NewPhilosopherAncient Futures author Helena
Norberg-Hodge is fond of saying
“ourarmshavegrownsolongthatwe
cannolongerseewhatourhandsare
doing”.Whilethismaybetrue,even
whenwedoknowwhatourhandsare
doing,weseemincapableofstopping
them.Why?Perhapsbecause,asNi-
etzschepropheticallywarned,“Godis
dead”,andwehavereplacedhimwith
thepaperclipmaximiser.Ourcollec-
tiveintelligencesystemhasnoalter-
native,soevenif weweretosomehow
collectivelystopbuyingpalmoil,In-
donesianswouldclearorangutanfor-
esthabitatto producethenextmost
profitablecommodity.
Edward Bernays, sometimes
called the father of thepublic rela-
tions industry, proclaimed in 1928
thatwehavethecapacitytoregiment
people’smindsinthesamewaythat
the army regiments people’s bodies,
andtheintelligentminoritymustdo
thistocontrolthemajority.
Just as we know that destroying
the forests of the world is destroy-
ing our future, we also know that
consumerismdoesn’tmakeushappy.
Evidence abounds that the impor-
tantelements forhumanflourishing
includeconnectiontootherhumans,
connection to nature, and feeling
needed and supported. The paper-
clipmaximiserhasussacrificethose
thingsinordertoworkhardandto
earnmoney.Inpartweneedtomake
a lotofmoneysothatwecanafford
housingthat’sbecomeludicrouslyex-
pensivebecause,insteadofbeingpri-
marilyabout shelter,housing isjust
anotherwaytomakemoney.
Consumerism doesn’t make us
happy – it’s literally destroying theRUNNER-UPbiosphere. And not only are we still
doing it, but tens of millions of previ-
ously non-consumerist people from
around the world are joining us every
year and most of the rest are desperate
to have what we have. Clive Hamilton
and Richard Denniss aptly called it “af-
fluenza” in their 2005 book of the same
name. It’s contagious alright and it’s
doing far more damage than the dev-
astating Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.
However grim this might seem,
it is possible to beat the paperclip
maximiser. We already know that the
consumerist treadmill isn’t good forour mental or physical health. All we
need to do is talk to people (real peo-
ple, face to face) and work out what
our core values are. Then we need to
consciously and deliberately build
a new story for humanity to live to-
wards. The story of state corporate
capitalism has run out of puff. Most
people aren’t buying it any more but
there isn’t another narrative by which
to orient ourselves – or, perhaps more
accurately, there are too many alterna-
tive narratives.
One very promising process
in Australia is the Australian Na-
tional Development Index (ANDI).
Groups will travel the country and
ask people about what they think is
important and then use this infor-
mation to develop new measures ofprogress and development that are
based on human values. Almost all of
our current economic measures (such
as GDP growth) are not based on hu-
man values but are instead in service
of the paperclip maximiser.
It’s my personal belief that, as part
of this change, we need to re-localise
our shopping as much as we can so
that we can see the faces of the people
affected by our choices – so that we
can see what our hands are doing.
Social media platforms are the pa-
perclip maximiser’s best friend. We’ve
taken some of the brightest minds in
the world and turned them to the task
of designing addictive systems that
keep us online for as long as possible.
These systems are personally tuned to
the things that each of us will find ad-
dictive. Keeping us online instead of
in the real world keeps us lonely, sad,
and vulnerable to all the wiles of the
paperclip maximiser. We shop and we
strive for higher-paying work that will
allow us greater status and more vir-
tual praise from other sad, lonely, iso-
lated people.
Have you noticed that when you’re
having a great time with friends or
family you don’t feel the need to check
your social media feeds as much? The
paperclip maximiser relies on us being
plugged into the system of control, the
system of polarisation, the system of
artificial wants and needs.
It’s time to unplug and work out
what our real wants and needs are and
to build a new social intelligence sys-
tem that will deliver those needs. Not
only will it save the biosphere, it will
also make us more connected and more
satisfied with our lives. Who wouldn’t
want that?WRITERS’ AWARD XXIII:
BEING HUMANWriters’ Award XXIII: being human
Photo: Messier 51 (The
Whirlpool Galaxy), NASA