Glen -
Yeah, I'm not much of a fan of Pinker (et al)'s arguments that show
dropping infant mortality, poverty, violent crime, etc. But there is a
point to be made that our governments, as technologies, are making a
difference ... at least in *some* measures. Of course, governments are
just like the other technologies and are pushing us toward existential
threats like authoritarianism and climate change.
Can you elaborate on this: "just like other technologies" and "pushing
us toward existential threats"?
I have my own intuition and logic for believing this but rather than
blather it all out here, I'd like to peek under your assertion and see
what you are thinking on this topic?
Also wondering if you or any of the usual suspects (including REC/DaveW)
have thoughts about Roger's original assertion, given a stronger
corollary to "Power Corrupts" stated as "Power IS Corruption"?
-Steve
On 8/28/24 14:26, steve smith wrote:
There's no system of governance that hasn't been corrupted. They're
all the worst forms of governance ever invented, except for the
alternative of dealing with a group of self-selected fellow citizens
under no system of governance whatsoever.
-- rec --
And being a fan of James Scott (The Art of not Being Governed
<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6477876-the-art-of-not-being-governed>
and Against the Grain) I am inclined to respect this POV while on the
other end, I also am quite the fan of Michael Levin's perspective on
"what is life?" with all of it's spread across scale and across
complexity and across species (in the broadest sense).
Until we might evolve from a slime-mold with psuedopods searching
around and intruding/interpenetrating into oneanother seeking
concentrated resources (like Russia's into Ukraine and now
vice-versa, or Israel/Palestine/Lebanon/???). Might we
(collectively) become something more like a "proper" multicellular
creature or a balanced, healthy ecosystem (or system of ecosystems)?
We have (only) been experimenting with large-scale self-organizing
systems of humanity with lots of technological scaffolding
(lithics/copper/bronze/iron/steel through antimatter, quantum dots,
and nanotech, just to name a few?) and
religio/socio/philosopho/politco linguistic technology for a handful
(or two) of millenia, so it doesn't surprise me that we haven't
wandered/mutated-selected our way into anything better than we have
to date.
I am (very guardedly) hopeful that the acceleration of the latter
(linguistic technology) in LLMs and other ML/AI (material technology)
will give us the possibility of rushing this phase forward. PInker
might claim we have had material (and psycho-social-spiritual)
advancement over the centuries and decades and maybe he is right in
some sense... but the leap-forward in collective
self-governance/regulation/homeostasis we can all seem to imagine
living under feels beyond our (heretofore?) grasp.
For better or worse, it feels to me that Kurzweil for all his
nonsense in predicting an imminent singularity may be right... we
will either self-organize in a Asimovian Foundation/Psychohistory
galaxy-spanning culture (almost surely not) future or implode in a
Mad Max (or grey-goo/planet-krypton) apocalypse. Maybe even in my
lifetime, almost assuredly in my children or grandchildren's?
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