Jim Gilliam Believes the Internet Can Save Us From Ourselves | Big Think

Jim Gilliam Believes the Internet Can Save Us From Ourselves
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Who would have figured that the outrage culture that dictates such a huge portion of Internet activity is merely one step along a longer path toward global harmony? In this keen video interview, NationBuilder CEO Jim Gilliam tells how the Internet is shifting the global community in chaotic, exciting ways. He explains how the Internet became his religion, where it's taking us as a society, and how a face-off with cancer opened his eyes to a whole new worldview.
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JIM GILLIAM:
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TRANSCRIPT:
Jim Gilliam: So I grew up a Christian fundamentalist, but simultaneously this whole like online thing was happening and I was just really entranced and sucked into it as a teenager. And over the course of the years I had all kinds of medical problems the result of which was I needed someone else’s bone marrow and someone else’s lungs in order to stay alive. So quite literally people connected are like in my body and that was a pretty major thing for me. Trying to understand what that meant, understanding what that meant for my faith and the spirituality around it.

So I started a whole inquiry of what does this mean for my life. Like what is possible when all of humanity is connected? What does it mean for what I’m supposed to do while I’m here? All the things that religion traditionally provides for folks I found that I had this new faith. And new faith and it connected to humanity, but didn’t know what that necessarily meant for what the purpose of my life was. And what I came to understand is that there is something unique and special about every single person. There’s something inside of them that they are meant to create. And it could be really hard to figure out what that is, but when you do and you have the guts and the determination to actually make it happen, it’s the most extraordinary thing any human can do. And if everyone is doing that, if everyone is fully unlocking all of that potential inside of them, then that becomes God. That is how we can be the greatest God we can be. And that’s what’s guided my life since then. And I wanted to share it with folks.

I think one of the big challenges that we face as humans is how to make connected humans be greater than the sum of their parts. It’s — you can see it in like the inefficiencies that emerge even in sort of large organizations. Bureaucracy, government. Like as people come together, it frequently leads to less things getting done rather than more things getting done. And so we haven’t figured out how all of that works but that is the great challenge. That is what we should all strive for. And we’re starting to see new models emerge online where they operate — where groups of people operate in a more collaborative, but also competitive kind of way. Open source software is a great example of this, where the coordination costs have come down dramatically. Like I don’t have to ask for somebody’s permission to be able to fork somebody’s code and make my own version of it. Whereas traditionally collaboration requires a bunch of people to get into a room and just all work things out. And that doesn’t work when it’s a thousand or a million or 10 million people. So the great challenge for us is to figure out what are the ways in which very, very large groups of people can accomplish things that were never possible before.

Much of what we call a sharing economy or even the on demand economy — you know Airbnb and Kickstarter and these things — really what that is, is that communities accomplishing things that just weren’t possible before. And the more that we can figure that out, the more that we can scale that, the more successful, the more impact it will have — as individuals, as leaders, but also as humans.

What’s different and unique about my faith is that all of us have the opportunity to impact the kind of God we are. God is not something that’s out there.....

[ShawnPhelpsVlog]

We're certainly in an interesting point of history. I agree with most of what Jim has said here, and I need to put a little thought into his other perspectives. The core message though: we need to learn to stop fixing people who aren't broken and letting them be who they are, I agree with 100%. I also agree that the Internet is a huge game-changer for global progress, and not just in social issues with community, but in the general way we all look at life. I agree there are going to be a lot of growing pains, but I also think we've gone through some already, and we're on the right track.

Excellent talk.

[MortenHaulik]

Syntax Axe is really showing how the Internet is saving humanity.

[ftn]

Wow.  This guy is amazing.  It's great to hear someone articulate the outrage culture and chaos that is Twitter.

[daviddiemedio]

Great talk Jim.  You touch on some hugely important and challenging obstacles for human progression.  The closed minded people of the world are keeping the rest of us from the Utopian society that is possible.  We currently have the resources and the technology to have a much better world, but we lack enough individual open mindedness which prevents us from creating such a community.

[George]

The internet is access to information. Some true, some false.
Information of both kinds leads to proper skepticism. Internet information must be judged.

[scarletovergods]

'What does this mean?' is the most meaningless question there is.

[OmniphonProductions]

THANK YOU for the mention of "outrage culture".  I swear that lately it seems like everybody is just looking for reasons to be pissed off.  Socially and technologically we are living in possibly the greatest time in history, but all anybody sees is what's still wrong...rather that taking a moment to collectively celebrate how far we've come.

Thank you, also, for pointing out that this is, in fact, PROGRESS in and of itself.  My choir teacher always used to say, "Sing out!  I can't fix the bad note, if I can't tell who's singing it."  Likewise, many in society have been biting their tongues and playing nice for so long that, like a volcano, we are collectively erupting into dialogue that, while seemingly destructive in the short term, will (hopefully) will result in a similarly volcanic level of intellectual fertility.

[dacox]

honestly when everyone creates there own religion, no one is a collective. Everyone must believe in the same thing or principles or it will hold no reverence or power.

[BecomingAlpha]

I personally believe that human consciousness is divinity. We all share one consciousness and when we feel connected to that energy it is what we call god. It is what I call god anyway. The more consciousness there is i n the world the better the decisions that humanity makes as a whole. (I don't think it was an accident that LSD was accidentally discovered at the same time as the atom bomb was created and that indirectly led to the end of the cold war). When we work together, awake, we are on the way to Utopia.

[havenbastion]

What do you think about the "reputation economy"?

[dacox]

I believe our purpose s to take care of our planet, help eachother and the creatures on earth, thank god, and explore the universe

[ytubeanon]

So, the ultimate "meaning" is porn and accepting new kinds of it.

[RancidHamwallet]

Words of wisdom
This video csn really give people a new perspcective on things

[SirusTheHunter]

These comment sections are comedy fucking gold.

[chrisms]

Massively multiplayer online global issues solutions craft.

[nb]

you start at the beginning like in sparta! toss the weak and praise the strong...

[kristiejanes]

Wow I love this and believe we can reach a true community. As we learn to accept others and realize we are more alike than different we can get there. I also believe that we will understand how by connecting we can do amazing things. I belong to www.joinaltruist for this very reason we are a giving club coming together to support different non-profits for only a dollar. Thanks for sharing, yes we are all special and should realize our potential.

[sergiotea]

interesting perspective, do not agree... this video is very judgmental.... one of the basic elements of any "fundamental life-style{... is to shun.. any one who disagrees...  Love the Troll...don't judge the behavior!!   ...

[TGC]

Maybe, refrain from the easily misinterpreted "us being gods". Other than that, not a bad sentiment.

[edgarmorales]

Jesus did not die for our sins! Jesus came to teach us the Truth, so that we would stop behaving in ways that harm ourselves and others.

Jesus came to teach us the Way of Love, which is also the Way of Forgiveness; for that reason, Jesus did not needed to be crucified and denounced.

Jesus' crucifixion did not save us or wash away our sins, but it did succeed in making Jesus a martyr; which helped ensure that Jesus' teachings lived on.

Jesus did came to save us, but from ourselves; from our own mistaken beliefs and our lack of Love; by teaching us another way.

No one can actually save us but ourselves, no one is "freed" from themselves by a "Saviors" act; least of all, a "blood sacrifice."

The concept of making a blood sacrifice, to win approval or forgiveness from God, is pure superstition; a throwback to primitive humankind and their ancient religions.

A Savior brings the teachings, and then people must save themselves by applying those teachings in their lives.

No one is saved without a commitment and some effort on their part to know the Truth and follow it; there is no other way.

Jesus and others light the way, but each person must choose to step on the path of Love and live it.

Again! Only we can free ourselves from ourselves and our mistaken beliefs.