The Great Convergence: Are We Ready?

Over the next decade, rapid changes across multiple disciplines and boundaries will converge to create a period of change that the planet has never experienced. From technology, to climate change to global powers, the world continues its flux. A great many things will come from this period of time. Some will be tremendously positive while others may be highly painful depending on your position in life. 

On a daily basis, business must do risk management as a good policy practice. As people we should to do the same. Read about what's coming and make sure you are ready, or as ready as you can be. 

Transcript

THE GREAT CONVERGENCE: Are We Watching? Are We Seeing? Are We Ready?  

Why Trump Won – Maslow Knows Script

Intro Music

As members of the human species, we have amazing potential but many weaknesses. One of our weaknesses is the difficulty of seeing outside our perspective. This perspective or frame of reference is also known as our worldview, or what I prefer to call our existence paradigm. It forms our perception of the world and our interaction with it. 

One outcome of being stuck within our existence paradigm is a lack of understanding or empathy for other people, cultures, actions, and motivations.  

A second outcome of this weakness is that it shapes what we are willing to see and what we are resistant to seeing. We tend to avoid things that might mess with our comfort zones and paradigms, things we can't control or don't understand, and things that cause us to experience fear. In other words, we tend to avoid many things in our hearts, lives, and the world around us. 

However, now is a time like never before, and we must be watching, seeing, and preparing for the Great Convergence. 

Welcome everyone, my name is Michael McCorkle and this is the Planet Gel-O Chronicles. 

Music Interlude

The Planet Gel-O Chronicles is my attempt to address the world shaping forces that I see impacting the coming years. To document and dialogue around these changes and to call people of all walks of life to courageous conversations and courageous coexistence. We will not survive the coming time period without these two elements. 

So what is the Great Convergence?  

The Great Convergence will be the interaction between significant global thrusts currently shaping our world. Each one by itself represents potentially massive changes, but it is the convergence of these thrusts and their interaction that we are probably underestimating and are likely unprepared for. I fully acknowledge that this podcast or my articles will seem to some like overreaction. So, I have added occasional commentary on why I don't believe that is the case, nor my intent.

 First let’s discuss Artificial Intelligence

I am not going to spend much time on this topic because it is all over the news right now. Brilliant people have spoken caution while others boldly go forward without much regard for outcomes. Some of these same brilliant people who advised caution are also in key roles and companies that are driving the race to maximize AI at a fever pitch. The release of ChatGPT launched a movement on the planet that nobody can control, stop, or fully comprehend the outcome of.

One significant reality of AI is how quickly it has become a driving force in many other fields. The world is becoming AI-driven as AI itself is exponentially advancing.

The positive results of AI are already breathtaking, and those will increase. No one regrets the opportunity to save lives, help people, and increase productivity. It's the other outcomes that people are concerned about and are somewhat being downplayed — like severe job losses, criminal uses, warfare, and the singularity—the point where AI surpasses human intelligence. In simple terms, the Singularity is when AI is smarter than we are and doesn't need us much anymore.

When I started this article on Jan. 4th,  I wrote, "While no one is saying the singularity is around the corner, fewer and fewer people are saying it's far off."  Then I opened my phone to the news and read that Sam Altman – one of the Founders of ChatGPT wrote on X “I always wanted to write a six-word story, here it is: near the singularity, unclear which side.”  

Altman goes on to downplay the meaning of his six-word comment, but my point is, singularity is out there. Highly intelligent people know it’s out there and with great minds, all around the world working toward it, it will be here sooner than we think. 

What comes out of the singularity is at this point only educated guesses or theatrical embellishments like Terminator or The Matrix. 

 The second component of the Great Convergence is Robotics

The ability of robotics' to mimic human action and movement is another amazing change advancing every day. In the last six months, we have seen examples of this advancement at tech events like Tesla’s, CES, and others. Some countries like China, Japan, and Singapore, seem far ahead of America in implementing robotics into the workforce. China’s newest robot, D9, is functional enough to replace human activity in many situations and we are just at the beginning. 

While AI will create job losses in the thinking, creating, analyzing, and redundant aspects in many jobs, robotics will probably replace thousands of manual workers as their dexterity and mobility increase. Yes, just as with Artificial Intelligence, there will be scores of roles, currently unsafe for humans but necessary, which robots can take over for the better. But they will also take over many other manual labor roles and are already doing so.

 Is concern about AI, Robotics, and job loss just fearmongering?

Depending on whom you talk to, the potential for job loss due to AI begins at a low 1% and goes up. Back in 2015-16, I can remember reading an article in The Atlantic that projected job losses as high as 40%. That may seem extreme, but I don't think we know. The hard truth is that many professionals downplaying job losses and talking about people moving up the ladder or gaining productivity are also leading AI implementation. So, we can assume some bias is involved. 

While there is talk, and some attempts at regulation, the speed of development prohibits such regulation on a practical level. So only time will tell us how this will unfold but it will unfold, and nothing will stop it. 

Should we worry about massive job losses across the United States and around the world? Even though we don’t know exactly, I am convinced that is a reasonable question, and the answer is probably yes! Do this simple exercise and connect the dots for yourself. 

First, consider what artificial intelligence and robotics are capable of now and extend that capacity out some distance. Now cross-reference that in your mind with all the jobs aligned with those capacities. That creates a very large body of job activities, impacting most sectors of the world. 

That simple exercise, even without numbers, predicts significant change in the workforce. Yes, there may be other factors, and nothing is absolute throughout this process, but the trend is serious and some outcome inevitable. On Feb. 6th, I read that the company Workday was laying off 1750 workers to pursue AI options. 

Next is the question of motivation and why this outcome is probably inevitable. 

Companies have a responsibility to shareholders and their purpose of existence. Even those with great missions and goals are ultimately driven by profit margins and/or stock value. That is the powerful reality of opportunity, innovation, capitalism, and some level of freedom. These elements work together and have led our world to its greatest successes and some of its greatest weaknesses. 

Since company margins and stock value weigh heavily on corporate leaders, they are required to look for possible improvements to their bottom line and share value. Generally speaking, labor costs are often the greatest expense in a company’s P&L statement. If labor costs can be drastically lowered through simplification, AI, or robotics, companies would be foolish to not make those adjustments. If they don’t, they will lose out to competitors who will make those changes.  

After doing the above mental exercise I don’t believe that massive unemployment is an unrealistic projection. Considering what was going on in the world during the Great Recession of 2007-2009 when unemployment hit 10%, or during the Great Depression of 1929-41,  when unemployment hit 25%, the idea of something worse is really ugly to consider. However, I hope somebody is brave enough to be working on this risk analysis, if for no other reason than it’s possible.

 The third component of the Great Convergence is Quantum Computing

Quantum Computing is just starting to break the surface of average news stories, however, if you listen to those in this field of research, their excitement is palpable. For those of us who know too little about Quantum Computing here is a brief description from Google, 

“Quantum computing is a multidisciplinary field comprising aspects of computer science, physics, and mathematics that utilizes quantum mechanics to solve complex problems faster than on classical computers. The field of quantum computing includes hardware research and application development.”

A very simplistic discussion of Quantum relates to two areas. Quantum computing and Quantum networks. 

Quantum computing of course is the ability to manage and utilize data at increased speeds. The last thing I read was from last December, which is already very outdated but expresses the point on the Quantum computing explosion. 

“Google has unveiled a new chip which it claims takes five minutes to solve a problem that would currently take the world's fastest super computers ten septillion – or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years – to complete”. 

Just to create clarity ten septillions are older than our projections on the existence of the universe. As of February 6th, Google is now predicting quantum computing will begin within five years. 

The second aspect of Quantum is the idea of Quantum networks. A Google search comes up with this,

"A quantum network is a network that uses quantum bits, or qubits, to transmit and store information. Quantum networks use quantum properties like superposition, entanglement, and no-cloning to encode information”. 

Without going into detail on all those terms, I will briefly explain the one I find most fascinating-quantum entanglement. Quantum entanglement is where two particles share an experience regardless of how far apart they are. Regardless of distance, when something happens to one, a consistent corresponding reaction happens in the other.

What this means for computer networking is that two computers can talk to each other without transmitting information. What one computer experiences the other computer experiences. Now of course that is probably a poor explanation of quantum entanglement and networking , but it communicates the amazing reality of what is on the horizon. 

Right now, it appears that quantum computing, and networks are still some years away, but everything is moving at a speed of change never before seen. Literally, by the time I get done writing this article and posting it, a new breakthrough will take place. Even yesterday I read an article about experiments achieving new levels of stability in quantum research that are required for advancement.  

Back to the question of fearmongering. 

Is this all something to be afraid of? If humans had a history primarily filled with self-sacrifice, altruism, and peace, then it probably would only be exciting stuff on the horizon. It's humanity that makes the ugliness in our world, not technology. So, on the one hand, these amazing things will bring incredible, exciting, and positive changes. On the other hand, based on humanity’s history we will likely see some very ugly and harmful outcomes along with the cool and amazing.  

In the end, as advancements take leaps and bounds forward, we must be willing to do risk assessments on large-scale change, while also looking forward to the exciting and positive outcomes emerging across the globe. That is just good leadership and management. 

 Another issue we are facing is the outcomes of CLIMATE CHANGE

It's increasingly difficult to deny the issue of climate change in some form. It's happening all over the world. 2024 is projected to be the warmest year in recorded history and January 2025 is the hottest January ever recorded. The documentation of melting glaciers, heat waves, and extreme weather events are continuing to grow regardless of why it’s happening. 

The big  question with climate change, which has been on the table for thirty years now, is whether it can be moderated or stopped, and on this question, I am confident that the answer is no for two reasons.   

First, for climate change to be firmly addressed a heretofore unattainable level of cooperation and self-sacrifice must take place. Governments around the world must work together. For that to happen, governments and government officials must put their personal and political interests and the interests of their people secondary to the greater challenge of climate change. These governments and officials must also get the people who funded their elections, who they are accountable to, or who elected them, to put themselves and their children second to future generations. Pretending that this level of global self-sacrifice could happen isn’t realistic without some unifying factor. 

While we often see individuals make altruistic and self-sacrificing decisions, I can’t say this is the norm. People are amazing, and yet people are also broken.  

The first global climate conference took place in 1979. At some point, in the earliest years, scientists determined that a 1.5 C increase in global temperatures on a long-term basis represented a possible tipping point. For over forty years, humanity has been talking about what was coming and the 1.5 C tipping point. Changes and efforts have occurred all over the world by a variety of countries, but the biggest players, the geopolitical giants of the world, have never been on board. And now in 2024, with the world supposedly passing the average increased temperature of 1.5 C for the first time, the geopolitical relationships are worse than they have been since World War II. 

Instead of solving global challenges the great powers are pursuing land grabs, opportunistic financial ventures, and ideological fantasies. These tensions pit core national values, cultural norms, and governance and control styles against one another. If individual leaders and nations and the people of nations only think about themselves and their immediate needs, then the future  sacrificed. 

A second reason I believe climate change outcomes are inevitable is that change of any type often requires a crisis of some kind. It must be something that shifts our thinking, decision-making, and behavior. Change management guru John Kotter says change requires “a sense of urgency" and crisis in some form is usually what creates that sense of urgency. That crisis can be an internal awakening or external unifying factor however, for climate change, that sense of urgency or crisis won't likely overtake money, power, or geopolitics  until it's too late.

I don't know what that means for my children and grandchildren, but that is why I have launched my Planet Gel-O Outreach.   

The next element of the Great Convergence is not new and that is Economic Interdependence

If we learned anything from the Great Recession of 2007-2009, it was how quickly a fallout in one country can lead to the entire world. This happened in the Great Depression also, and you would have thought we might have learned some things from these global economic tragedies. However, it is generally accepted that since the Great Recession, the world has become more economically interdependent and intertwined instead of less. So, here we are all set for what comes next.

Whether it’s banking, money, construction, development, stock markets, or thousands of other pieces of our global output, the economies of one country affect others and this increases the tensions and resistance to change and make altruistic decisions. I have used an example in other articles that I will simplify here. 

Imagine a single stack of 25 quarters on a table. Now imagine 25 stacks of 25 quarters next to each other on the table so that every stack is touching more than one other stack. Now imagine shifting every layer of quarters so that no two quarters are in line with each other. At this point, no stack could be removed without damaging another stack’s integrity. 

This picture represents the status of our global economic and financial interdependence.  Our current state of interdependence cannot be simply unwound. It will create pain and suffering and will likely be worst for those who are most vulnerable. That is the norm. 

 Let’s now talk about Human Migration and what we saw in the last four years and will probably see again.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, in 2020 the total migrant population around the world grew to roughly 280.6 million people or about 4% of the global population. During the decade of 2010 – 2020 over 60 million people migrated to another country. The last four years have shown a continued increase versus a decrease. 

In America, from where I am writing, migration, some within and much more outside the approved channels, has become a major political issue. Regardless of how we think about immigration, what I have concluded from watching this issue is that if hundreds of thousands of people decide to move, there isn’t much that can be done about it, barring violence. The human soul wants freedom, and every parent wants a better, or at least hope for a better, future for their children. 

You can build walls, or camps, or take military action, but in the end, people will move if they do not have hope and opportunity where they are. Watching the people who have walked through multiple countries of South, Central, and North America all for these reasons—many with children in tow—proves this point. 

On the one hand, their treks are an amazing demonstration of human striving and perseverance. A striving and perseverance that is the foundation of American history and identity. On the other hand, mass migration is a threat to established countries, cultures, and norms. 

Some countries create refugee camps which become hotbeds of suffering, crime, and radicalization. The migrants that have flooded America and Europe over the last four years have opened doors to the vulnerabilities mass migration creates. Overwhelmed social systems, criminal elements, and the more nefarious possibilities of espionage and sabotage from foreign enemies. Darkness and control will always capitalize on freedom to expand darkness and gain control where they don’t have it. 

We must remember that the America that welcomed the world with “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (the inscription on the Statue of Liberty installed in 1883) had a population of just over 50,000,000. That is not the complex, globally interdependent America of today with a population of almost 350,000,000. Is there physical space for millions more across the United States? Yes! But unless immigration happens in a managed process, the version of America that is a magnet for the world seeking freedom and opportunity will no longer exist. Is there an answer? Probably not one where everyone is happy.  

In the end, migration is not the answer to address the global needs of humanity. A demonstration by a professor back in the 1970’s titled, “Immigration, World Poverty, and Gumballs” which is viewable on YouTube, is a great visual experience of why it is not the answer now or in the future. 

 Finally, and perhaps the biggest issue in the Great Convergence is GEOPOLITICS

Let’s go back to the great political powers in our world.  War is the worst product of humanity's many weaknesses. It is fed by pride, fear, and ideological paradigms that overlook war’s tragic costs and leave unending suffering. The current wars and tensions around the world are no different. 

 The Ukraine/ Russia war was started by madness in the form of Vladimir Putin, who sees himself as the next Peter the Great and the rebuilder of the Soviet Empire. His failure to understand the power of freedom that had gripped the hearts of the people of Ukraine caused him to vastly underestimate their resistance and the willingness of other nations to stand with them in their quest for continuing freedom. 

 Over one million people have already died because of Putin’s ideological vision. Death has come to fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and far too many innocent children. And due to human nature and the power of pride, it isn’t likely he will withdraw barring a total defeat. Now that North Korea has joined the war on Russia's behalf, it is only a matter of time before others are possibly forced into more direct action on behalf of Ukraine and Western values.

Even with all that needless death and destruction, Putin is not the most dangerous madman on the planet today. That honor belongs to China’s President, who is captured by a similar messianic impulse of restoring China’s dynastic dominance. 

Unlike Putin, China has played the long game. Since full relations with the West opened, China has woven its economic tentacles into every western country in the world, and scores of others. The success of this tentacle reach is partially, if not significantly, connected to the world’s love of consumption. The consuming world that provides China’s cash flow would not want to face the hard decisions and life changes that would be necessary to decouple from China’s cheap labor. 

China took advantage of the opening of its economy to the world and stole itself a foundation of technology and research to build upon. Now it is to the point where its own capacity for innovation is growing China into the global apex predator. 

The Belt and Road Initiative is another example of China’s goal of bringing Asia, Africa, and Europe into their sphere of influence and control. China’s efforts at cyberespionage have also been successful including the infiltration of  America’s infrastructure.  Should war be inevitable China will seek to destabilize the U.S. internally before a single shot is fired. 

When China’s economic growth started, its party leadership was more open to democracy and capitalism and positive relations with the West. As leadership changed that openness faded. Now current leadership within the Chinese Communist Party utilizes China’s economic progress for the furtherance of the dynastic vision. China will soon be the most powerful nation in the world and their ascension will not likely be stopped barring an economic calamity that would affect the entire globe.  

The world’s great powers will pursue their visions at the expense of humanity. Their visions will always be nationalistic and led by egocentric individuals that have the stamina and grit to win elections. The global powers, totalitarian leaders pursuing nuclear goals, and countries rapidly pursuing economic advancement will never stop long enough to look around and determine how their actions need to shift to prevent the more negative outcomes of the Great Convergence.

 The Great Convergence is coming: Are We Ready? 

So where is this going to lead us? I don’t think we can know but it won’t be comfortable or smooth. All these thrusts will converge and create a global transition unlike the planet has ever seen.  

Let’s go back to the stacks of quarters and the beginning of this article. With all those stacks of quarters and interconnections representing our complex world, most of us in humanity struggle to live out our lives on one small piece of one quarter. In our little piece of complex interdependence, we use our unique existence paradigm to interact and build a life for ourselves and those we love. We can’t possibly see all the variables that intersect with our small piece of life. We take all the communication, logistics, and personnel that make our life possible, pretty much for granted. Even if we don’t take it for granted, we still can't see it all. 

As I stated at the beginning of this article, our existence paradigm can create bias and denial about issues that threaten us. Even the people who find themselves in the middle of one of these positive advances changing our world- like AI’s medical achievements – may naturally choose to deny the more nefarious concerns that will come from AI’s use for medical harm or ethically questionable research. 

The Great Convergence is coming, and all of us need to lift up our eyes to the greater scope of quarters that make up our planetary existence. So let’s ask ourselves the three questions in the title. 

#1. Are we watching? Are you aware of the emerging global changes versus just focusing on your speck of your quarter? Don't close off your mind even if it’s hard to look without feeling a little overwhelmed or fearful. 

#2. Are you seeing? Do you understand the inevitable reality of the convergence or are you choosing a little denial? What the convergence looks like is unknowable but it’s happening as I write and will continue to whatever end it brings. 

#3. Are you ready? Yes, it's hard to plan for something you can't understand or see the outcome of, but you can be wise and let yourself do some life-related risk management. Risk management requires you to allow the possibility of the negative and ask,  "What if?" Then figure out some steps and actions within your life's capacity. This isn't giving into fear, this is just good planning. 

I have always told people and youth I have worked with in counseling and leadership, "Manage life or life will manage you." Life happens, the unexpected happens, the hard things happen. Being prepared for some of these potential realities doesn't make us worriers, fearful, or negative; it makes us pragmatic, strategic, and wise.

I once read a book on airplane crash survivors. The author had researched and spoken with dozens of survivors looking for a common thread. The one common thread he found was simply awareness and mental preparation. Those survivors were aware of where they sat on a plane, where the nearest door was, what kind of person was sitting next to them, and whether they had a life jacket under their seat or it was the cushion itself. When they got on a plane they just took a minute to understand their surroundings before the plane took off. 

Successful businesses practice risk management and planning all the time. In a world of such rapid change, people need to do more of it on a personal and family level. 

On my blog and podcasts I talk about Courageous Conversations and Courageous Coexistence. With the inevitable reality of the Great Convergence on the horizon, I hope we can embrace these skills. 

Brief Music Transition

Now let me shift gears here for a couple of minutes and address those of us who own Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and hold to that existence paradigm.

As believers in the Bible, we hold the belief that Jesus will literally return in physical form and wrap up history as we know it. There are many different interpretations for the end of days as it is often referred to.

The question we face is whether or not the Great Convergence is related to that biblical period or not. It is easy to think it is and many bible and prophecy scholars will say yes. I also think that is possible, but I don’t believe it will look like many Christian’s want it to look. If you want to read my position on this I encourage you to get my book The Game of Darkness: How Satan is Leading the World to Its End.  It’s available on Amazon. 

If you are a Christian, I want to warn you about going overboard on Jesus’ return coming soon. This is our hope, and it has been Christian’s hope and longing since Jesus ascended to our God and Father. We can never let go of that longing and Jesus tells us to stay alert until his return and so we should. 

However, for two thousand years, humanity has gone through tremendous periods of change and upheaval. At the beginning of most of those periods, going back to the Apostles, believers thought their time period and its corresponding events, was The End. Stay alert yes but don’t set yourself up with false assumptions that have no sound biblical basis. This can lead to discouragement or doubt and Satan loves to take advantage of that in a believer’s life. Just try and remember this as we move into the coming months and years of whatever is going to come. 

Ultimately, whatever God allows life to bring our way, we must answer the question of trust. Is Jesus who the Bible says he is, regardless of what life is bringing, and will I choose him, and trust him anyway. When we are suffering, or hurting, or those we love are suffering, this is very difficult, but in the end, this is what faith is. In these times we put our faith in God’s word versus what we see. I will close this podcast with Jesus words recorded in the Gospel of John. 

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be. (John 14:1-3)

These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NASB)

As we close out this episode of the Planet Gel-O Chronicles I ask you to bear with me for a quick advertisement. I have already mentioned my book on Amazon, The Game of Darkness: How Satan is Leading the World to its End.  I cover many aspects of the Great Convergence from a biblical perspective. 

As with all things media, there are costs involved and if you would like to see the Planet Gel-O Chronicles, blog and outreach continue, you can make that possible by joining our team as a partner. Please go to planetgel-o.com and become a partner today. 

Thanks for joining. Until next time, pursue courageous coexistence, the world is depending on you. I am Michael McCorkle and this is the Planet Gel-o Chronicles.