> Technological proliferation is not a list of principles. It is a deep, multivalent historical process with many radically different stakeholders over many dif

> Technological proliferation is not a list of principles. It is a deep, multivalent historical process with many radically different stakeholders over many different time-scales. People who invent technology never get to set the rules for what is done with it Well said. Pessimism is a reasonable reaction to this sweeping line, but I offer a quick summary of what I hope is non-naive optimism: 1) Problem: When we think technology is neutral, we miss how it creates niches outside our intended design and social/political constraints, since the environment of economics thwarts all. We have agency as individuals, yes, but the environment rewards and select for any uses of the technology which yield advantage. “If you incentivize something, it will happen.” 2) Solution?: Nobody fucking knows. But “Game ~B” is what people are calling a nascent research effort to identify what attributes a more cohesive civilization must have to allow better collective “sense-making” and “choice-making” so we may become capable of directing technology instead of leaving it to the emergent dynamics of hapless competition. What's also interesting are the considerations for employing antifragile, transitionary social structures that can thrive in our current entrenched “Game A” dynamics to plant said attributes. Gotta change the underlying rules instead of designing atop those which are broken. 3) Future Ethics: I've also seen some excitement about a so-called non-relativistic ethical framework within Game~B, called The Immanent Metaphysics. It claims to be commensurable with — but not derivable from — science, rigorously formalizing intuitive ethical principles, to at least create a consistent grounding for making effective ethical choices.[1] The hope is to better inform (but not determine) our use of technology after we step into a more coherent phase of civilization. Tech can NOT be put back in the bag, so we must develop our wisdom to carefully wield the godlike powers they give, which we are currently making a mess of. [1] only a few people currently understand the dense framework, but I'm currently working through it and may be able to offer a summary of what I know so far here. neat stuff