The GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for Economic and Social Studies’ Trend Day in March captivated participants with big questions: brainhacking, biohacking, transhumanism, data selfies, microdosing, “flow” – techniques of self-optimization in the convergence of humans and technology.
GDI CEO Dr. David Bosshart spoke about the new techniques of happiness in his keynote address, presenting five trends that are discussed in detail in the “Wellness 2030” study(free download available) [1]. For “decoding happiness,” the study sees approaches in the wellness movement, with its new health consciousness, and the tools of the mind used to guide proper posture, mindfulness and forms of self-reflection. Digitization offers a technical extension of these tools. Biohacking or brainhacking techniques create new dimensions of self-awareness and self-efficacy that elevate the individual ideal self.
Biohacking
The convergence between people and technology is becoming real today, enabled by hyperconnectivity and fostered by the ability to analyze Big Data and turn it into offers. “Biohacking is the shortcut to wellness”. Automated gene sequencing and gene editing techniques are accelerating advances that had their beginnings in do-it-yourself biohacking movements of the 1980s, making large pools of data available. “From the biohackers’ point of view, immortality is an engineering problem,” is how the players’ stance on the issue is summarized. And anyone who thinks it’s just a weird hobby of eccentric artists who secretly have antennas mounted in skulls in secretive Barcelona operating theaters [2] is in for a surprise. A lively start-up scene is forming around the topic of biohacking, and media interest is high, according to evaluations by the GDI, which further promotes the hype.
The data selfie
“The data selfie is replacing the Instragram selfie,” Bosshart noted. Machines can already understand performance and emotionality better than humans themselves. Wearables integrated into clothing or implanted under the skin are capable of analyzing well-being based on data: The first models of these psychometric devices are on the market – whether it’s stress or love – it can be measured. While the photo-selfie is still a representation of a self-projected self, the data selfie is the made-up version of the narcissistic project.
This leads directly to the next trend: Biofeedback replaces surveys and “likes”: Biometric sensors take on the task of feeding the interfaces between the consumer world and people with appropriate data in order to meet unspoken needs with offers – for example, with predictive care in the healthcare sector. Keyword health: Digital tools enable new communities. This is good for the soul and thus also for health: “Wellness is social”.
Business models around self-optimization have always flourished. Whether fitness, religion, esotericism, education, spirituality, fashion, etc. – the stomping ground of self-optimizers is wide, as the interesting line-up of speakers at the Trend Conference clearly demonstrated.
Trends have their media seducers, whose common business model is that of their own positioning as purveyors of a new self-optimization practice, and who use scientific methods to make their messages plausible. One representative of the self-optimization industry is Steven Kotler, CEO of the “Flow Genome Project” and author of many publications [3] on “Ultimate Human Performance” topics. He tries to find out how to do the impossible in various experiments, not least on himself. He made the observation that people in certain states of consciousness of complete focus on a very specific task enter a so-called “flow”. This is a well-known concept that is definitely one of the buzzwords of the day and also enjoys some popularity among discussants of the new world of work. The concept of “flow” has many ancestors, including psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi [4], physician and educator Maria Montessori, psychologist Abraham Harold Maslow, and others. “Flow” refers to a ubiquitous state that is determinable and measurable and a source of satisfaction and fulfillment. In this state, attention focuses intensely on a very specific activity. Attention to what is happening outside this focus is reduced, anxiety and self-awareness recede. In other words, “flow” increases performance and provides satisfaction.
Increasing performance and the possibility of overcoming the self standing in the way are also on the mind of Paul Austin, founder of “The Third Wave” [5] and coach for people interested in microdosing psychedelic substances. His company offers online training for this purpose. “Those who use LSD, psilocybin or cannabis will dominate the future world of work. Because through their use we think more creatively and can adapt more quickly to new situations – central aspects of our global society,” says Austin [6]. His community of followers on YouTube and other platforms seems to see it similarly.
Neil Harbisson, founder of the Cyborg Foundation [7], has optimized himself with an antenna on his head that lets him hear colors. Listening to Harbisson’s humorous, at times self-deprecating talk, it becomes clear how serious he was about putting his idea into practice. The idea of adopting new perceptual possibilities via technical extensions of one’s own biologically limited system is both fascinating and disconcerting.
The technical possibilities overcome boundaries and help people to expand their limits. Some borders, however, mankind may wish back in the future, some will certainly draw more consciously.
Literature:
- Bosshart D, Frick K et al: Wellness 2030 – The new techniques of happiness. GDI Study. No. 45/2018. Download: www.gdi.ch/de/Think-Tank/Studien/Wellness-2030/799
- Adams T: When man meets metal: rise of the transhumans, The Guadian, Oct. 2017. www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/29/transhuman-bodyhacking-transspecies-cyborg
- Steven Kotler homepage: www.stevenkotler.com
- Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (ed.) The Extraordinary Experience in Everyday Life: The Psychology of the Flow Experience. Klett-Cotta, 1995.
- Homepage “The Third Wave”: https://thethirdwave.co
- GDI: Interview with Peter Austin: www.gdi.ch/de/Think-Tank/Trend-News/Paul-Austin-LSD-Mikrodosierung-steigert-unsere-Effizienz
- Cyborg Foundation homepage: www.cyborgfoundation.com
InFo NEUROLOGY & PSYCHIATRY 2018; 16(3): 41-42.
