Beyond the Algorithm: Putting Humanity at the Center of Tech

Once upon a time - because every good journey begins with a "once upon a time" - there was a species with potential so great it could imagine itself as gods. Gods who dreamed of flying, of touching the stars, of conquering death.

But this species, for all its intelligence, had a peculiar habit of designing machines to augment its flaws rather than its virtues. Sugar intake. Processed food. Hijacked attention. Anxiety.

Supersize them.

It was as if they were trying to outwit their own potential instead of living up to it. And so, here we are, broken gods but still dreaming of Olympus, standing on the precipice of a decision that will define not just the future but the very meaning of what it is to be human.

At the heart of this choice lies the question of how we will wield our growing technological power: to dominate and survive the world or to flourish with and within it. To find and fill flaws for profit, or to maximize the flourishing of our awesome individual and collective potential.

Human flourishing.

It's a quaint, almost antiquated idea in an age of TikTok scrolls and GDP as the primary gods we worship. It is also the North Star the wayward ship of humanity so desperately needs.

To flourish, not just in fleeting bursts of serotonin and dopamine but in the deeper rhythms of existence.

To flourish demands the cultivation of an intelligence beyond intellect. A flourishing that actualizes the full potential of each individual and connects us to the vast web of life and time.

Technology and artificial intelligence have hit the knee of the exponential curve, while human Intelligence remains shackled to a long-standing linear trajectory.

The cultivation of our intelligence - our flourishing - will be the deciding factor in the future technology ushers in.

This is a decisive moment in our history. And this is the decision.

Two Futures: The Choice Before Us

The first path is the one we’re already on, where technological progress is driven by the relentless pursuit of profit.

In this world, tech overlords have perfected the art of exploiting human attention, turning every flicker of focus into a commodity. Screens and metaverses are omnipresent, calibrated to hijack your focus and keep you scrolling and buying endlessly.

Predictive algorithms feed you content designed not to enrich you, but to keep you hooked, turning your engagement into data and your data into dollars.

The systems hum with precision but are void of soul, amplifying chaos beneath the veneer of progress. Connection frays, infighting surges, intelligence stagnates, and humanity drifts further from the harmony it once sought. The world grows darker not in technology's absence, but in its misuse.

The second path is radically different. It begins with a profound shift in our priorities. Here, flourishing is the central value, the systemic bedrock against which every innovation, every decision, every system is measured.

AI and technology are no longer tools of exploitation but allies in creating connection, intelligence, and harmony. Every app, every platform, every algorithm is designed to deepen your presence, amplify connection, enhance your intelligence, and foster systemic harmony.

Happier, healthier, more high performing. In the ways that matter most to you.

In this world, technology integrates effortlessly with our lives, and people thrive in environments built to nurture their potential. This is not a utopia, it is a recalibration of what we value, an evolution in how we use our tools to serve humanity rather than exploit it.

These futures are not distant possibilities, they are the results of decisions we are making right now.

The contrast is stark. One future strips away humanity, the other amplifies it. One fractures, the other integrates.

The choice is clear: we remain tethered to outdated metrics of profit and power, or we reimagine technology as the engine of a flourishing civilization.

We stand on the precipice, with the power to choose which path we take.

The Missing Key

Until now, the ability to measure human flourishing has been missing in a consistent and scalable way. We simply didn't have the math, AI or compute power necessary to organize our systems around it as the North Star Metric. Without such a foundation, we’ve been building skyscrapers without blueprints, chasing progress without purpose.

Similarly, we lacked the models to conceive of robust human functioning; we were hobbled by an outdated and broken psychology.

But that time is nearly over.

Imagine a system that could reveal the deepest truths of what it means to thrive - not in vague abstractions but in clear, actionable dimensions. Not in analytics but in intuitive feedback. A platform that allows us to build our wellbeing and our world from the ground up, making individual and collective flourishing the foundation of humanity.

A Call to Arms (and Minds)

Kurt Vonnegut once said, “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” Well, here we are, teetering on the edge of the most profound cliff in human history.

Will we build wings that carry us to new heights of intelligence, connection, and well-being? Or will we keep flapping around in circles, tethered to outdated metrics and meaningless pursuits?

The choice is ours. And, like all great stories, it starts with a single decision: to place human flourishing at the center of our endeavors. Not just as a dream but as a measurable, actionable reality.

This is the choice we've made at FIELD. It is the platform we are building. And we're excited to continue to share it as we prepare to begin its rollout in 2025.

For those of you who would like to support the mission, please like, share, comment, or reach out. And as always, thanks for reading.