Singularitarianism Vs. Totalitarianism

The Singularity Manifesto — Part I

Photo taken in Hong Kong, March 20th 2018.

We have reached a tipping point as a civilization. We can choose to free ourselves as a human species or to be enslaved by technology.

Singularitarianism is a movement defined by the belief that a technological singularity — the creation of superintelligence — will likely happen in the near future, and that deliberate action ought to be taken to ensure that the Singularity benefits humans. (Source: Wikipedia)

The past few weeks I have the impression that the world is inside out. My dreams seem to be more rational than the flow of the current daily life. Singularity is not an event, it has started to emerge as a tidal wave across human consciousness. It creates a strong feeling in response to all the events that are happening now. Humans are about to take one of the most critical decision for the species.

Technology should be used to free ourselves from governments not the opposite.

The extraordinary events of late have activated millennials to join forces in an effort to reverse the course of history. Early this year youth in Iran rallied against their totalitarian regime, presently students in the US are raising their collective voice to loosen the stranglehold the National Rifle Association has had on US politicians for decades and with a majority of adults in Europe, Israel and the Middle East closing their eyes while innocent civilians get massacred in Syria their children are calling for accountability. We are one human family, sharing one planet, that is on the brink of exceptional transformation.

We have reached the tipping point toward singularity.

As most governments work on leveraging technology to effectively enslave, surveil and control their citizens there is a growing oppositional movement to harness and retain this information to create a free, fair, and equitable life for all world citizens. Decentralized tools and blockchain have the potential to liberate world citizens from government control, reduce corruption, and make administrative systems and procedures more efficient. Coupled with Artificial Intelligence and robotics, these systems can free humans from performing repetitive and even sophisticated tasks enabling people to use their time for learning more and improving their lives and conditions. This could potentially lead towards the creation of a Universal Basic Income (UBI).

The recent Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal exposes the power of accumulating and analyzing massive amounts of personal data; the power to change the course of history. China has put a Social Credit Score (SCS) system into effect for its citizens. Among other restrictions, having a low SCS in China can limit one’s ability to enjoy the basic freedom of travel on planes and trains. This score is based on an algorithm that takes into account such things as the highly immeasurable factor of the sincerity of an apology from one person to another. It isn’t difficult to imagine the consequences if humanity doesn’t take a stand against such totalitarian implementation.

People should take ownership of their freedom, for themselves first and for the future generations.

Any individual should have the freedom to access information from any place at the earliest age and be able to choose what to read and learn. That’s why internet was built, to enable people to exchange and collaborate. Instead, internet has become a tool for governments to surveil, control and attack each others.

I see 20 year old’s betting all they have on crypto-currencies and enthusiastically building decentralized projects. Sure, they do it for speculation but they also do it out of personal conviction. They believe distributed systems and crypto-currencies are the most effective and efficient means to create the liberated and abundant lives they envision for themselves.

Decentralized systems and cryptographic technologies remove borders, complex legislations, regulatory burden and provide tools for distributing, and moving wealth, value and assets in an efficient way. They can accelerate the distribution of money at a whole new level.

I am curious to watch how this is going to transform the current landscape among the tech giants. It is very tempting for them to sit on the side of governments and take advantage of their dominant position. Europe has a key role to play on limiting how these superpowers can abuse their position. If Europe manages to channel its current actions for protecting users privacy and inspire the new generations, it could become the leader of this new singularitarianism movement.

If you align with the philosophy of moving toward a more transparent, accountable and equitable future for all follow some of these projects: @skyblunetwork, Orchid Protocol, OpenGarden, Right Mesh, Stellar, Blockstack, or Holochain Design, they give HOPE.

The opinions and views expressed in this article are my own.