[spodi]

Does job automation scare you? Will humans be obsolete in the workforce? What do we do when a main part of our purpose in life (our jobs and careers) is lost to artificial intelligence? How much time do we have? Do you know who Ray Kurzweil is? Do you believe in the singularity and 2045? Will it come sooner? Why doesn't the U.S. or other nations have a cabinet level position for something so vital (the digital landscape) to our existence today? Have we entered an Orwellian age? Has the average human accepted the infringement on their privacy from big brother? Will the internet of things destroy more of our privacy? Was it ironic when Google and Facebook came out against N.S.A data collection? Are Google, Apple, Amazon etc the 21st century equivalent of 19th and 20th century oil barons, steel and railroad monopolies? Do internet start ups have a chance today to not be bought and sold? Are technorats our future leaders? Who will rule the internet? Nations, companies, or individuals? Will the fictious story of the matrix become a fact? Is Google the closet being to our collective concept of God?

I asked many questions at once, sorry but like technology my questions started with one then added rapidly. Answer which ever one(s) interest you.

[Thunderhawk]

Does job automation scare you?
No.

Will humans be obsolete in the workforce?
For some things we already are. For others, we will be.

What do we do when a main part of our purpose in life (our jobs and careers) is lost to artificial intelligence?
Work can give us a purpose in life, but it is not inherently one. What we will do with our lives is a very good question.

How much time do we have?
for wide spread replacement, decades in the developed world.

Do you know who Ray Kurzweil is?
Yes

Do you believe in the singularity and 2045? Will it come sooner?
transcendent AI that can improve itself faster then we can, yes. But reaching that point and building on it are different things.

Why doesn't the U.S. or other nations have a cabinet level position for something so vital (the digital landscape) to our existence today?
People and government are rooted in past practices. Even a forward outlook is done through the lens of what was done before

Have we entered an Orwellian age? Has the average human accepted the infringement on their privacy from big brother? Will the internet of things destroy more of our privacy?
I think Brave new world is a more comparable literary work then 1984.

Was it ironic when Google and Facebook came out against N.S.A data collection?
Yes

Are Google, Apple, Amazon etc the 21st century equivalent of 19th and 20th century oil barons, steel and railroad monopolies?
No. There are some parallels, but they are not enough to make claims of equivalence.

Do internet start ups have a chance today to not be bought and sold?
Yes.

Are technorats our future leaders?
Elite professionals have been and will remain in the ranks of leadership. With new environments and technologies come new fields for professionals

Who will rule the internet? Nations, companies, or individuals?
A better question might be, will people continue having access to only one internet?

Will the fictious story of the matrix become a fact?
No

Is Google the closet being to our collective concept of God?
No.

[Atlantis]

Technology shapes our World more than ideology. That is something the members of this forum are determined to ignore. So, I welcome a discussion about technology, even if I fear that it won't go very far.

I don't believe that automation will make work superfluous. The surplus created by automation will go towards creating new employment. There is a problem in transition phases in which there is a mismatch between offer and demand. But that mismatch will be equaled out in one way or another. The idea that part of the population will not work and receive some sort of benefit or unconditional base salary is very dangerous in that it would be the way into a two-class society with a new pariah class of social outcasts.

The key to success will be innovation. The race is on. And those who are left behind will sink into poverty. Innovation is primarily in manufacturing, but there will also have to be innovation in economics, politics and the social sphere. There is virtually an unlimited market for green technology and successful societies will develop economic models not based on growth.

[quetzalcoatl]

I don't believe that automation will make work superfluous. The surplus created by automation will go towards creating new employment. There is a problem in transition phases in which there is a mismatch between offer and demand. But that mismatch will be equaled out in one way or another.

The second sentence, when examined closely, is a simply a restatement of the standard neo-classical view of market efficiency. It is false.

Here is something you can take to the bank. It ain't gonna happen. The new employment created by automation is minuscule compared to the employment deficit it creates. This is in marked contrast to massive assembly lines of the early twentieth century. There will be a host of new industries created in the 21st century, but they will have one defining feature in common: an ever declining dependence on labor as an input of production.

The inevitable outcome of this process is the creation of a new class of worker, the Zero Marginal Utility Employee. This is a person whose employment cannot be justified in terms of market efficiency. This class of worker, who has zero (actually negative) marginal utility, will come to be the dominant force in the labor market. The "transition phase" you speak of will in fact turn out to be permanent. The Zeros will, within this decade, swamp the labor market, driving wages and worker leverage down in a race to the bottom.

This is the undisclosed nature of the Singularity. A Singularity of technological advance will be precisely mirrored by a Singularity of employment collapse. It will create a precarious social situation whose outcome no one can predict.

[spodi]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

Sure you can argue it but me personally am quite scared of the exponential growth of tech. I know humans fear what they don't understand but tech will eventually out pace the great minds who can wrap their minds around the technologies they create. On a larger time scale then single months and years, we're only at the base of a Pandora's box.

[Atlantis]

Pandora's box has been opened centuries ago. There is no way of closing it now. Today, we are like the marathon runner who has to keep on putting one foot in front of the other in order not to fall. Can we keep on running indefinitely? That isn't even the question. We'll keep on running as long as we are alive.

Regarding the direction in which technology develops, we have to change our attitude. We need a holistic approach taking into consideration social, cultural, ecological, political, etc., factors to decide whether a given technology ought to be developed or not. Today, business decides what is most profitable. That will ruin the planet.

@quetz, I didn't say anything about automation creating new employment. I said the surplus earned will be directed towards fields in which new employment will be created. That is not the same thing.

Right now, there are millions of unemployed, yet I can't find anybody to look after may aging mother. That is not the kind of thing people want to do. They want to sit in nice offices and earn large salaries to lead a lavish lifestyle. Does Western man have a birthright to plunder the planet in order to finance his lavish lifestyle? I think not.

[quetzalcoatl]

@quetz, I didn't say anything about automation creating new employment. I said the surplus earned will be directed towards fields in which new employment will be created. That is not the same thing.

Right now, there are millions of unemployed, yet I can't find anybody to look after may aging mother. That is not the kind of thing people want to do. They want to sit in nice offices and earn large salaries to lead a lavish lifestyle. Does Western man have a birthright to plunder the planet in order to finance his lavish lifestyle? I think not.

Looking after your grandmother is deprecated by the existing economic system. You cannot find someone to look after your grandmother because that job, under existing arrangements, does not provide a survivable income. What people may want to do, and what they are able to do (and still feed their children) are not the same thing. Fewer westerners than you think live anything close to a lavish lifestyle, and fewer still earn large incomes. They have to do what the system offers, and what you want them to do is not what the system offers.

The neo-liberal paradigm is simply not capable of offering "fields in which new employment will be created", because the surplus earned is not accessible to anyone with an interest in creating this type of employment.

[Ummon]

Does job automation scare you?

I'm not sure. It will either awesome or horrible. I believe it could lead to something wonderful for humanity, but I fear humans will screw it up through fear, greed, etc.

Will humans be obsolete in the workforce?

No. However the number of people needed to do jobs will be much lower.

What do we do when a main part of our purpose in life (our jobs and careers) is lost to artificial intelligence?

What we did in preindustrial society? pre agricultural society? Philosophize, eat, dance, grow gardens, paint, debate, learn to surf, etc.

How much time do we have?

I think a basic income will be necessary within 12 years or so.

Do you know who Ray Kurzweil is?

Yes.

Do you believe in the singularity and 2045?

No. I don't think it will happen because several key scientists like cristof koch and david deutsch have brought up interesting points about why an agi is impossible will current technological understanding.

it come sooner?

No.

Why doesn't the U.S. or other nations have a cabinet level position for something so vital (the digital landscape) to our existence today?

Because people haven't demanded it.

Have we entered an Orwellian age?

No.

Has the average human accepted the infringement on their privacy from big brother?

Yes.

Will the internet of things destroy more of our privacy?

Yes.

Was it ironic when Google and Facebook came out against N.S.A data collection?

Mhmm i don't know. I think they might be in cahoots with whatever national government for $€£¥

Google, Apple, Amazon etc the 21st century equivalent of 19th and 20th century oil barons, steel and railroad monopolies?

Yes. For example in wage manipulation of engineers.

internet start ups have a chance today to not be bought and sold?

Only if they're insignificant or smart and can find other funding (unlikely)

technorats our future leaders?

Doubtful, but one of the better options if they are persons of integrity.

Who will rule the internet?

Interesting question. I think the internet will migrate to local/regional internets for the major world powers with drones/ships/satellites providing other layrrs owned by private groups.

Nations, companies, or individuals?

I don't understand the question

Will the fictious story of the matrix become a fact?

Maybe in 1000 years or whatever

Is Google the closet being to our collective concept of God?

No.

[Rancid]

What do we do when a main part of our purpose in life (our jobs and careers) is lost to artificial intelligence?

Most people hate their jobs. This won't be a problem.

[RhetoricThug]

Does job automation scare you? Will humans be obsolete in the workforce? What do we do when a main part of our purpose in life (our jobs and careers) is lost to artificial intelligence? How much time do we have? Do you know who Ray Kurzweil is? Do you believe in the singularity and 2045? Will it come sooner? Why doesn't the U.S. or other nations have a cabinet level position for something so vital (the digital landscape) to our existence today? Have we entered an Orwellian age? Has the average human accepted the infringement on their privacy from big brother? Will the internet of things destroy more of our privacy? Was it ironic when Google and Facebook came out against N.S.A data collection? Are Google, Apple, Amazon etc the 21st century equivalent of 19th and 20th century oil barons, steel and railroad monopolies? Do internet start ups have a chance today to not be bought and sold? Are technorats our future leaders? Who will rule the internet? Nations, companies, or individuals? Will the fictious story of the matrix become a fact? Is Google the closet being to our collective concept of God?

I asked many questions at once, sorry but like technology my questions started with one then added rapidly. Answer which ever one(s) interest you.

I addressed how I feel about most of this stuff here- http://politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=156474

Also, all technology is Faustian, just wanted to say that.

[spodi]

I apologize for stealing your idea Mr. Thug and appreciate your big word. Thanks! Now in all seriousness, I think we might have similar views. Whats your opinion of digital monopolies futures?

[RhetoricThug]

I apologize for stealing your idea Mr. Thug and appreciate your big word. Thanks! Now in all seriousness, I think we might have similar views. Whats your opinion of digital monopolies futures?

This year I've read many books, but one that really stood out, Neil Postman's Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79678.Technopoly
I recommended it for reading!

Now, since you asked for my opinion on the future of technical lordship

Does job automation scare you?

Yes,
Because humans will loose their sense of purpose in life, therefore they will seek new outlets for their need to express themselves. I'm afraid that outlet (as used by capitalist marketing teams) will be specifically designed to cultivate complacent personalities who do not question authority. Authority will be automated and unquestionable. Over in my Popular pattern psychosis thread I poke at this dreadful sequence. Although most members of the prole cult class hate their jobs and hard labour in general, they unknowingly cherish its identity and sometimes take pride in being a member of the passive consumer class.

Once their jobs become automated, we will have millions, if not billions of displaced souls. People who, before giving up their position in life to robots, had regularity, conformity, clarity, in their day to day sequence. Now, without the cognitive process of working for their reward, they will be rewarded without reason. This will eventually transform the consumer class into some kind of Wall-E world human blob. Except, I highly doubt robots will act as our romantic saviour from the dullness of automation.

Don't forget to stand in honor of our transnational anthem
[youtube]ThFnvjYYtFw[/youtube]

Will humans be obsolete in the workforce?

What do we do when a main part of our purpose in life (our jobs and careers) is lost to artificial intelligence?

We reinvent purpose, or fall into some deep mental depression, lulled till death... or excuse me, if you prefer, LOL'd to death.

How much time do we have?

We've been experiencing this transition since Francis Bacon established scientific empiricism. We already live in the technocratic world. Go outside today, and see for yourself how machines developed by technical experts backed by centralized government enforcing law & order, control almost every aspect of 21st century, first world, day to day life.

I laugh at futurists who think we need further education so their fantastic dream of technocracy can replace conventional models of day to day life. These morons don't realize we are already living the foundation of technocracy. Our technologies develop in effort to control or combat our environment, and take precedence over many aspects of daily life.

Here is an interesting piece on Francis Bacon and why he is the father of scientific method/technocratic ideal.
http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1713&context=bts

Do you know who Ray Kurzweil is?

Yes, folks like this man make my point very clear... The elite use capitalism to raise their standard of living so they can develop technologies only they can afford and eventually achieve their Luciferian goal of becoming immortal Gods. Once they live forever, why would they need billions of human resources to make their high standard of living possible? Machines will automate the basics and our great unwashed mass will be slaughtered (most likely humanely ).

Do you believe in the singularity and 2045? Will it come sooner?

I personally think it will be sooner, because our technical innovators realize they are in a race with overpopulation which threatens the standard of living they take for granted.

Why doesn't the U.S. or other nations have a cabinet level position for something so vital (the digital landscape) to our existence today?

This is a good question. Thunderhawk points out

People and government are rooted in past practices. Even a forward outlook is done through the lens of what was done before

You should appreciate this debate between Marshall McLuhan & Norman Mailer. The rear view mirror phenomenon is discussed along with the whole electronic envelope Western society built. Please pay close attention
[youtube]PtzxWR-j1xY[/youtube]
it is true, I admire McLuhan

Have we entered an Orwellian age? Has the average human accepted the infringement on their privacy from big brother? Will the internet of things destroy more of our privacy?

Like others have said here, it is more Huxleyan than Orwellian. Technology becomes our culture in Brave New World. The physical tyranny described by Orwell is an outdated concept, which failed when Hitler tried using brute force to take over Europe. Other despots learned from Hitler's mistakes, thus we implement more clever methods of subversion today. Although, the psychological operation on language is very real, and Orwell's newspeak thrives in our Brave New World. If we can reshape our language, we can reshape our thoughts, because language (being a technology) is a metaphor we use to manifest formulas conceived in the mind. So if language becomes stripped and full of information bias, consequently, our thoughts will be stripped and full of information bias.

Aldous Huxely was aware of psychological subversion, that is why he used slogans like "Praise Ford," to distill the thought process of someone living an illiterate factory life. This illustrates how a technology driven world would think, in terms of automation and absentmindedness.

Some of my ideas have evolved since this thread, but I think you will find this relevant-http://politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=154051

Was it ironic when Google and Facebook came out against N.S.A data collection?

No, perfectly natural. They need to keep favorable public relations, because their profit margins depend on it.

Are Google, Apple, Amazon etc the 21st century equivalent of 19th and 20th century oil barons, steel and railroad monopolies?

In a way, but consider this-
Robber Baron's estimated worth $340 billion
By the time Rockefeller died in 1937, his assets equaled 1.5% of America's total economic output. To control an equivalent share today would require a net worth of about $340 billion dollars, more than four times that of Bill Gates, currently the world's richest man.

Do internet start ups have a chance today to not be bought and sold?

This isn't important, because once the new kid on the block becomes profitable enough to go public, our major players carve up this new entity.
Monopoly monotony continues.

Are technocrats our future leaders?

Yes, just as the Cold War benefited a whole class of military men & women... The age of technocracy will benefit technocrats.
The cold war used fear to speed up invention and push death machine technology to its brink
The information war will use fear to speed up internationalism and push conformity to its brink

I might add, the cold war in general aided internationalism and technology. Now capitalists are capitalizing on an international community of consumers to maximize personal profits. These personal profits will be used to achieve narcissistic God-like qualities.

Who will rule the internet? Nations, companies, or individuals?

Corporate super egos. Because, you know, corporations are people, my friends.
The shareholders will control information monopolies.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-winkler/corporations-are-people-a_b_5543833.html

Will the fictious story of the matrix become a fact?

No comment.

Is Google the closet being to our collective concept of God?

If data mining has anything to do with the mapping of our human mind so corporations can anticipate behavior and control such behavior with precise sophisticated mathematical algorithms... Then yes, Google is the technical manifestation of our "Noosphere."
-a postulated sphere or stage of evolutionary development dominated by consciousness, the mind, and interpersonal relationships (frequently with reference to the writings of Teilhard de Chardin).

I wrote a thread sometime ago, suggesting the use of sociological study to aid and implement machines that help control society.
Think about traffic lights...
http://politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=157012

After all, science doesn't ask why anymore, it asks why not?








Lastly, I want to ask you something... How will it feel when machines take over?

My best guess, Imagine yourself living the life of a well-trained house pet.

[spodi]

Yeah it's quite scary but no one knows when exactly. We're obviously at a time in history where a big paradigm shift is happening. Going back to job automation, you spoke about mass loss of people's purpose and I agree totally. With an already garbage job market filled with unemployed and underemployed, job automation will just cause more havoc. The powers that be will probably eventually have to give free internet access because of lack of jobs to purchase internet access and to keep people stupid from reality.

[RhetoricThug]

Yeah it's quite scary but no one knows when exactly. We're obviously at a time in history where a big paradigm shift is happening. Going back to job automation, you spoke about mass loss of people's purpose and I agree totally. With an already garbage job market filled with unemployed and underemployed, job automation will just cause more havoc. The powers that be will probably eventually have to give free internet access because of lack of jobs to purchase internet access and to keep people stupid from reality.

Yes, and the loss of purpose means more crime and deviance. This is why the War of Drugs is incredibly profitable for so many people. The black market is theoretically another quest for identity.

[spodi]

Interesting. So you think let's say 2015 through 2030 are gonna be dystopian tech years? I'll admit the internet of things is quite creepy and of course as I just typed that I accidentally tapped my google voice search button lol oh god.

[RhetoricThug]

Interesting. So you think let's say 2015 through 2030 are gonna be dystopian tech years? I'll admit the internet of things is quite creepy and of course as I just typed that I accidentally tapped my google voice search button lol oh god.

You know, it's always nice to push your mind and develop an original opinion. Or at least what you think is original. Every story has its sage... But it's even better when you stumble upon an artist, or scientist, etc, who has already explored the same ideas you recently came across in your own head. This happens too often for myself. But we should like like-minded people right? Check out this article I recently found

"It's Monday morning and you're preparing your first cup of coffee when the tanks roll into your neighborhood. Phone lines are cut, curfew is activated and doors are broken down.

You sigh. It's another "cleanout day" in the not-too-distant future.

The War on Terror has infiltrated every layer of society. Internet sites track the spread of extremism like the CDC tracks a lethal virus. The threat is pandemic and online news sources agree: In order to keep you safe, weekly cleanout campaigns must ramp up all across the nation – yet again.

Today you just happen to be in the red zone.

The main annoyance about being in a red zone is usually the loss of your phone signal. But today is different.

A close friend has gone missing – along with his past. Online, he is linked to terrorist affiliations. The rest of his life has been erased.

You post a "WTF" remark on social media and 60 minutes later you hear a loud bang as the front door crashes in.

Dystopia as a Recurring Theme

The dystopian reality, where everyone is a suspect and the war is an ongoing battle to "keep you safe," is a recurring theme in literature, sci-fi, movies, and historical reality - from Terry Gilliam's Brazil to Augusto Pinochet's Chile.

Dystopia is an archetypal projection of the future, because it's a repetitive construct of our past.

From the rise of the Hellenic tyranny to the 20th century dictators, tyrants have maintained power by waging clandestine wars against the citizens who doubt their legitimacy. It's the perfect self-perpetuating machine. Enemies feed the totalitarian society with a purpose, while the economy is fed with a permanent war.

It would be overly buoyant to expect that we've learned enough from our past to avoid a recurrence. Looking at the current fundamentals, you could argue that the table is set. We live in the midst of a burgeoning military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about 50 years ago. Forty percent of every US income tax dollar is spent on defense. Out of 162 countries studied by the Institute for Economics and Peace in 2014, only 11 were not in a conflict.

To build a tyranny, you first have to set the Reichstag on fire.

Meanwhile we're still in the honeymoon phase of the Internet’s promise. Cyberspace makes life more convenient, transparent and in some ways a bit safer. Citizen surveillance catches racist cops and serial pedophiles. Even the

Arab Spring launched online. Unjust systems watch out for tweets. Only a few regimes remain immune, like North Korea where the Internet is used exclusively by the government.

(North Korea is a gift to mankind because it provides a lucid example of how directly proportional the proliferation of alternate viewpoints is to the level of cultural evolution.)

Despite all the obvious advantages of total connectivity, the technological upside of digital tyranny is almost too sweet to pass up.

The Internet is an open system that already contains enough individual metrics to predict and alter your future behavior. Done right, digital totalitarianism doesn't have to become apparent. It can layer up snugly with a seemingly normal society, growing innocently along with customer service quality.

Facebook can already predict your personality type, the length of your relationship and job performance, and use them to target you with products, content and activity. A British MP recently called for a parliamentary investigation of Facebook after finding out about their experimentation with "massive-scale emotional contagion" (a psychological technique to "converge" group emotions). More than two million American voters were influenced by a Facebook psychology experiment in the 2012 presidential election, and a similar, more massive campaign was executed on Election Day 2014 - with a Republican landslide.

For Facebook, it's a way to improve conversion rates, but imagine these algorithms in the wrong hands. Consider "Soft attacks" that erode your life by manipulating your social circle, credit record, career opportunities and financial records. Consider "Hard attacks" that erase your digital identity overnight and leave the vestiges for the cleanout crew.

Digital dystopia starts with the best of intentions. It can end up as a game changer for our species – by altering our evolutionary course.

The Evolution Factor

Evolution is driven by a simple principle that has both a purpose and a direction, proposes Robert Wright, a Princeton scholar and pioneer in the study of Evolutionary Psychology, in his book Non-Zero: The Logic of Human Destiny.

The principle is communication – communication that leads to co-operation between increasingly complex entities, like cells or humans.

Cells formed because molecules began communicating with each other via chemical interaction through trial and error. The successful exchanges became the building blocks of life, after an infinite number of mistakes. The cells communicated with each other to form organisms, and the organisms eventually united into a multi-organism known as human.

Life seems so incredibly precious because we're the result of a series of infinitesimally improbable communication successes.

Biological evolution takes billions of years because it takes a generation to pass on a gene. Cultural evolution can take a quantum leap within years, weeks, or even hours – because it spreads via memes (ideas) that can combine, mutate and propagate instantly – if not hindered.

The modern human brain doesn't differ from the caveman brain in terms of processing capacity. What sets us apart from the Cro-Magnon is our ability to exchange ideas faster.

Modern civilization started the day we invented the alphabet. It accelerated logarithmically the day we built the printing press. The next quantum steps came with electronic communication. As a result, the last century became a fury of cultural evolution. The bulk of what we have achieved and destroyed has unfolded in the last 100 years. The planet is a mess, alas, but meanwhile we've developed the tools to become truly powerful communicators (a trait that can also be used to save the planet).

With Internet, the next evolution phase is going to be fury to the power of three.

Only by controlling the principal infrastructure for communication can we hinder the inevitable progress of our species. Which in our case will increasingly be the Internet.

In the past, when tyrants built ruling systems that limited the free exchange of ideas, a revolution eventually dismantled their regime. But what if the communication architecture was controlled by the tyrant?

The only way to stop the dystopian virus is to spot the early symptoms, before it gets deep into our circuitry.

The Numbness Factor

We already know that the major portals and telecommunications companies are forced to co-operate with the NSA. That PRISM siphons the bulk of our communications and personal data. That 12,000 lobbyists in Washington are making sure the government is an extension of corporate policy, including portal policy. Google has become one of the biggest lobbying spenders in Washington DC.

Yet we're numb to it all. We live in an age of information glut where it's difficult to distinguish between caliber journalism and conspiratorial garbage. And we don't want to risk being associated with the latter. Investigative jewels, like Julian Assange's recent Google Is Not What It Seems, risk getting lost in the noise.

Assange's piece outlines how two Google executives, in particular CEO Eric Schmidt and Director of Google Ideas Jared Cohen, have been getting cozy with the State Department, especially Hillary Clinton. Schmidt takes trips to Afghanistan and sets up think tanks that support US foreign policy. He hangs out with Kissinger, joins the Council on Foreign Relations as the "terrorism expert," and states in his own book that information companies are the future "Lockheed Martins" in the fight against terrorism. Schmidt also enters into "formal information-sharing" agreements with the NSA, develops applications co-funded with the CIA, and launches spy satellites into space with the Pentagon.

Knock knock, anyone? Google already controls two thirds of the information we access on the Internet. A top-level affiliation between the dominant Internet engine, the military, the spy system and the government is not just Bolognese.

Schmidt is most likely an incredibly brilliant guy who is following his conscience about what's right. He may be thinking that American foreign policy may need a digital nudge to make the world a safer place. That's his opinion, but it's facilitating an unholy alliance. What Schmidt doesn't know is who may be controlling the algorithms tomorrow and with what intent, when the power players are fully aligned.

Google hanging out with State Department may seem insignificant in the bigger scope of things. The problem is that it's not an isolated event. It's a drop in the flood.

The Endgame

Robert Wright finishes Non-Zero with a prediction about our destiny. But first, he makes certain that we understand that evolution has nothing to do with the concept of ethics. The future is neither good nor bad.

Wright believes that evolution has a clear direction, an endgame that all cellular life tends to move towards – and it's a benevolent one. As long as human societies are allowed to evolve without an interfering force, like a tyranny or a totalitarian structure, we move towards it.

It's called consciousness.

Not only individual consciousness, but the whole enchilada. A planetary-wide blooming that erases distinctions between organisms, fauna and flora, and creates one joyous illumined unity before it goes intergalactic.

It sounds more like Philip K. Dick, and could take another billion years, but Wright is a scientist. He's simply been observing how we roll.

That's what we risk if we interfere with the Internet.

The joyous illumined unity."

-Jan Wellmann
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/2 ... l-dystopia
Life is strange... I mean, some folks who live on opposite sides of this planet end up inventing the same thing at the same time. Life is absurd and unexplainable.


Modern civilization started the day we invented the alphabet. It accelerated logarithmically the day we built the printing press. The next quantum steps came with electronic communication. As a result, the last century became a fury of cultural evolution. The bulk of what we have achieved and destroyed has unfolded in the last 100 years. The planet is a mess, alas, but meanwhile we've developed the tools to become truly powerful communicators (a trait that can also be used to save the planet).

With Internet, the next evolution phase is going to be fury to the power of three.

Only by controlling the principal infrastructure for communication can we hinder the inevitable progress of our species. Which in our case will increasingly be the Internet.
This guy has read his McLuhan too