A GREAT deal is currently being discussed about artificial intelligence (AI) in the press and in work settings. So, not long ago, I wrote about that version of AI plus two others, namely Active Income and Alternative Investments.
You might enjoy reading (or rereading) that Money Thoughts column from late September 2024 here: www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/sunday-vibes/2024/09/1112256/money-thoughts-sur....
In it, I made a point that is worth repeating: "With each passing year, the threats posed by AI... to our economic wellbeing will rise. Yet we can't stuff the genie back in the bottle. At best, like Aladdin, we should try to work with the genie of AI to prosper."
Like fire, the wheel, the printing press, calculus, the steam and internal combustion engines, nuclear energy and the Internet, AI is a powerful tool with the capacity and potential to make our lives better. But remember that all tools can be bent to the will of the wielder, be he or she benevolent or malevolent.
AI can make our lives worse by robbing us of our jobs, or better by helping us augment our personal productivity and thus, our economic output per unit of time and per unit of energy.
What might we then do to increase our odds of retaining paid work, ballooning our earnings and climbing life's socioeconomic ladder?
FYI: If you're a little hazy on the specific rungs of that "ladder", please note that back in the middle of 2022, I wrote a column on the subject which you may read here: www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/sunday-vibes/2022/07/816006/money-thoughts-econ....
ORGANIC INTELLIGENCE
For us to grow more confident, more successful and, ideally, wealthier over the multi-decade span of a typical human career, we should hone our ability to use readily available AI tools, such as OpenAI's ubiquitous ChatGPT, and its less well-known cousins: Google's Gemini and Microsoft's Copilot.
But of even greater importance than AI, when it comes to moving up in the world, is NI or OI — natural or organic intelligence. So, we should work — on ourselves — to boost our functional levels of natural intelligence.
How?
By:
1. Reading more;
2. Thinking more; and
3. Applying more.
You see, there is a quantum leap between reading and thinking, and then again between thinking and applying. Back in the 18th century, the French writer Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) wrote this in his book Maxims and Thoughts, published posthumously in 1796: "What one knows best is... what one has learned not from books but as a result of books, through the reflections to which they have given rise."
So, to reposition ourselves within the ranks of leaders, we should nurture our capacity for reading, ideally devouring significant works of both fiction and non-fiction. As we do so, we will often find ourselves propelled in the direction of fruitful meaningful action.
Eighty years after Chamfort's Maxims came out, American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, "Every book is good to read which sets the reader in a working mood."
Emerson, the great American author, poet and philosopher, knew what he was talking about. Diligence in our work is laudable. And essential.
LEADERS ARE READERS
Our world is becoming ever more expensive because of the necessary (low) levels of inflation embedded within our global financial system to keep crippling deflation from imploding national economies.
The modest levels of inflation tolerated today are a necessary evil because benign inflation acts as a bulwark against possible deflation that can lead to a massive Depression, like the one that gripped the world for nine years from October 1929.
Unfortunately, even two per cent annual compounding inflation halves the purchasing power of our money every 36 years. That means everyone gets poorer over time, EXCEPT those who crack the code of growing their money faster than inflation erodes its purchasing power.
Which brings us right back to the goal of boosting our NI so we grow more productive and thus wealthier over time.
The first key, as mentioned, is reading, which usually must precede our "thinking" and then our "applying". However, the adage "readers are leaders" is incorrect. Lots of bookworms do nothing significant with their lives.
Do note, though, most world class leaders are voracious and eclectic readers of countless books. So, it is far more accurate to say "leaders are readers".
Consider what 19th century American author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote in his 1854 classic Walden; or, Life in the Woods: "Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Their authors are a natural and irresistible aristocracy in every society, and more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind."
Those who harness NI — and, of course, AI — to help many other people will most likely succeed in life. So, to better boost NI and AI, read.
Oh, and in case reading doesn't come easy to you, I hope you will at least commit to reading a tiny bit of a great book for a few minutes every day... and a wee bit more with each subsequent day. Nurturing this habit will propel you upward if you also think and act.
© 2024 Rajen Devadason
Rajen Devadason, CFP, is a securities commission-licensed Financial Planner, professional speaker and author. Read his free articles at www.FreeCoolArticles.com; he may be connected with on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/rajendevadason, or via rajen@RajenDevadason.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @Rajen Devadason and on YouTube (Rajen Devadason).