DARK SIDE OF TECHNOLOGY
I have recently been reflecting upon privacy regarding biometrics and other ways technology could be utilized to control people, such as smart bullets or nanobots able to search out and rewire brains of dissidents. We live in a age where releasing contentious classified Government information into the public domain resulted in an informal call for Julian Assange to be assassinated. Sarah Palin wants Julian Assange hunted down, and she asks: "Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?"
There have also been calls for the the death penalty to be applied to the whistle-blower responsible for the current Wikileaks saga. We are told Wikileaks could have blood on its hands, although Wikileaks doesn't yet have blood on its hands unlike collation forces (http://www.collateralmurder.com/) who've killed over 100,000 civilians. We are told it is treasonous to expose Government corruption.
So in this age where smart bullets are being developed, and drugs are being developed to delete specific memories, I've been reflecting upon privacy, Governmental control, and Post-Scarcity. I feel greater awareness of Post-Scarcity is the only way to avert dystopia and create utopia.
SINGULARITY UTOPIA
I am generally known for presenting a highly optimistic utopian outlook, but many people don't realize my optimistic outlook is due to my VAST despair and pessimism. I am very aware of possible dystopian scenarios. Often I privately think we would all be better off dead but I realize how focusing on negativity can easily create more negativity due to the mechanism of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, therefore I focus on hope because the creation of utopia is easy if enough people want to create it. Maybe, due to the influence of my despair, you will feel my optimism is deluded-wishful-thinking but such a view would be incorrect because the power of our intentions and expectations can change the world.
We are VERY close to utopia but maybe people cannot see this because they are too cynical. Maybe people have heard too many false cries of utopia, like The Boy Who Cried Wolf, therefore our pessimism blinds us to the reality before our eyes. Sadly this pessimism hinders utopia because a Self-Fulfilling prophecy can create good or bad. It all depends upon what you expect. Your expectations and perceptions are crucial.
STEM CELL CURES ARE MAKING GREAT PROGRESS
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1299877/British-cancer-girl-saved-windpipe-stem-cells.html
Stem Cells are one aspect of how science and technology progresses rapidly in beneficial ways, but in this note I want to highlight the DARK SIDE OF TECHNOLOGY. I want to address the concept of privacy. I want to focus on how Post-Scarcity-Awareness can avert dystopia and create utopia, but utopia will only happen if enough people want it to happen. Currently it seems business-leaders and politicians do not want utopia to happen: this is the dark side of technology.
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1. PRIVACY
Terrorist Watch Lists
The whole concept of privacy is about State/Government control.
Privacy is one of the many ramifications arising from “The Power Elite” controlling “The Masses”. Greed of the Rich Class, the bankers, politicians, CEOs CFOs, Directors, and oligarchs is fundamentally hostile, selfish; it's an inhuman way to configure so-called civilisation. This capitalist greed creates the need for privacy. Inequality creates the need for privacy. Capitalist selfishness, perpetuated by The Power Elite, creates the need for privacy .
Privacy is a system of control and privacy is also a symptom of control.
Utopia will arise due to the creation of Post-Scarcity via a molecular-nanotech bio-computer-induced explosion of intelligence, revolving around humans (transhumans) and AI.
BUT, the continual failure by "The Power Elite" to mention or publicise the concept of Post-Scarcity causes me to fear the dark side of technology. I sometimes fear technology could merely be used to enslave The Masses.
Classifying people who are not normally considered terrorists as "terrorists" causes me great anxiety.
Sometimes we seem to be moving towards a situation where questioning authority, criticising the Establishment, or criticising the Government is seen as a potential terrorist threat.
I was concerned about recent demands made to classify Julian Assange as a terrorist and Wikileaks as a terrorist organisation.
I thought terrorists killed people and blew things up, but it seems mere distribution of contentious information is now a terrorist threat.
That Wikileaks may be classified as terrorist organisation was on its own not enough to provoke my fears, although I was deeply concerned. My fears finally culminated after reading the following report about actor Mark Ruffalo being placed on a terrorist watch list due to his environmental concerns. Has Mark Ruffalo made any bomb threats? Is he likely to make any bomb threats? The answer is no, he is a respectable actor merely highlighting environmental concerns, but the reason he is classified as a potential terrorist is because he has opposed big-business, the natural gas business.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1334159/Actor-Mark-Ruffalo-placed-terror-watch-list.html
- [UPDATE: apparently Mark Ruffalo is not on a terror watch list. What happened was that regarding a documentary Mark was involved with... "Pennsylvania’s Homeland Security was monitoring these screenings and feeding information to the gas industry. And they got busted. It was a huge embarrassment and the head of their Homeland Security had to resign over it." So maybe things are not as bad as initially they seemed.]
- [ADDITIONAL UPDATE: maybe things are as bad as they seem: "Microsoft Corp. officials are considering using the camera on their new Kinect videogame system to target ads to people watching the games." Mircosoft has the potential to spy on people via videos games the user is playing: "Is Your Videogame Machine Watching You"]
Regular Americans are currently suffering extremely invasive TSA pat-downs at airport security check-ins. Grandmothers and 3 year old girls are often subjected to extreme body searches. The Government seems to think we are all terrorists. I will probably be placed on a terrorist watch list for writing this (although I am probably already on one) and you will probably be placed on a terrorist watch list for reading this.
Needless to say: I am peaceful, an utterly non violent person, and I hope you are the same, but despite our peaceful non-terrorist nature we could be deemed terrorists simply for free-thinking. I despise terrorism and do not condone violence in any shape or form, but we should be free to question authority, we should be free to think. In the future will free-thinking and criticism of Governments be considered terrorism? Sometimes I fear the freedoms of democracy are ending and we are entering an age of fascist-totalitarianism.
Why do politicians and business-moguls fail to mention Post-Scarcity?
Will technology solely be used for dark purposes such as enslavement?
I believe technology can easily create utopia but the arrival of utopia depends on enough people wanting it to happen. We need to raise awareness regarding Post-Scarcity. Pressure needs to be placed on Governments and businesses so that they plan for and expect utopia.
This is how we can overcome the dark side of technology and this is how we can transcend the issues of privacy.
2. SCARCITY DEPRIVES PEOPLE OF POWER
In situations of scarcity people with more power will exploit those with lesser power. The exploitation is undignified, it is cruel. The upper class, the aristocracy, the rich class, the bankers, CEOs and politicians all perpetuate capitalist exploitation because they are unaware of how a Post-Scarcity civilization will soon be created. The exploitation continues because resources are scarce therefore the people in power cling to their wealth.
People who are exploited suffer a blow to their dignity but the most brutally oppressed people can retain dignity despite existing in undignified circumstances Personal dignity (self respect, worthiness) ultimately depends upon abolition of scarcity because it is only via abolishing scarcity that the need to exploit fellow humans will disappear. Government monitoring, questions about privacy and dignity, will become irrelevant, archaic, obsolete, reminiscent of stone-tipped spears, cave paintings, woolly mammoths, Sabre-toothed tigers, or ritual sacrifices. Our culture is deeply based on scarcity therefore we rarely consider the deeply entrenched hostility of a world where everything must always be locked to prevent theft. We consider these things normal; it is normal for people to suffer while the upper echelons live the high-life.
We must oppose Government and business control of our lives but we must do this constructively via highlighting how the need to control is based upon scarcity. We must highlight how, due to highly advanced technology, there will soon be no need to control people, therefore we must constructively urge Governments and businesses to focus upon creating Post-Scarcity. Everything must be done to escalate the arrival of a Post-Scarcity civilisation. The whole issue of privacy relates to scarcity because privacy is all about self-protection within a hostile world. Hostilities arise because scarcity causes imbalances of power, imbalances of resources, and people fight over the power, the resources. Solve the problem of scarcity and you solve the privacy problems.
SUGAR CUBE SIZED SUPER COMPUTERS
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11734909
DNA LOGIC-GATES CREATED FOR BIO-COMPUTERS
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18989-dna-logic-gates-herald-injectable-computers.html
3. POST-SCARCITY WILL ELIMINATE CYNICAL DISTRUST
The main problem is with civilization is lack of trust. Lack of trust is particularly problematic regarding Governments. If we could trust Governments and if we could trust people in our communities then we would have little need for privacy. Our world of scarcity-economics is the root of distrust because we fight over resources therefore we need to protect ourselves in many ways from a hostile world. Scarcity creates hostility and this is the root need for privacy. Privacy is protection, it is a defence; we need to put up barriers, lock our homes, lock our cars, password protect everything, and guard our identities. Highly advanced technology will create Post-Scarcity within 35 years (by the year 2045 at the latest). We should focus on the positive aspects of technology. We should focus on creating Post-Scarcity because this is the only way to truly solve the privacy issue. We should expect utopia. We can make it happen. We should try to infect people with our optimism.
The one crucial and indubitable aspect of Singularity Utopia is that Post-Scarcity is a prime goal. The deadline target for utopia is year 2045. They say it is always darkest before dawn.