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It's interesting that Mr. Harai's analysis is almost exactly like what you might typically find from a typical right-wing person except for the proposed solutio

by ewzimm 8y ago

It's interesting that Mr. Harai's analysis is almost exactly like what you might typically find from a typical right-wing person except for the proposed solutions. Among people who support various nationalist causes around the world, fear of the centralization of power through technology is a primary motivator for devolution of power from centralized authorities to more local governments. However, instead of increased decentralization of political power, Mr. Harai proposes increased centralization of regulation on data collection as the most likely solution to the problem of centralized power, while acknowledging the dangers of the regulation regime becoming a danger in itself. He doesn't seem to have a clear answer to this problem, and I wonder what types of proposals might fix it. AI assistants that are completely transparent and loyal to their individual owners might be one part of the solution.

coldtea 8y ago
>It's interesting that Mr. Harai's analysis is almost exactly like what you might typically find from a typical right-wing person except for the proposed solutions. Among people who support various nationalist causes around the world, fear of the centralization of power through technology is a primary motivator for devolution of power from centralized authorities to more local governments. You say it like it's a bad thing, when it's just a different political opinion (centralized vs decentralized government etc). In many case these "nationalist" causes are not nationalist in the sense of "let's invade Poland" or "our nation is some superior race", but in what used to be called "national independence", "isolationism", "anti-colonialism", "anti-neocolonialism" and so on. And you don't have to be "right wing" to be for it, although indeed as of late "left wing" has been increasingly getting synonymous with "left wing lite", which is just global corporatist business as usual + identity politics.
- ewzimm 8y ago
  I actually agree with you that it's just a different political opinion, and I had meant to convey it in a neutral way here. Both Mr. Harai and many nationalists seem to agree that the decentralization of power is important, but they disagree on how best to accomplish it. I also agree that centralized power is a growing threat, and I think that if we want to make progress in reducing potential harms, we should focus on effective solutions together. Personally, I'm skeptical that centralized regulation is a long-term solution, and I think that we need more free and open source hardware and software or at least trustworthy technology that can be independently audited to verify that it protects the interests for individual owners rather than serving at the pleasure of someone else. I think most major technology companies, regardless of current policies, acknowledge that there is an increasing need for accountability and that people are beginning to distrust technology monetized by harvesting data and directing behavior.

by ewzimm 8y ago

coldtea 8y ago

>It's interesting that Mr. Harai's analysis is almost exactly like what you might typically find from a typical right-wing person except for the proposed solutions. Among people who support various nationalist causes around the world, fear of the centralization of power through technology is a primary motivator for devolution of power from centralized authorities to more local governments. You say it like it's a bad thing, when it's just a different political opinion (centralized vs decentralized government etc). In many case these "nationalist" causes are not nationalist in the sense of "let's invade Poland" or "our nation is some superior race", but in what used to be called "national independence", "isolationism", "anti-colonialism", "anti-neocolonialism" and so on. And you don't have to be "right wing" to be for it, although indeed as of late "left wing" has been increasingly getting synonymous with "left wing lite", which is just global corporatist business as usual + identity politics.

ewzimm 8y ago
I actually agree with you that it's just a different political opinion, and I had meant to convey it in a neutral way here. Both Mr. Harai and many nationalists seem to agree that the decentralization of power is important, but they disagree on how best to accomplish it. I also agree that centralized power is a growing threat, and I think that if we want to make progress in reducing potential harms, we should focus on effective solutions together. Personally, I'm skeptical that centralized regulation is a long-term solution, and I think that we need more free and open source hardware and software or at least trustworthy technology that can be independently audited to verify that it protects the interests for individual owners rather than serving at the pleasure of someone else. I think most major technology companies, regardless of current policies, acknowledge that there is an increasing need for accountability and that people are beginning to distrust technology monetized by harvesting data and directing behavior.