote this first/last and I loved it)
As we continue to innovate, we open the doors for the next generation of problems and the next generation of trailblazers who are kids now, and up late at night at home, tinkering with their computers and trying new things.
Curiosity and Imagination. In America, anything is possible.
We log our experiences in the world by how we live. The fruit of our consciousness, our findings while here, and our journey are all mentioned worthy as these are the components of a growingly self-aware higher sentience our existence feeds through risk, failure, and accomplishment. The equivalent of God’s Library, or the akashic record.
Why venture to try new things instead of playing video games between 9 to 5? We only have one shot here to write what will remain when the curtains close, part of our earthly experience. There is no such thing as real failure or loss if you never give up or settle. It’s all just chips on the board and to win some, you have to risk some. It’s this process we endure, and our character throughout, which results in the legacy we build and one day leave.
Don’t want to lose another family member to cancer? Dare to look at the cause or the ways we can end cancer, uniquely. Additionally, don’t reference other studies, start your own. Simplify problems, and do enough homework to trust your instincts. It takes confidence to look at an issue objectively and to come to fair, logical, rational, conclusions.
As we continue to grow more interconnected than ever through advancements and innovations in technology new and unique ways to make a meaningful impact will arise. That is when new ways to observe the journey will unfold. Because of that, the world needs Innovative ninjas to push new ideas forward. We need this for our security, health, peace, and the safety and prosperity of all life on earth.
What we do each day, adds up to what we do with our lives. Make the most of this precious time, enjoy it, cherish family, and chase dreams.
Initiates of the Flame
Initiates of the Flame refers to a book titled ‘The Initiates of the Flame’ (1922 – Manly P. Hall) and the audio version can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1K52wXNoUw
The book touches on the subject of civilizations’ temples being in ruins. To innovate one must ritualistically cultivate the strength from within to keep going and not stop. With enough fire, and with enough devotion to the ritual of creation, a flame becomes sustained which will carry forward through the passages of time, far outliving us, the Initiates.
What is the world missing today? What’s one thing you would change?
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