Returning is the Motion of the Way

I recently listened to a brilliant Israeli podcast series discussing AI and its impact on our lives, both now and in the future.

In one of the episodes, they referenced a line from the Tao Te Ching:

"Returning is the motion of the Way." 

I loved this idea and wanted to explore it further, so I asked my new best friend, Jet, also known as ChatGPT, to tell me more.

The irony of asking Jet about something I heard in a podcast about AI is hard to ignore, but here’s what Jet had to say about this Taoist phrase: 

“The original idea is that the Tao often moves in a way that appears to oppose straightforward progress. When things reach an extreme, they tend to turn back; growth leads to decline, fullness to emptiness, strength to softness, and so on.” 

This explanation sparked a thought in me: “This is damn good news for impro theater”. 

Because, assuming we’ll survive all of the forces that currently try to extinct us and I mean all: The tech lords, the Elon Masks, the DICKtatores, terrorists, nuclear bombs, climate change, narcissists, neo-capitalists, false profits, activists, racist and the stock market, assuming we remind in some sort of tact in a world where AI plays a significant roll in our daily lives,  then my friends, people will rush to our classes and theaters.

There will be a strong desire to relearn how to connect with others. How to look into someone’s eyes, dance together, play, and laugh in the company of others. Audiences will seek out theaters, eager to sit in the dark with strangers and engage in something happening right now, just for them and only once. We might even witness younger generations distancing themselves from anything mass-produced, artificial, or duplicated. They will yearn for human connections that are playful, direct, and honest, like a lost wanderer in the desert. 

What we need to do is continue allowing the art form to expand. To show us what else it can be. What else does it want to be, so we can be ready when the motion of the Way returns.

And maybe none of this will happen. What do I know! I am not a prophet.

But regardless of what the future holds, I sure hope we’ll be able to keep creating something out of nothing, on the spot, just as storytellers have done for thousands of years.

*I wrote this blog all by myself and with just a little bit of help from Jet in the end, because after all, English is not my first language