6. Can we overcome our naturally (poor) programming?

Now we face the two existential threats of climate change and A.I. Both of them run the risk of being underestimated due to narrative dynamics.

Climate change is not only firmly planted in “The Land of And,” given the glacier-sized amount of information around it, but it is also a deeply intellectual threat. The future threat of war can be emotionalized with all the countless dramatic stories of pain and suffering from past wars. But climate change?

What can we point to in our past to illustrate the pain of climate change? There are apparently some civilizations that have fallen victim to changing climates, but theirs are distant tales, and even then, their demise occurred gradually, not dramatically.

As for artificial intelligence, it’s something we haven’t experienced any bad consequences from yet, so we need to be told stories about how it works. But as James Barrat warns: If it’s a popular, well-known story, by definition it has to have a happy ending for the humans, causing the public to not worry. “A.I.? It’s our friend!”

So this is where humanity now is—facing two threats that circumvent our narrative brains. One is too boring; the other, too happy. Which leaves us with a simple final question—are we better than our narrative programming?

And there’s your non-archplot ending. Sorry.