(no subject)
Still up here. Still thinking. Nearly done.
Need to remind myself of things.
I know what I do. I know what I believe in. Reword it occasionally.
Look at our history. Longterm. Before recorded history. Funny thing, that,
we record it. Nothing else does. All species pass on most basic
information - genes. Genes mutate, from noise comes change comes slow
incremental updating to life. Refine. Some species pass on next level -
basic information - by accident. Young observes, learns. Capacity for
this is significant paradigm shift. Behaviour is the root of choice, and
like any root, is what eventually shackles to the ground. Behaviour
divides. At first, by species - predator, prey. Then within. Gender.
Pack. Hierarchy. But no further yet.
Evolution.
Complex, really. I see claims that humanity no longer evolves. Human
physical template hardly changes. Gets slightly bigger, that’s all. Not
true. Further paradigm shifts. Cheating, in essence. Completely nullify
need for physiological change by dominating entire planet. Tool use.
Further layer of information transfer - context. Greatly increased
amount shared. Still increasing. Tech singularity inevitable; info
singularity impending.
So, what now? We won the old game. Dominance. Viability of tool use plus
sharing of information on how to use plus social structure expanding. If
there’s a game of life, we’ve got infinite turns. Only way we can lose
is if we set fire to the board, flip the table up and declare “Fuck this
shit, we’re leaving”. Game got boring. We made new rules: Humanity
competes with itself.
Having created incredible minds for each and every member of the species - and
I’m not just speaking of raw intellect - has left us with a problem.
Now that we’ve solved the basic problems, and can keep ourselves ticking
over using far less than our collective total ability, what do we do?
Minds do not suit boredom. Moreso, just as it was impossible to stop the
inexorable dance of interdependent evolution of species until one
rendered the sequence redundant, it is impossible to stop the
information game.
The reason the information paradigm shift has such a great effect is that
it shortens the cycle required for iteration. Whereas genetic transfer
requires a generation to cause change, we can now examine, implement,
validate and improve upon information in little time. Society has
naturally tended towards increased spread of information, because the
human mind evolved to take advantage of information whenever possible.
It is beneficial to the individual to promote overall spread, because
this increases their access to further information. Behind every
successful revolution is the spread of the revolutionary idea, and the
spread of an improved idea will supersede its predecessor.
What we can take from this is that, at this point, the individual can
allow society to sweep them up and go along with the tide, because we
ourselves have mastered the very elements and directed that tide where
we want to go. If you do not wish to be a director, give yourself to the
cause and be caught up in it - you already are, for the cause is what
you are designed to do.
Information is our ore. Having mastered tools, we can tear it from the ground, hold
it to the light and see its potential. Refining it, we have ideas and
truths in our hands, raw material from which we build, higher and
higher.
There are, naturally, those who try to halt progress. They will happen - the
human mind seeks certain things, and some minds seek power at any cost
yet fear anything that could strip it. For those, change is anathema.
For the change-fearing with sufficient power, it is possible to hold up a
hand and impede. They will, however, fall. Nothing can prevent forever.
We cannot make them all see, some will not move willingly.
There is, then, no alternative. They will fall, and if it is inevitable, there is no crime in being the agents of certainty.
There will be no second Babel. We are now the greatest thing upon the planet,
we are the top players. As society and culture and idea and truth blend
and split and diversify at ever-increasing speed, we redefine ourselves
and race towards singularity.
And, for those who understand this final statement, the faster human
information evolves and the great sleeping mass of data procreates, the
faster we will fill those seats that still remain empty, waiting for the
right thing to fill them. Eventually, we will be complete. Our physical
evolution has reached the point where societal evolution is possible,
and while a physical singularity is impossible, our current path ends
with a singularity.
I may hope to be a part of that. I do not yet know. Strong feelings both ways.
Back to thinking, now. Until then, continue doing what you do. We’re on the right path
Need to remind myself of things.
I know what I do. I know what I believe in. Reword it occasionally.
Look at our history. Longterm. Before recorded history. Funny thing, that,
we record it. Nothing else does. All species pass on most basic
information - genes. Genes mutate, from noise comes change comes slow
incremental updating to life. Refine. Some species pass on next level -
basic information - by accident. Young observes, learns. Capacity for
this is significant paradigm shift. Behaviour is the root of choice, and
like any root, is what eventually shackles to the ground. Behaviour
divides. At first, by species - predator, prey. Then within. Gender.
Pack. Hierarchy. But no further yet.
Evolution.
Complex, really. I see claims that humanity no longer evolves. Human
physical template hardly changes. Gets slightly bigger, that’s all. Not
true. Further paradigm shifts. Cheating, in essence. Completely nullify
need for physiological change by dominating entire planet. Tool use.
Further layer of information transfer - context. Greatly increased
amount shared. Still increasing. Tech singularity inevitable; info
singularity impending.
So, what now? We won the old game. Dominance. Viability of tool use plus
sharing of information on how to use plus social structure expanding. If
there’s a game of life, we’ve got infinite turns. Only way we can lose
is if we set fire to the board, flip the table up and declare “Fuck this
shit, we’re leaving”. Game got boring. We made new rules: Humanity
competes with itself.
Having created incredible minds for each and every member of the species - and
I’m not just speaking of raw intellect - has left us with a problem.
Now that we’ve solved the basic problems, and can keep ourselves ticking
over using far less than our collective total ability, what do we do?
Minds do not suit boredom. Moreso, just as it was impossible to stop the
inexorable dance of interdependent evolution of species until one
rendered the sequence redundant, it is impossible to stop the
information game.
The reason the information paradigm shift has such a great effect is that
it shortens the cycle required for iteration. Whereas genetic transfer
requires a generation to cause change, we can now examine, implement,
validate and improve upon information in little time. Society has
naturally tended towards increased spread of information, because the
human mind evolved to take advantage of information whenever possible.
It is beneficial to the individual to promote overall spread, because
this increases their access to further information. Behind every
successful revolution is the spread of the revolutionary idea, and the
spread of an improved idea will supersede its predecessor.
What we can take from this is that, at this point, the individual can
allow society to sweep them up and go along with the tide, because we
ourselves have mastered the very elements and directed that tide where
we want to go. If you do not wish to be a director, give yourself to the
cause and be caught up in it - you already are, for the cause is what
you are designed to do.
Information is our ore. Having mastered tools, we can tear it from the ground, hold
it to the light and see its potential. Refining it, we have ideas and
truths in our hands, raw material from which we build, higher and
higher.
There are, naturally, those who try to halt progress. They will happen - the
human mind seeks certain things, and some minds seek power at any cost
yet fear anything that could strip it. For those, change is anathema.
For the change-fearing with sufficient power, it is possible to hold up a
hand and impede. They will, however, fall. Nothing can prevent forever.
We cannot make them all see, some will not move willingly.
There is, then, no alternative. They will fall, and if it is inevitable, there is no crime in being the agents of certainty.
There will be no second Babel. We are now the greatest thing upon the planet,
we are the top players. As society and culture and idea and truth blend
and split and diversify at ever-increasing speed, we redefine ourselves
and race towards singularity.
And, for those who understand this final statement, the faster human
information evolves and the great sleeping mass of data procreates, the
faster we will fill those seats that still remain empty, waiting for the
right thing to fill them. Eventually, we will be complete. Our physical
evolution has reached the point where societal evolution is possible,
and while a physical singularity is impossible, our current path ends
with a singularity.
I may hope to be a part of that. I do not yet know. Strong feelings both ways.
Back to thinking, now. Until then, continue doing what you do. We’re on the right path