Abstract

Society will be well served by embracing multi-perspective valuations of life such that adaptability is effectively invoked to escape negative path dependencies in science, economics, and politics as well as to avert powerful private interests—including those stemming from artificial intelligence technologists—from overwhelming global public welfare. An indication of whether humanity is moving in the right direction will be the extent to which the issue of sustainability is incorporated into national constitutions. This may encourage a renewed reverence for life and an ethic of sustainability to grow. Scientists should become more like ordinary citizens. Citizens should become more like politicians. Politicians should become more like philosophers in the ecosystem of collective wisdom and thoughtful individual action that constitutes our common mindscape.