Henry Ford and the Future That Awaits
Henry Ford published his autobiography, 'My Life and Work', in 1922. In his introduction, he writes of the opportunity that lies ahead of the world he lived in. Many of his ideas seem even more applicable today, in 2023. I'm writing about them to share with you.
On Opportunity:
"We have only started on our development of our country—we have not as yet, with all our talk of wonderful progress, done more than scratch the surface."
“When we consider that more power is used merely in ploughing the soil than is used in all the industrial establishments of the country put together, an inkling comes of how much opportunity there is ahead.”
In 1922, the Second Industrial Revolution was well underway. With it came a flood of machines into agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation. However, there was still extreme inefficiency. Ford commented that more energy was consumed in sowing fields than in manufacturing. How much more could we produce if we increased efficiency, consumption, and production? The opportunities seemed boundless.
In 2023, a little over 100 years later, we are on the precipice of such an opportunity. There are so many inefficiencies in our world, both physical and digital that we are so close to automating. Far too many people do work that they hate because, both as individuals and as a society, we need their work to subsist. With AGI and robotics, we’re inching toward a world where these people can do other things, do better things.
The concept of a more automated world can be scary. We’ve grown up watching sci-fi movies filled with dystopia. In 1922, many people felt similar angst about the impending mechanization of their world.
On a ‘Dystopian’ Future:
“When one speaks of increasing power, machinery, and industry there comes up a picture of a cold, metallic sort of world in which great factories will drive away the trees, the flowers, the birds, and the green field…With all of that I do not agree. I think that unless we know more about machines and their use, unless we better understand the mechanical portion of life, we cannot have the time to enjoy the trees, and the birds, and the flowers, and the green fields.”
The world with AGI doesn’t have to be cold and dystopian. Just like the world with machines wasn’t either. It’s up to humanity, in the way that only humanity can, to harness this powerful technology as a force of good. It’s up to us to define the world we live in, a world that we may understand better with better technology to help us thrive.
What of the opportunity that comes after AGI? It is our opportunity to explore. To explore the depths of the oceans, to explore the outer reaches of space, to explore the microscopic biomes in rainforests. To explore ourselves, to create art and music accessible to everyone. To explore meaning for ourselves and our lives. To create a human definition of purpose that doesn’t revolve around subsistence.
Although the future is not guaranteed to be this wondrous, humanity has the opportunity to define it as such.
On People:
“I think that we have already done too much toward banishing the pleasant things from life by thinking that there is some opposition between living and providing the means of living….Power and machinery, money and goods, are useful only as they set us free to live. They are but means to an end.”
We have already done too much towards banishing the pleasant things from life. People in 1922 believed there was a difference between living and providing a means of living. In 2023, though the world is exponentially wealthier, we believe the same thing.
We believe that you work hard so that you can enjoy your life on the weekends. We believe you go to school for something you hate to make money. We haven’t found purpose, and thus, we believe that purpose simply doesn’t exist. But why?
There might one day be a time when you and I will be alive and we will live in an automated world. It could be in 5 years, or it could be 50. When that day comes, you might be able to easily find your purpose, but why wait around to find out?
The world was built by people like Henry Ford, who refused to stop until they found and executed their purpose. He refuted experts, job promotions, and friends whenever they told him a gas-powered car wouldn’t work. He spent 12 years prototyping the model T before he released it. He believed in a future so vividly and cared about humanity so deeply that he poured his soul into that car. 100 years and billions of people later, we have so much to thank him for.
Our future will only be what we define it as, what we decide to build. There are many questions about the future, but one thing is certain: The future is coming. Time will not stop marching for our indecision.
What do we want that future to be?
Acknowledgements:
All quotes from ‘My Life and Work’ by Henry Ford and Samuel Crowther
Thank you to David Senra and the Founders podcast for inspiring me to ‘become friends with the eminent dead’. I’ve become a better man as a result.
I plan to write many essays in the future. This was not planned to be one of them. However, I feel strongly about these ideas and felt like they were serendipitously pulled out of me. It lacks revision and careful editing. That is on purpose. This is me in my rawest form. You'll see different versions of me in future essays.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and criticism.
Until next time,
V
Originally published on LinkedIn, December 19th, 2023.