Hi Doug, everyone.
I think that both groups & the free market sometimes make better decisions than
individuals, but that the answer to life the universe and everything, returning
to the moon and health care, is finding ways to allow groups to make better
decisions than individuals every single time. I don't think that a free market
by itself is able to do this.
I've been thinking about this in several different contexts lately.
When I think of there being nearly 7 billion humans on Earth today, I don't see
that as an environmental disaster about to happen, I see it as a huge reservoir
of knowledge and untapped computational & decision making power.
I think a huge problem for humanity is that 99% plus of intellectual effort is
spent reinventing the wheel, and that free and open knowledge sharing and
finding ways of enabling it are the keys to reducing duplication of effort and
a better future for the human race.
I think a lot has happen lately in the realm of web 2.0 and the development of
software collaboration tools, and I hope this will start to result in increased
intellectual productivity in the not to distant future.
I've spent a fair bit of time over the last nine months working on a wiki to
help Australian Local Governments share information, and I think if more people
started and contributed to similar initiatives I think that would be a step in
the right direction.
I've read as much as I can about google wave and I think that will help.
I have gotten excited about open source software and where its going.
And I've recently read about networked improvement communities, and I am trying
to find out more, with a view of joining a few or promoting them.
I'm optomistic about the future of the world, and even if there id not a
singularity around the corner, I think good things are.
Regards, Wayne.
I recently read a bit about
----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Pensinger
To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2009 6:47 PM
No, what I believe is that regarding matters that effect a group of people we
often make better, more responsible choices when we act as a group rather than
as an individual. We are inherently selfish, but we understand that
selflessness is both more noble and more beneficial to the whole. Acting as
individuals we will tend towards selfishness; as a group, less so.
That said, individuality and indeed selfishness have attributes that the
group can't always compete with. Competitiveness sparks innovation and
motivates people to work hard and they should and do expect to reap the
benefits of their labors.
The trick is to balance the two by allowing our competitive nature to
flourish while not allowing our baser nature to take paths that will be
detrimental in the long run.
I think that while without our individual attributes we wouldn't have come so
far so fast, but that without the group we would sill have claws or hooves.
Doug
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