On meaningmaking

Creating meaning is how we solve the problem of deciding what to do and why. Machines may be good at figuring out how to achieve a given outcome, but so far only humans can decide that a particular outcome means something and is therefore worth doing.

What makes us human is not about doing routine, uncreative work that only reproduces what others have done before. What makes us human is our ability to do things which are not-yet-understood, which require us to be able to create meaning where there wasn’t meaning before.

What counts as a norm — which is a pattern of meaning that has become widespread enough for long enough to be taken for granted — changes over time as things change. What makes us human changes over time, in relation to what we choose to set ourselves apart from. Our ability to individually or collectively upgrade what it means to be human as time ... See more