A Finely Crafted Life

In our previous post we spoke about the Information Age Income Explosion that is being instigated by the implementation of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence technologies. Not only will this cause incomes to, at least, quadruple over the next twenty years, it also will take much of the drudgery out of the work experience. We expect that the typical work week for the knowledge class may fall to between 25 to 30 hours. The combination of affluence and leisure will cause members of the knowledge class to progress through Maslow’s hierarchy and, over time, develop a culture of self-actualization. From this, we introduce the idea of ‘A Finely Crafted Life’.

The analysis and pursuit of a finely crafted life is a distinctly Information Age way of thinking and, as such, is far from fully developed or even well explored. We begin with the concept that life is experienced through various modalities. Each person, based upon their unique character, has a specific preference as to the degree to which they want to experience life through each modality. When a modality is under-experienced a person feels unfulfilled. When a modality is over-experienced a person feels harried. A balance between actual and preferred modalities creates a sense of self-actualization.

We propose a preliminary list of life experience modalities, in alphabetical order, as follows: Aesthetic, Creative, Intellectual, Kinesthetic, Procreative, Productive, Sensual, Social, Spiritual and Status. A Finely Crafted Life is a highly personalized thing. One person may need a very high expression of the Aesthetic in order to be fulfilled, while a different person may need little there but will need a significant expression of the Intellectual. Therefore, A Finely Crafted Life begins with self knowledge. Which modalities are personally the most important and which need only be experienced to a minor degree? From this self knowledge, one can consider how appropriately each is currently being expressed and what strategies may facilitate a more accurate expression.

You will note that we do not refer to balancing work and personal life. These are activities that, to varying degrees, provide opportunities to experience one or more modality. In other words, a well selected job can fulfill Intellectual, Productive, Social, Status and Creative modality needs. We readily admit that, in the Industrial Age, work was an especially important activity, since it enabled or limited one’s ability to engage in other activities that satisfied various modalities. However, if a job is highly enabling (pays well) one can come to ‘need’ their job. However, if one like’s one’s job, it is because it satisfies the modalities that are important to the individual. While work will be essential to membership in the knowledge classes, its emphasis will decrease for most people.

As the profoundly affluent knowledge class emerges, their members will begin to focus more directly upon how to craft a life that provides them with their unique distribution of modality desires. Those with a strong productive need will find productive activities. Those with a strong intellectual need will spend time learning. Because Polymathica is defined as a global community of refinement and erudition, there will be a distinctive slant to what most of its Members consider to be a finely crafted life. Certainly we would expect a greater emphasis on the modalities of Intellectual, Creative, Aesthetic, Spiritual and Status than the general population. In one interpretation, we would expect to be able to define the culture of Polymathica, using the cultural calculus, as a generalized factor within the definition of a finely crafted life.

Because we all will live the rest of our lives in the future and Members of Polymathica will be among the first to enter the knowledge class, younger Members should fully consider how they will want to prosecute their life and what, to them, is meant by a finely crafted life. As more seasoned Members consider how they wish to transform their lives through Membership, they should be fully cognizant of the principles of a finely crafted life. Because the Industrial Age was not particularly friendly to people of refinement and erudition, there will probably be significant opportunity for improvement.

The concept of a Finely Crafted Life will be one of several persistent threads that will define Polymathica and permeate our discussions of it. We suggest the following exercise. Using a spreadsheet, list each of the ten modalities across the top and assign to each a value between 1 and 10 describing how important it is to you. Now list each activity that you engage in that contributes to your experience to each modality. Rate it on how much it contributes to each modality. This worksheet will provide a structure with which you can consider strategies for transforming your life.