AI + The New Human Frontier

CHAPTER 2The Sky's the Limit

“Are you ready?” asked the instructor harnessed to my back. Without me even attempting to utter a response, we shuffled out of the prop plane and began our free fall. Terminal velocity. That is the fastest speed you can reach on a skydive. As I fell 120 miles an hour through the air, aerial images captured that simultaneous feeling of fear and elation. Those images also somehow managed to capture me looking like a baby pterodactyl with crooked dangling arms, wide eyes, and a gaping mouth. I looked completely scared.

I was gasping for air, repeating not-so-reassuring mantras in my head on loop, and hoping that the New Zealander on my back knew what he was doing. All of this in probably only 45 seconds. A mere snapshot in time. But a moment of significance. No matter how quickly the adrenaline was pumping, I still felt oddly reassured. Why? Because I knew I was secure. I was both free and secure at the same time. My free fall through the sky felt risky, but I always knew I had the safeguard of a parachute. The parachute gave me the comfort that I would eventually slow down. It gave me a semblance of control. I could steer my own direction and navigate my own path. I trusted it, and that sense of trust gave me a sense of safety.

Skydiving is the ultimate trust fall. The entire thing depends on trust. When you approach the open door and wait for the go-ahead, the only thing you can do is trust. Trust between the diver and the instructor. Trust in the ...