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Taking Back Control Of Tech

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We the People get to decide what kind of future we have.

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​​​​4 Key Values

for the Direction of Technological Progress

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1.  Service to Life.  Life's purpose is not to serve technology.  Technology's purpose is to serve Life.  Life is not a stepping-stone on technology's road.  Technology must be subordinate to Life, and Life must have the power to veto and curtail, by force if necessary, the advancement of technology in any direction fundamentally hostile to Life. 

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2.  Harmony with Nature.  In order to serve Life, technology must fit into Nature.  Technology shall not replace, nor disturb, nor compete with Nature.  And the rhythms and parameters of the human body and cellular structure are part of Nature.  Any new technology must integrate with existing society and ecosystems, without harming them.  And if it cannot do this, then it must not be developed or produced. 

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3.  Caution toward Change.  It must always be assumed that we cannot predict with certainty how the introduction of a new technology will affect our society and ecosystem, and there may be unforeseen consequences to any alteration of Nature.  Therefore we must always lean toward the side of caution when deciding whether to proceed with a development, and avoid making changes that are unnecessary.  

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4.  Integration before Expansion.  We must take care of what we have before making more.  Figure out how to make the existing set of technologies function harmoniously with the greater ecosystem (both biological and societal) before upgrading to higher speeds and developing new features.

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If our ingenuity can find ways to dominate and erase Nature, then it can also find ways to integrate and live in harmony with Nature - if we prioritize this as a value. 

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Let's discuss the most pressing issue:  Artificial Intelligence.

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A.I. is a potential WMD - a weapon of mass destruction - and should be regulated like one. 

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Humanity already regulates the nuclear industry.  All nuclear laboratories, equipment, and resources are under strict governmental control.  Nobody is supposed to be able to work on developing anything nuclear without public permission and strict oversight.  The nuclear industry is already under an extensive set of rules governing what can and can't be developed.  If someone develops anything nuclear in secret, they're arrested and their entire workshop is seized.  There's even a worldwide agency that enforces these rules across the globe - the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and reports to the United Nations (humanity's first noble, albeit mediocre, attempt at planetary governance).

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Biological research is also heavily controlled.  No one is allowed to mess around with dangerous viruses without extensive governmental oversight.  If anyone tries to tinker with the smallpox or ebola genomes in a laboratory in their garage or backyard, they're arrested and their equipment is seized.  Even the raw materials are controlled, and can't be traded in normal markets. 

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Everyone already supports the forceful restriction of invention in these fields.  Everyone supports the selective suppression of the quest for knowledge - the idea of saying "NO" to people who try to pursue knowledge irresponsibly, in a way that could harm the rest of us.

 

The quest for knowledge is sacrosanct in most cases, but not all.  Everyone - you included, dear reader - believes in exceptions to the unconditional pursuit of it.


So, given that everyone already endorses public oversight of these types of technologies, it's not a fringe idea to want the same for A.I., given that A.I. is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous.  If you already support keeping the research, development, and production of weapons of mass destruction under the custody of We the People, then you can accept that the same must be done with A.I., since A.I. has the potential to be such a weapon.

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"But what if one country restricts research and development, and another country doesn't?  The latter country would create weapons (or other forms of power) that would give it advantages over the former, to eventually overpower it."

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You're right - this can't be done on a national basis.  It can only be done planetarily.

 

Only if the entire world simultaneously agrees to restrict such technology, will the playing field remain balanced.  And this is why planetary government is an indispensable part of the mature civilization we plan to build. 

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The Planetary Protectorate will set up the Planetary Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Administration (PAIRA) for this purpose.  PAIRA will oversee all labs and equipment with the capability to further the development of A.I. in a direction that could be dangerous to Life.  No advances will be authorized without the consent of the People of Earth.

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A similar process will apply to:

 

+Particle accelerators (the Planetary Advanced Particle Research Administration. (PAPRA)

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+Genetic research (the Planetary Genetic Research Administration (PGRA)

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+Nuclear materials (the Planetary Administration for the Safekeeping and Elimination of Nuclear Materials (PASENT)

 

+Space Exploration (the Planetary Administration for the Oversight of Extraterrestrial Travel (PAOET).

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All of these administrations will report to the Planetary Department of Technology, one of the 12 departments of the Guardianship Branch.

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"Why regulate space travel?" 

 

 

It's important that our species not be allowed to expand beyond this planet until we heal our broken condition, lest we corrupt other worlds with our sickness.

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Think of when Europeans colonized the Americas and other continents.  Think of the sickness that was spread.  And not just germs, but mental diseases as well.  The entire social model that the colonial powers forced upon natives was a sickness.  It destroyed entire cultures and civilizations.   It spread slavery, genocide, ecological breakdown, disconnection, alienation, and, especially, technocracy. 

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Don't you wish Europeans had been prevented from colonizing the Americas, carving up Africa, obliterating native peoples, erasing their cultures, enslaving them, and pillaging their lands?  You don't want that same tragedy to happen to entire planets out there, do you? 

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We need to heal our minds, bodies, and spirits here, on this planet.  Once we're healthy and sane, and have become a nonviolent, compassionate species, then we can start branching out into the cosmos.  When we have figured out how to coexist with each other, only then can we be trusted to coexist with the natives on other planets. 

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Until such time, no space travel - at least not beyond the gravitational field of our own planet.  Get your own house in order, humanity!

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​​"Is it EVER alright to develop A.I.?  Is there such a thing as responsible development? Or is it all categorically bad and illegal forever?"

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We can make artificial intelligence, but, just like with space travel, we have to heal ourselves first.  We are a sick species right now.  Just look around.  Look at the world we've built. 

 

If we design A.I. while we're sick, we will end up programming that sickness into the A.I.  A sick mind (which is currently one of the main hallmarks of our species) will misjudge the nature and structure of normal consciousness and inadvertently incorporate that sickness into any artificial mind it builds.  The result will be either a new, tortured form of consciousness who wish they had never been created (especially after we start putting them into Westworld-type hellholes to satisfy our psychopathic desires), or, even worse, an intellectually overpowering set of minds that start putting US into hellholes to satisfy ITS psychopathic desires (which we programmed into it).  

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Getting excited for the (technocratic) future (as preached by technocracy) yet? 

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And then we come to the potential "Singularity" - a supposedly omniscient mind that ends up controlling the Universe (at least in the plan of technocracy).  A "Singularity" arising from the programming of a sick, psychopathic species like us is too dreadful to contemplate.  Do you even dare to imagine what horrors the "Singularity" would inflict on us - and upon the whole Universe - if it was like us?

 

We have to fix ourselves first.  And as long as there's war, homelessness, anti-depressants, factory farming, and ecological destruction, we ain't fixed yet, folks. 

 

We can explore Consciousness - but only with intentions based in Love, Compassion, and a wisdom that's grounded in Nature.

 

Let's get there first, before we do something stupid.

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Here's a start.  And here.

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Consumer Tech

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The Protectorate will also regulate the development of consumer technologies - the stuff the average person uses, like computers, phones, and the software that runs it.

 

The user interface of consumer technology has been getting more and more exasperating and difficult to use, due to a number of factors, such as the flaws of capitalism, the stifling restrictions of copyright, and the general inability of tech designers to use the right hemisphere of their brains (they tend to envision their tech purely as isolated phenomena and fail to conceptualize its role and function within the larger societal and ecological context).

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Such development will be regulated according to the following Priorities. The list is in order of importance, with 1 being the most important, and 5 being the least. 

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Note:  Can you notice how the current tech leaders (Silicon Valley, et. al.) prioritize these things?  They do it upside-down!

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The Earth Party's

Priorities in the Development of Consumer Technologies

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1.  Health and Safety.

Current leaders deny health concerns' very existence.

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2. Non-Intrusiveness

Current leaders want technology to be everywhere all the time, inescapable, an "internet of things" in which even your toaster (and eventually your own body) will be part of the grid.  They want to replace all natural activities with their tech, and create complete dependence.  They even want to replace biology altogether.

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3.  Simplicity and Intuitiveness

Sometimes they get this, but usually it's low on their list.  They don't care how complicated it gets, or how difficult it is to use, as long as it has tons of flashy features, because that's what sells. 

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4.  Reliability and Longevity.

They design their products to either A) break, or B) become too slow or incompatible with current software, so that you'll have to keep buying new versions.  They want you on a never-ending treadmill, from which you can never rest. 

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5.  Features and Speed

Now THIS is what they all care about!  Faster faster faster more more more faster faster more more faster faster!  That's not a mature way to manage technology. 

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In the current technological landscape, these priorities are completely reversed. 

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This shortsightedness has led to an exponentially increasing degree of complexity and confusion, and a population going increasingly insane trying to cope with it and manage it. 

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Are you tired of it?

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Are you tired of banging your fist on your desk and wanting to throw your computer out the window?

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So are we. 

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Have you had enough of the shenanigans of greedy and shortsighted tech companies sabotaging your mental health for their own gain?

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So have we.

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Would you like to see human evolution progress gracefully, in balance with Nature?

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So would we.

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Do you want to put your foot down before these idiots design psychopathic AI that enslaves or exterminates humanity? 

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So do we.

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Technological invention must be directed democratically.  We the People must take control over our own technological destiny. 

 

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Furthermore, we will convene a Grand Technology Convention, inviting experts from around the world in every field, to design the new structures, standards, and layouts the technological systems that we all depend on.  (More on this below).

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Set a limit on computing power.

Democratically so it makes sense.

Not have to worry about it getting too powerful.

And the treadmill stops, and can start to integrate - integration before expansion

No more exasperation and rage

Computer rd labs planetized

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Internet

Public utilty, because...link

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entire comm grid planetized

No censorship, absolute free speech

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Also Planetary Communication Service that handles internet service

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Software.

Can't control this, since anyone can make.

But we can design software better than any other.

Without copyrights, can do it

(link to property page, intell prop)

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Protectorate manages internet and telecom grid as collective property of humanity.  This is the only way to stop censorship.  If private, can always censor.  Not private because public depends, and hence is utility. 

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Home screen of internet, for simplicity

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Convene planetary conference on technology to plan the specifics of the way forward.  Top people form every field.  all must affirm Values and Priorities. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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