While AI promises an "age of abundance," Professor Russell has asked hundreds of experts—from AI researchers to economists and sci-fi writers—to describe what a fulfilling human life looks like with no work. No one can. This failure of imagination suggests the real challenge isn't economic but a profound crisis of purpose, meaning, and human identity.

Extreme online subcultures, however small, function as 'existence proofs.' They demonstrate what is possible when a generation is severed from historical context and tradition, connected only by algorithms and pornography. They are a warning sign of the potential outcomes of our current digital environment.

For generations, increasing wealth allowed Western society to discard essential cultural norms like social trust and shared values. Now that economic growth is faltering, the catastrophic consequences of this "death of culture" are becoming fully visible.

Humans can endure immense suffering, misery, and ugliness, but find boredom intolerable. This powerful aversion is an underestimated catalyst for major historical events, social movements, and even revolutions, as people seek excitement and a sense of purpose over monotony.

The most dangerous long-term impact of AI is not economic unemployment, but the stripping away of human meaning and purpose. As AI masters every valuable skill, it will disrupt the core human algorithm of contributing to the group, leading to a collective psychological crisis and societal decay.

Unprecedented global prosperity creates a vacuum of real adversity, leading people to invent anxieties and fixate on trivial problems. Lacking the perspective from genuine struggle, many complain about first-world issues while ignoring their immense privilege, leading to a state where things are 'so good, it's bad.'

Current instability is not unique to one country but part of a global pattern. This mirrors historical "crisis centuries" (like the 17th) where civil wars, plagues, and economic turmoil occurred simultaneously across different civilizations, driven by similar underlying variables.

Despite narratives of higher purpose, the bedrock of modern life is economic specialization. This system ensures survival and allows for hyper-specialization, which is why economic disruptions so easily unravel societal stability and lead to global conflict.

Modern capitalism profitably hacks primitive human drives (e.g., junk food, social media), redirecting them away from natural behaviors like reproduction. This cultural trajectory could be an evolutionary dead-end, where the system selects against its own continuation by fostering sterility, paving the way for its replacement by a different culture.