The tendency of tech society is tyranny

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Demon of Undoing
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The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Demon of Undoing »

1) Man is the animal that is least prepared to use his primary organ at birth. The brain does not impose its will on the environment so much as change the environment itself. Cats grew claws. Men grew rice.

2) Technology is the use of tools to impose the will on nature- as-you-find- it.

3) Tech is never destroyed, but generally lost to be re- found or superceded. What has been lost from any given period we currently know was possibly not significant( cough, cough, Alexandria).

4)Tech tends to get more, not less, capable as time goes on.

4) It has ever and always been the will of some men towards tyranny. In all times and places, people waver and monsters rise. Tyrant personalities tend to gather pettier, smaller versions of themselves into parties.

5) The tools of today's tyrants are more pervasive, invasive, and degrading than the most frightening dystopias of the modern age. Lethality has similarly increased across the board.

6) Tech tends to create environments that destabilize less efficient systems of control.

7) Poorly designed or corrupted systems of control tend to be less efficient than ones with clear flows of will and information and action. These are feedback loops, shared by both living and cybernetic systems. They are basic to efficient function. Good feedback loops= better efficiency ( to a point- Ill get to that later).

8) Any government will seek to be itself, ie function as designed. Inertia and friction are inherent, but the ideal is an if=then statement. If law x is passed, effect z is observed. It is the tendency of government to increase the powers granted to itself. It does this with no more malice but to do what it is designed to do, like any tool.

9) Tools beget tools. Government will, ahead or behind any other party, tend to adopt technology that will increase efficiency in some way. A corrupted system may adopt an inefficient tool, but if it does, it will be to increase efficiency somewhere, even if that means efficient graft. That is a feature, not a bug.

10) Technology has passed the point where people can effectively unplug from society. The tools of efficiency are everywhere. The whole world agrees.

11) Governments, being large pools of willpower, tend to adopt tools with greater power than those owned by any other entity. Ultima Ratio Regum.

13) Tech now has, and will increasingly garner, power that can literally invade your mind. The Party was always watching, and a master observer like OBrian could sniff out treason in a man's sleep. It is a matter of years that they will do it from a distance, using your cell phone to do the scan. The principles are established. It is a matter of cheaper, lighter, more powerful computing technology. This is science fact.

14) Though it is inherent that focused power wielded by the control system tends to be greater than that wielded by any individual, the power wielded by the individual has still increased exponentially and of a pace with that of the control systems. At its eventual extreme, a single individual will wield more powerful tools than the most powerful control systems of yore. This point has already been passed, many times.

15) In an effort to preserve control ( inertia) and efficiency( progress), systems of control will find themselves existentially challenged by individuals with enough power so as to preclude grouping.

16) If the system of control does not have feedback loops sufficiently efficient, it will not have the ability to act proactively or in time to prevent mass disruptions of control of a scale with the power of the individual's tools. This could be an existential threat to the system of control that can not be borne without the system itself collapsing, ie a death sentence.

17) The most efficient tools to prevent existential threats to the system of control are those invasive tools that require no volition on the questioned parties' behalf for information to be exchanged. This will make the particular self- correcting feedback loop ( you call it the NSA) more efficient WRT clearing the inefficiency.

18) If it is not this invasive set of Prism tools that are deemed most efficient ( and invasive), it will be another. The tools are extensions of the will of men. The reach of these tools, as noted, is long and getting longer. Efficiency of control will increase.

19) As a tool that rules via using greater efficiency as a tool itself, systems of control will tend to establish as much predictability, stability, and control as possible under the circumstances. This can best be served not by reacting to inefficiencies, but preventing them and proactively encouraging an inherently more efficient ( for the control sytem)
environment.


20) Non volitional information extraction technology will quickly allow the ensnaring not just of systemic threats, but potential ones, possibly even poorly defined ones. The capacity for abuse by tyranical parties is endless. The conclusions are foregone. Thoughtcrime will be the light that goes on, telling you which cell to report to. It will be adjudicated in a quantifiable, repeatable algorithm that looked into your skull with the power of a demigod. Your guilt will not be at the judgement of men, but the determination of fact by a programmed tool. Monitoring could be constant. Resistance, as they say, might be futile.


The tendency of technological society is totalitarianism.
Simple Minded

Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Simple Minded »

Wow! I applaud your intellectual efforts Demon. As always, consensus, is the prerogative of the audience.

I would add that "Tools are multipliers of humanity." Since whether humanity is good or bad, varies from person to person, actual usage is hard to predict.

Information technology definitely increases busybodyness, and meddling. I can remember people listening in on the neighborhood party telephone line. Talk about creating a sense of community!

Now we can all cast opinions and render judgments on events, people, situations that exist thousands of miles beyond our field of vision or sphere of influence.

This has made some gods in their own minds. Genuflecting humanity!!!

And for some reason, while some think themselves important or even omnipotent, the lucky recipient of their wisdom often thinks them impotent or ignorant.

Once something exists, it will be used. "You can do anything with a sword except sit on it!"

Good news is that even the card carrying advocates of Big Brother are starting to get spooked. I know a couple who have recently reversed opinions they have held for over 40 years.

One never knows when those mental switches are going to flip.
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Nonc Hilaire
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Nonc Hilaire »

Excellent post, DoU. A lot to take in at one read, but at first glance I tend to side with Simple Minded and see technology as a force multiplier for human nature.
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Parodite
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Parodite »

Don't think monopolies of whatever sort will live very long. One by one they are dying, in fact. This particular Big Tech Bro is hardly emerging and its death sentence is already hanging over the door. Technology may in fact operate more as a King Slayer, also when the King is Techno.

The problem with a long term success and domination by Big Tech Bro Tyranny is that technology still needs human intervention. Coupla' billion years of carbon based success stories written by very competitive, self-replicating, adaptive organisms in a common environment may turn out to be an invincible barrier for the newly emerging techno specimen. Until IT can do without us... no worries?
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by YMix »

Very interesting post, DoU. Thanks for writing it.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Demon of Undoing »

YMix wrote:Very interesting post, DoU. Thanks for writing it.

You're welcome. And thank you.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Enki »

Don't forget the ease of access to weapons of mass destruction making the argument for digital tyranny pretty strong.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Demon of Undoing »

Enki wrote:Don't forget the ease of access to weapons of mass destruction making the argument for digital tyranny pretty strong.
14 & 16

Not being snarky. My attempt was to create a comprehensive argument, refutation of criticism ( ideally) to be handled simply by directing attention to numbered points. Minimal use of unstated corollaries is the ideal. I know someone has done this stuff before, but it's fun. Open and extensive criticism appreciated.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Ibrahim »

I think history bears this theory out, though the main variable is capability rather than desire. Napoleon would have loved all of this stuff, it just didn't exist for him to use. Genghis Khan didn't even have the staff system that Napoleon had, Sargon of Akkad even less than that, and so on. But the impulse to control others, and the willingness of some to be controlled, is a constant.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by noddy »

i wouldnt quibble with any of it - only clarify that point 18 and current capability is already on levels most people dont seem to want to understand.

every aspect of communications and entertainment used to happen in completely seperate spaces and usually involved anonimity and/or envelope around the content.

pictures at the local chemist, letters in envelopes, phone calls on analog, one way tv streaming, shoppping at invidiual bricks and mortar stores etc .
all this now happens in the single place with automatic filing of every aspect in multiple filing systems - by location, by content type, by interaction.

its beyond impossible to stop - it would be like trying to stop conversations in public on the train from being heard by the person sitting next to you.
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Simple Minded

Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Simple Minded »

Seems to me, I recall reading a long time ago, that info age tech was going to devolve power into ever smaller units, which it has efficiently done in so many places.

While at the same time unifying us despite our increased ability to communicate random hasty thoughts with each other....

No wonder the defenders of big power are worried.

Even when you send the kids to separate rooms, they can still continue their bickering via text messages.......

I think the smaller power units are inevitable. Big Brother just can't accept it yet.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Mr. Perfect »

A circuit doesn't take away the ability of a man to choose. In TInker's world if man never could choose then the circuit is irrelevant right out of the box.

History is replete with tyrannies during wheel and plow eras of technology.

Sounds like excuse making.
Last edited by Mr. Perfect on Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:41 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Mr. Perfect »

Ibrahim wrote:I think history bears this theory out, though the main variable is capability rather than desire. Napoleon would have loved all of this stuff, it just didn't exist for him to use. Genghis Khan didn't even have the staff system that Napoleon had, Sargon of Akkad even less than that, and so on. But the impulse to control others, and the willingness of some to be controlled, is a constant.
Very Ayn Rand. Ellsworth Toohey/Peter Keating.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Demon of Undoing »

Mr. Perfect wrote:A circuit doesn't take away the ability of a man to choose. In TInker's world if man never could choose then the circuit is irrelevant right out of the box.

History is replete with tyrannies during wheel and plow eras of technology.

Sounds like excuse making.

Since I started the thread and intend to take all questions:

Your bias for advanced civilization is showing. There was a time when the people with wheels and plows were gods of new technology. The dynamic is unchanging since then, only bigger, faster, and more of it.

Is it excuse making to notice that a man in a lake gets wet?
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Mr. Perfect »

Wheels and plows are like circuits and guns, inanimate objects that can do nothing in and of themselves. It is like saying guns kill people.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Demon of Undoing »

Mr. Perfect wrote:Wheels and plows are like circuits and guns, inanimate objects that can do nothing in and of themselves. It is like saying guns kill people.
#4 ( the second #4, just noticed that lol)

And no. It's like saying that people with guns are better equipped to kill people than they otherwise would be. Which is indeed true. However, I can't think of a firearm that is specifically designed to murder. This sort of surveillance net is specifically devised to break the constitution.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by NapLajoieonSteroids »

Tyrannies are inherently flawed. They overlook the historians who stick around to write about how tyrannical they were.

;)
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Demon of Undoing »

Our Beloved Spenglie once asked the question, specifically of China but the globalized world entirely; what do we do with all the farmers?

We in America pride ourselves on our ingenuity, our hard work, our entrepreneurial spirit, and our faith. Yes, faith, that God rewards the just, preferably in stock options and university endowments.

What do we do with them? Why, Herr Spengler, we oppress them. Not as a punishment for any particular belief or harmful behavior. No, it's traditional, its patriotic. It's a hell of a living when you figure in the peripherals. Now, with Prism, we franchise our security suite and potential instant market base. Monitor every single thing the entire body of your immigrants do ( for instance), and sit back. They will incriminate themselves to a man, with no prompting. Who among anybody has done or said nothing?

It's push button oppression as a market item, and its not a feature of a domestic security system. It's a stimulus package. It's an economic model, school and theory. It also already happens to be the law of the land. Soon, percentage of population incarcerated, probated or paroled will not be a statistic of dysfunction. It will be a sales figure.

I
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by NapLajoieonSteroids »

If a class is defined by its relation to the means of production, the NSA's [a synecdoche] relationship is much like the one the old Soviet Nomenklatura had, one of collective political control. In other words: political control itself becomes a new form of property.

Such a relationship puts political control in a very precarious position. No matter how well they operate, or how many super-mind reading robots they have, security of the political form (when put to the rights of capitalism ) will be too insecure to actually govern with. All it will take is one screw up, or exposed bribe, or unforeseen hazard to concern people who will place capital in another security apparatus. Heck, maybe Bill Gates types will be appropriating the NSA materials to reassure his customers that the Microsofts and Visas of the world can do security better.

It's like the government is just waiting to shoot itself in the face, really...the only thing that sucks is that we may very well be part of that generation or two who have to stick around and actually watch it blow its brains out.


...as for the tech itself, well, that gets complicated because techniques don't really have the will, agency or intellect to oppress others...but the ship sailed a long time ago on a lot of this. We are already living with the implications of the new technology while we pretend that we can use new techniques like we did the old ones. Wasn't that ultimately Marshall McLuhan's (was that his name? I can't look it up at the moment) point? People used the telephone as if were merely an extension of the letter while it completely changed the way we communicated. The internet is nothing but the dreams of television addicts magnified....

EDIT: yeah, it's not really comforting to think of oligarchs taking over either....there's gotta be some sort of silver lining to this...all I know a bunch of rich guys playing rich guy games may be a more comfortable position than Uncle Sam with peepers everywhere. It could be more interesting.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by YMix »

One thing I'd like to mention: technology giveth and technology taketh away.

What I see as the foundation of massive centralization and tyranny is not Internet snooping, but the overwhelming superiority of offensive means, compared to defensive means. While having your emails read and phone calls tapped is a disgusting breach of privacy, it wouldn't be that bad if it didn't have the potential to put your life in danger. The government can do that because, in the age of sophisticated firearms, it can very easily mobilize overwhelming force.

Before gunpowder, a well-trained fighter in good plate armor was reasonably safe from other fighters. Behind the walls of a good castle, he was more or less reasonably safe from the king himself. That didn't lead to democracy, but it kept tyranny at raubritter level. And the raubritters didn't care much about thoughtcrimes.

There's always that chance that technology could pull out of its hat an affordable and portable means of defense capable of neutralizing firearms. That would definitely reverse the current trend.

Also, quote:
Suger's description of [France] at the beginning of the twelfth century is highly dramatic. Every strong position like a hill or a forest was a baron's hold, from whence he rode to plunder and torment the people. One of the most terrible of these robbers was Hugues du Puiset [the Third], a man whom the Abbot of Saint Denis calls a ruffian, the issue of a long line of ruffians. To the Churchman, Hugh was the incarnation of evil. He oppressed the clergy, and though hated by all, few dared oppose him. At last he attacked Adèle, Countess of Chartres, daughter of William the Conqueror [and Hugues's own mother-in-law], who went with her son Tybalt to seek redress from the king. Louis did not relish the campaign, and the monk described how the lady taunted him with the defeat his father [Philippe Ier de France] had suffered from Hugues, who pursued him to Orleans, captured a hundred of his knights, and cast his bishops into dungeons.

Afterward an assembly was held at Melun to consider the situation, and there a concourse of prelates, clerks, and monks threw themselves at the king's feet and “implored him, to his great embarrassment, to repress this most greedy robber Hugh, who, more rapacious than a wolf, devoured their lands.”

Certainly the priests had cause for alarm, for the venerable Archbishop of Chartres, who was present, had been captured, loaded with irons, and long left to languish in prison.

Three times this baron was defeated, but even when a prisoner his family connection was so powerful he was permitted to escape. At last he died like a wolf, fighting to the last, having impaled the Seneschal of France on his spear.*

Brooks Adams, The Law of Civilization and Decay
*French Wiki says Hugues the Third was pardoned by Louis for the last time and left for the Holy Land, where he died in 1132.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Ibrahim »

Demon of Undoing wrote:Our Beloved Spenglie once asked the question, specifically of China but the globalized world entirely; what do we do with all the farmers?

We in America pride ourselves on our ingenuity, our hard work, our entrepreneurial spirit, and our faith. Yes, faith, that God rewards the just, preferably in stock options and university endowments.

What do we do with them? Why, Herr Spengler, we oppress them. Not as a punishment for any particular belief or harmful behavior. No, it's traditional, its patriotic. It's a hell of a living when you figure in the peripherals. Now, with Prism, we franchise our security suite and potential instant market base. Monitor every single thing the entire body of your immigrants do ( for instance), and sit back. They will incriminate themselves to a man, with no prompting. Who among anybody has done or said nothing?

It's push button oppression as a market item, and its not a feature of a domestic security system. It's a stimulus package. It's an economic model, school and theory. It also already happens to be the law of the land. Soon, percentage of population incarcerated, probated or paroled will not be a statistic of dysfunction. It will be a sales figure.

I
The Chinese plan for farmers is the same as the American plan for farmers: you turn most of them into urban laborers, either in manufacture or some other retail/service job. The majority of Chinese farmers now subsist on money sent home from children working in the industrialized cities. American small farmers (the few that are left) live on subsidies or second jobs. This is a decades-old development. Farming is the keystone of our species, but the small freehold farmer is squeezed out by the current economic model.

This is an industrial revolution thing, doesn't necessarily build into Demon's theory or Spengler's dull drumbeat.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Demon of Undoing »

Ah, but the migrations you are speaking of are what happened yesterday. Today, as the massive government stimulus that was the Chinese response to the financial crisis of 07/08 recedes, problems loom. Already the ghost cities are everywhere. The expansion of yesteryear has given way to indications of a reverse migration. The Chinese were undercut by Singapore, who lost to Bangladesh, who will lose to Sony and Honda.

As automation increases, it will be a matter of far more than farmers that must be disposed. Drivers, stockmen, maids, mechanics, possibly pace Watson even doctors and lawyers. What do you do with all the bartenders?

You make it so they can't help but fail, steal their labor from them, and cement the power of tyrants.
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Post by monster_gardener »

YMix wrote:One thing I'd like to mention: technology giveth and technology taketh away.

What I see as the foundation of massive centralization and tyranny is not Internet snooping, but the overwhelming superiority of offensive means, compared to defensive means. While having your emails read and phone calls tapped is a disgusting breach of privacy, it wouldn't be that bad if it didn't have the potential to put your life in danger. The government can do that because, in the age of sophisticated firearms, it can very easily mobilize overwhelming force.

Before gunpowder, a well-trained fighter in good plate armor was reasonably safe from other fighters. Behind the walls of a good castle, he was more or less reasonably safe from the king himself. That didn't lead to democracy, but it kept tyranny at raubritter level. And the raubritters didn't care much about thoughtcrimes.

There's always that chance that technology could pull out of its hat an affordable and portable means of defense capable of neutralizing firearms. That would definitely reverse the current trend.

Also, quote:
Suger's description of [France] at the beginning of the twelfth century is highly dramatic. Every strong position like a hill or a forest was a baron's hold, from whence he rode to plunder and torment the people. One of the most terrible of these robbers was Hugues du Puiset [the Third], a man whom the Abbot of Saint Denis calls a ruffian, the issue of a long line of ruffians. To the Churchman, Hugh was the incarnation of evil. He oppressed the clergy, and though hated by all, few dared oppose him. At last he attacked Adèle, Countess of Chartres, daughter of William the Conqueror [and Hugues's own mother-in-law], who went with her son Tybalt to seek redress from the king. Louis did not relish the campaign, and the monk described how the lady taunted him with the defeat his father [Philippe Ier de France] had suffered from Hugues, who pursued him to Orleans, captured a hundred of his knights, and cast his bishops into dungeons.

Afterward an assembly was held at Melun to consider the situation, and there a concourse of prelates, clerks, and monks threw themselves at the king's feet and “implored him, to his great embarrassment, to repress this most greedy robber Hugh, who, more rapacious than a wolf, devoured their lands.”

Certainly the priests had cause for alarm, for the venerable Archbishop of Chartres, who was present, had been captured, loaded with irons, and long left to languish in prison.

Three times this baron was defeated, but even when a prisoner his family connection was so powerful he was permitted to escape. At last he died like a wolf, fighting to the last, having impaled the Seneschal of France on his spear.*

Brooks Adams, The Law of Civilization and Decay
*French Wiki says Hugues the Third was pardoned by Louis for the last time and left for the Holy Land, where he died in 1132.
Thank You Very Much for your post, YMix
Before gunpowder, a well-trained fighter in good plate armor was reasonably safe from other fighters. Behind the walls of a good castle, he was more or less reasonably safe from the king himself. That didn't lead to democracy, but it kept tyranny at raubritter level. And the raubritters didn't care much about thoughtcrimes.
IMVHO not so much....

Depends on what you consider a "thought crime".

Remembering that the rice tax rate in feudal Japan could be as high as 90%.

And that slipping a petition to have the tax rate reduced into the equivalent of a raubitter's sedan car was considered rebellion/thought crime and punished horribly........

And that not bowing properly was considered discourtesy/thought crime worthy of immediate death......

And in Europe, there got to be so many little raubitters that people began to think that having just one big ;) one.....even a Fink.... ;) oops I mean King ;) might sometimes be better........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_bar ... num_period

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_king_i ... characters

Bows began the leveling process when enough of the common folk could put a cloth yard arrow shaft through that plate mail........

The thought of which might slow down the local lord on any atrocities he was planning.....

Or use a crossbow bolt to Tell ;) the Boss to cool it or look like and become cooler than Swiss Cheese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Tell

I like the leveler effect that guns have.........

All men/women are equal........ Sam Colt made them that way.......

Like bows but the training is faster.......

But you may be right......... Poul Andersen agrees with you in the timeline linked below.........


http://www.amazon.com/Shield-Poul-Ander ... l+andersen
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Parodite
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Parodite »

YMix wrote:What I see as the foundation of massive centralization and tyranny is not Internet snooping, but the overwhelming superiority of offensive means, compared to defensive means. While having your emails read and phone calls tapped is a disgusting breach of privacy, it wouldn't be that bad if it didn't have the potential to put your life in danger. The government can do that because, in the age of sophisticated firearms, it can very easily mobilize overwhelming force.
To play hide and seek, stalk, spy... is order of the day. Further down the philosophical track one could maybe say that this is a core process. Even internally, our brain cells do exactly that too: monitor each other, read and report to higher and higher levels, all the way up to the ultimate tyrant in the hierarchy: consciousness. The I-am-the-Self-Aware-Last-Word. But the buck is not allowed to stop there, it is an uncomfortable situation; much too lonely at the top. Somehow nature wants us to continue and report, offer all we got to an even higher center of information and power. To God, or MI5 for instance. (just watched 007 Skyfall :o )

The superiority of offensive means over defensive means. Defensive capability and action have always trailed the offensive. There was nothing to defend if it first had not been offensively taken. Indeed, snatching information from others that are not aware being spied upon itself is nothing new, and realtively easy. Rather what happens afterwards is where the music starts.

And there lies also the weakness: to act upon this secretly obtained information it requires you come out of the woodwork. You can not secretly kill people for instance, at least not too many at the same time. The world monitors all actions... there are too many eyes wide open that will report simply what happens in broad daylight. People then will be less interested in what motivated those neo-tyrants, what information they used to excuse for their actions, or perhaps the sad youth they had to endure... maybe a history of alcohol abuse in the family? None of that will interest anybody when they are under physical attack, their rights taken away, freedom of movement restricted, or property stolen...

So in reality and where there is action, people will always resist tyrannic violence and injustices... And we have the best defense already in our own hands: to simply report what happens to others. If the main stream channels are hijacked, controlled and monitored by a tyrant, people will resort to underground press and communication. But to even get to that point is not very likely anymore, since whistle blowers will always be there and report before the beast starts to push buttons.

Perhaps if the whole world becomes like One North Korea... the Ultimate Tyrant may emerge. But that chance seems still extremely remote. More likely these fears stem from a post-911 bipolar disorder: Techno-Worship and Techno-Phobia. Scary things that lurk in the dark and in unknown futures.
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Re: The tendency of tech society is tyranny

Post by Simple Minded »

Nonc Hilaire wrote:Excellent post, DoU. A lot to take in at one read, but at first glance I tend to side with Simple Minded and see technology as a force multiplier for human nature.
For I while I thought maybe technology as de-humanizing, might be the problem, but maybe technology is hyper-humanizing....

Perhaps technology as a force multiplier of human nature is what some people fear the most. :o It enables extremely trivial relationships, and allows the hyper-sensitive to get "offended" over the most trivial of comments. :( Also allows low cost low risk trivial retaliation. :evil:

When we can interact daily with thousands a people instead of just a dozen or so.... should we not expect to get just a whiff of the pie?

Do you know anyone who has gotten engaged over the internet?

In the olden days, if you did not answer a ringing phone, you did not know who was calling. Now, caller ID allows efficient filtering.

Programmed Email blocks.

Doesn't this site have an "ignore" function? Don't know, never looked....

Remember when Christmas (or holiday of your choice) cards were mass manufactured, yet individually personalized, and the envelope was addressed by hand? Now some send the personalized pictures of their kid by the tree with the dog in a printed card, but no individual note, address labels, with a PC correct message. Haven't looked into it, but I bet you can load a picture and your Outlook address book onto a thumbdrive and OfficeMax or Staples will print, label, assemble, and mail your Christmas cards to your entire address book. Can you do this Online and pay with a credit card?

E-birthday and holiday cards.....,

monthly baby pictures sent to "distribution"......

Cyber bullying.... When I first heard Congress was concerned with this I thought "For genuflect's sake. No wonder we are a nation of crybabies!"

Maybe parents and grand parents no longer say to the welps in their charge... When the other kids pick on you, say to them "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me!" Especially when the "offender" is hundreds of miles away! Or even "Why don't you grow up!?"

Or in the eloquent words of my older brother "Hey there's a lot of assholes out there. Ya gonna let them all get to you?"

Looking for Mr. Goodinterface........
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