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<div style="font-family:Arial;"><i>"The real problem of humanity
is the following: we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval
institutions, and godlike technology. And it is terrifically
dangerous."</i> Edward O. Wilson.<br>
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<div style="font-family:Arial;">davew<br>
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<p>This is a favorite quote for me of late... the challenge,
methinks is "what am I going to do about it?"</p>
<p>I try to resolve these questions for myself before I get too
carried away trying to prescribe anything for anyone else
(especially large scale/global solutions), yet it is useful to
keep this in mind whilst considering what I think is 'best for the
collective'.</p>
<p>Maturing and Aging have offered me some perspective and relief
from the emotional component (especially the fight/flight
reproduce-at-all cost hormone driven ones). Similarly I've now
seen (and studied) a variety of socio-economic-political systems
enough to have at least vaguely informed opinions about them
(unlike the totally mis-informed ones I had leading me to vote
Reagan in over Carter as my first vote). The technological
question is more near and dear to my heart having been
simultaneously (or alternately?) a technophile and a luddite.</p>
<p>I have dabbled in 19th century (and earlier) technology to help
ground my grounding in the mid-late 20th century I grew up as part
of the background. I've been lucky enough to engage some with
21st century tech early by virtue of working at an over-funded
scientific laboratory which often either had access to or was
developing for it's own ideosyncratic reasons, things which the
public wouldn't see or maybe even hear about for decades. It was
heady. But also disturbing. <br>
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<p>Yuval Harari's latest book <i>Nexus</i>, touches on the
implications of our "information technology" development over
millenia but especially the last few decades with a very *liberal*
view of what means information technology (and networks in
particular). Continuing his other cautionary tales about the
power of our "storytelling", I feel like he lays the groundwork
for the most likely way we might recalibrate emotions to
institutions to technology. Our technology has been pulling hard
against the drag of our institutions which are faithfully trying
to drag our emotions (e.g. religious/political/cultural moral
frameworks) and the impedance mismatch seems to be the source of
most of our worst behaviours/outcomes?</p>
<p>The stories our modern MAGA/FauxRepublican/FauxConservative
political party in the US is telling is rooted deeply in the
emotional with only the barest nod to the institutional (support
LawNorder!!!!) and a jealous greedy eye for the godlike tech (e.g.
Trump cozying up to Musk/TechBros and NFTs and Crypto as if he
understands ANY of it?). <br>
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<p>The Progressive/Liberal "institutions" of the DNC seem to be a
little less regressive/reactionary but do in fact suffer some of
the same problems albeit not as acutely superficially obvious.
Without bashing the specifics of what "the Dems" might be getting
wrong, if we don't notice the impedance mismach EO Wilson called
out for us there, we are destined to have raucous "ringing" in our
systems? I think the promise of a "Green New Deal" juxtaposed
with some of the biggest obvious fallacies and inadequacies are a
good example... by the time we actually settle on what a GND
might really look like the challenges and opportunities may have
moved on by a decade or more (is GND a whole decade old as a term
yet?) while MAGA keeps trying to claim "we believe in clean air
and water but sea level rise will be fractions of an inch in
centuries at worst and will yield more beachfront property in any
case"? <br>
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<p>How do we move our collective storytelling to be both coherent
and aligned with the physics/chemistry/bio/ecology of Gaia quickly
enough to quit driving the various components past their limits
(drill baby drill!)?</p>
<p>Maybe we cannot. Maybe we will have to crash and burn and hope
something can rise from the ashes (cockroaches and the Rolling
Stones? NeoLibertarian TechBros in their high-tech Bitcoin
Bunkers raising their own clones?)</p>
<p>Atlas Shrugs, Gaia Shrugs more Bigly.... (Rand, Margulis,
Dilbert, Trump references convolved?)<br>
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