Sacred Goods

Harvard business professor Debora Spar argues that even the best of today’s technologies will never be able to provide the deeply intimate goods of love and human connection. Instead, we’ll need to find new ways of reclaiming what matters most. Since the introduction of the smartphone in 2007, the world has been progressively dazzled—and held captive—by technology. We have brought virtual companions into our bedrooms, purchased robots to care for our elderly parents, and turned our romantic prospects over to dating algorithms. We seem to have decided that human connection is an engineering problem and have thus designed technologies to fix it. Yet as Harvard Business School professor Debora Spar reveals, these synthetic solutions are destined to fall short, because the very problems they aim to eliminate— friction, uncertainty, struggle, even sacrifice—are what define human connection and makes it meaningful. The good news, though, as Spar argues, is that the advent of artificial intelligence won’t mean the end of our humanity. On the contrary, by protecting what she calls “sacred goods”—love, care, romance, faith, and connection—we can set firmer boundaries between the machines and ourselves, preserving the things that will become ever scarcer in our technological age, while rebuilding the businesses, organizations, and communities that enable them to flourish. As smart machines become ever more prevalent, they will deliver what they do best—logic, efficiency, and vast quantities of information at extraordinary speed. But these aren’t necessarily the characteristics we want or need in our most intimate lives. Instead, we’ll need to remember and rehearse the messier human practices that make life meaningful. We’ll need to engage in friction rather than wish it away; embrace the rejection that romance so often entails; and make the sacrifices that sit at the heart of our deepest human relations. We’ll need to build communities that prioritize the pathways of social infrastructure and businesses that amplify emotional connection rather than seeking to replace it. Sacred Goods is an argument for what will become most valuable in an increasingly artificial world – and a roadmap for preserving it. Because robots can’t teach us to love, or marvel, or revel in the joys of finding something, someone, new. Artificial intelligence can’t guide a confused and idiosyncratic soul and genetic engineering can’t eliminate the uncertainties of bearing and raising a child. Instead, as machines and markets move into our lives, we need to find other ways of creating what even the most advanced technology cannot provide: faith, struggle, passion, moments of messy interaction and shocks of insight. And ultimately, love. This counterintuitive guide lays out: A Bold Prediction: Harvard business professor Debora L. Spar argues that as machines become more capable, people will increasingly value the uniquely human qualities technology can never replicate. The Human Cost of Technology: Examines how our growing reliance on smartphones, algorithms, virtual companions, and artificial intelligence is reshaping relationships and giving rise to new forms of social inequity. Why Human Connection Matters: Explores why emotional bonds, meaningful relationships, and strong communities will become even more valuable in an age dominated by smart machines. The Future of Human Desire: Reveals how people will seek authentic experiences, from face-to-face interactions and real-world relationships to shared experiences in communal spaces. A Guide to Thriving in the AI Era: Offers a hopeful vision of how humanity can preserve what matters most while navigating an increasingly artificial world, and lays out five practices—touch, place, memory, ritual, and sacrifice—to guide this navigation. The Value Of Sacred Goods: Shows why faith, passion, struggle, insight, love, and other intangible human experiences will remain beyond the reach of even the most advanced artificial intelligence.