Future of waiting in society?

Waiting as an Experience of Fundamental Significance (Part #10)

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Any sense of a waiting society, or of an expectant society, offers a reminder that it is "anticipated" that the society of the future is expected to become primarily a "service society". Ironically this may however encourage a reframing of the seemingly humble current role of "waiters" (in contrast with "patients"). In that respect it is appropriate to recall that the early Christian Desert Fathers -- as hermits -- wove baskets to exchange for bread. In medieval times hermits were also found within or near cities where they might earn a living as a gate keeper or ferryman.

How would the dynamics of society be experienced if "waiters" were the primary practitioners cultivating a sense of "pro-active meta-waiting"? This understanding offers scope for speculative science fiction. Given the argument for higher cybernetic orders of self-reference, "ordering" from such a waiter would potentially then offer a quite unusual experience. The question is relevant to the consideration of the increasing "soullessness" of service environments (Dreamables, Deniables, Deliverables and Duende: global dynamics "at the table" inspired by dining and wining in practice, 2015).

Given the possibility of pro-active meta-waiting argued above, it could be claimed that the future will see a convergence between the reduction of wait time sought by process management with a reframing of waiting by any "waiter" -- namely a far higher degree of focus on nowness and the present moment. Ironically the higher wealth production associated with the reduction of wait time by business would then be complemented by the greater access to "inner wealth" through meta-waiting.

The increasing role of artificial intelligence is now actively anticipated even with respect to dialogue (Computer AI passes Turing test in 'world first', BBC News, 9 June 2014; Thomas Hornigold, How Close Is Turing's Dream of Conversational Machines? SingularityHub, 27 September 2017; Pei-Hao Su, et al, Deep Learning for Conversational AI, NAACL, 2018).

For those awaiting meaningful conversation, there is the intriguing possibility that in the expected capacity of robots -- as "waiters" par excellence -- their programming may readily distinguish between lower and higher orders of cybernetics in an interaction, namely the appropriate degree of self-reference in response to an "order". With respect to any prospect of "meta-waiting", this suggests implications for a Forthcoming Major Revolution in Global Dialogue (2013), namely a challenging new world order of interactive communication.

Reverting to the argument of Douglas Hofstadter (I Am a Strange Loop, 2007), to whom is what meant by such a strange loop in the process of meta-waiting? How might that be understood collectively, as separately explored (Sustaining a Community of Strange Loops: comprehension and engagement through aesthetic ring transformation, 2010)?

For what, at this time, is anyone not waiting?

The monolithic human statues on Easter Island (the Moai) suggest a poignant insight into a culture heavily invested in anticipation of externalities. They seemingly await patiently an event whose nature now eludes them -- readily associated with cargo cult societies in that region. The collapse of the culture on Easter Island is cited by Jared Diamond as providing one of the best historical examples of societal collapse in isolation (Collapse: how societies choose to fail or survive, 2005).

Poignant representation of an anticipation society? Statues on Easter Island -- the Moai

Reproduced from Wikipedia where the image has been rated one of the finest in that collection

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