My chickens fascinate me. When I feed the five of them, I like to put the food in seven or eight piles and watch. There is always one or two of them that run around trying to control all the piles. There is plenty of food, but they still put a lot of energy into trying to stop the others from getting any of the food.

This article has been brewing in the back of my head for a long time. I’m currently reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance where Robert Pirsig compares an idea to a supersaturated solution. Think back to your high school chemistry class: a supersaturated solution contains more dissolved solute than it can normally hold. It will stay that way until a ‘seed’ is introduced. Once that happens, the excess solute rapidly crystallizes out. Ideas can be that way and today was the seed that trigged the crystallization.

This idea started forming after reading the introduction of Roberto Assagioli’s book The Act of Will.

If a man from a previous civilization—an ancient Greek, let us say, or a Roman— suddenly appeared among present­day humanity, his first impressions would probably lead him to regard it as a race of magicians and demigods. But were he a  Plato or a Marcus Aurelius and refused to be dazzled by the material wonders created by advanced technology, and were he to examine the human condition more carefully, his first impressions would give place to great dismay. He would soon notice that, though man has acquired an impressive degree of power over nature, his knowledge of and control over his inner being is very limited. He would perceive that this modern “magician,” capable of descending to the bottom of the ocean and projecting himself to the moon, is largely ignorant of what is going on in the depths of his unconscious and is unable to reach up to the luminous superconscious levels, and to become aware of his true Self. This supposed demigod, controlling great electrical forces with a movement of the finger and flooding the air with sound and pictures for the entertainment of millions, would be seen to be incapable of dealing with his own emotions, impulses, and desires.

Since the beginning of human civilization, we’ve been driven by fear, lust, status, control, greed, jealousy, and territory. These are the same primitive forces that drive animals. We have not outgrown our need to satisfy these primal urges.

Though the ability to reason and an opposable thumb, we have achieved astounding technological feats, but we still fight over territory and resources. Fear is still a major motivator in our lives. Most of us aren’t afraid of lions attacking us like our ancestors were, but we have complete belief systems built around fear. We still crave status. We still let jealousy drive us to irrational acts of cruelty. And, in reality, those primal forces can be credited for our technological marvels. War has always been a driver of technology.

This idea has been eating at me since I read The Act of Will. It would not let me go. In 2025 around 3000 individuals hold more wealth than 99% of the other 8 billion people. There is plenty to go around but we still have chickens running around trying to control all the piles. We tend to think of the super-rich as exceptional people. To me, they are the chickens driven by the most primal urges. We only need to think about Jeffrey Epstein and the people who enabled him to carry my point. In more general terms, we have CEO salaries dwarfing the pay of employees who are struggling to pay the rent. The McDonald’s CEO earns more than 1,200 times the median worker’s pay. That’s nearly 120,000% more than the average employee. The CEO’s literally have the workers to thank for their exorbitant salaries. ‘We the people’ are the driving force of our society yet hold only 1% of the wealth. Greed is still a driving force. Social status is still a driving force.

So, now to the seed that started the crystallization of the supersaturated idea. A friend was telling me about the book  The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida. I have not read the book so what I say is purely my takeaway from the conversation. Much like Assagioli’s mental exercise of moving people through time, let’s take someone from the 1900s and move them to the 1950s. They would be fascinated by electricity, cars, the planes, television, radio, and all the other extraordinary, unbelievable technologies. Yet, if they stayed there, they could be pretty comfortable. Once they adapted to the technologies, they would slip into society comfortably with minor changes to fashion and cultural norms.

Now, let’s take someone from the 1950s and move them to the 2000s. The technological advances would again be astounding. We put a man on the moon. We have satellites in space, the internet, mobile phones, planes that break the sound barrier and so much more. Yet, the technology wouldn’t be overly surprising and maybe even disappointing. We don’t have flying cars or hoovering skateboards (Back to the Future was 1985 but it makes the point). Mobile phones would be interesting but not surprising. Dick Tracy had a watch radio in 1946 so a mobile phone would be a logical next step for a phone. Yet, if you leave this person in the 2000’s, they would have a very difficult time adapting. Not only are blacks allowed to use the same restroom, schools, drinking fountains and ride wherever they want on the bus, but we had a black president (2009). Women can have credit cards without a male on the account, vote, hold major positions in corporations, and even run for president. Homosexuality is open. So much so that characters on TV and movies are common. We even have parades to celebrate them. Unlike a person going from the 1900 to the 1950, these cultural changes would be so drastic they would not just fall into them and accept them.

Slavery has been around as long as civilization. It was so ingrained that out of all the moral teachings of Jesus, he never mentioned that owning another person was immoral. It wasn’t until the 1850’s in America that people felt strongly enough about the topic that they were willing to die for their views. And yes, the Civil War was over slavery. You only need to read each states The Declaration of Causes to know this is a fact. Yet, no one now believes slavery is moral. The idea that it was ever considered morally acceptable is absurd to us.

This thought experiment makes me wonder if we are finally at the point of a significant change in humanity. The last 50-100 years have brought about a deep shift in who we are as humans.

But, as with any change, there is resistance. We fought a bloody war over an idea no one would ever argue about again. The term Extinction Burst was another seed of one of my supersaturated ideas. Think of a dying horse jumping up one last time before it collapses and dies. It doesn’t want to accept its death, so it gives that one last burst of energy to stay alive.

I believe we are in the midst of an extinction burst. As humanity starts moving into a profoundly different future, the old way is not going to die easily. It is rising up before it dies. We live in a very divided time. Family members are refusing to talk. Churches are dividing over issues. Armed troops are being sent to contain protesters. Yes, all of these things have happened before, but this is different.

To add to the difference, we are at the verge of technology that is beyond comprehension. We are fast approaching the technical singularity where “technological growth accelerates beyond human control, producing unpredictable changes in human civilization.” I heard someone recently say that 2025 will be the last time we can ever believe a picture or video. AI generated pictures and videos are at the point of being indistinguishable from real pictures and videos. Robotic advancement is accelerating.

In July of 2021 I wrote an article called The Big Shift. In it, I talked about this topic. Right now, what I want you to think about is what side of the metaphorical ‘civil war’ are you on? In 1963, George Wallace’s inaugural address had the famous line “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever.” Much of America stood with and supported him but few would agree with him now. Women’s suffrage was a highly controversial topic for many years. In the United States, women got the right to vote with the 19^th Amendment in 1920, yet few would take a side against it now.

Right now, we are seeing the vestiges of a dying horse. I will not define that horse but we cannot ride two horses. We are in the midst of an extinction burst. One horse is collapsing. The other will carry us forward.

In my book, The Infinite Jeff, I lay out the world I want to see. I set up a world where the chickens realize there’s plenty of food and wealth is a tool to drive humanity forward and alleviate suffering. The only way forward is to have humanity move into a post-scarcity mindset where people in the future look back and think about the absurdity of letting people starve or be homeless. Slavery is immoral just as letting people starve is immoral. We need to create a world where Plato or a Marcus Aurelius come and marvel at how we have grown as a species and abandoned our primitive ways.