We don't even need to look to the past to know what it is to be "transformed from free agents to passive subjects." Progression of technologies is inextricably linked to those power structures that set forth the rules of price, value, and social status, collectively defining the boundaries any individual's freedom. So long as society has been of a technological nature, free agency remains elusive. Perhaps such a freedom is merely the intermediate goal on a path to something else, which might reveal itself through a latticework of ideas that are collectively telling us we are all part of something big, mysterious and impossible to explain.
Take a look at some of the trends so far. The impact of mobility technology on spatial dynamics has rendered land a scarce commodity, increasing its value while simultaneously reducing the cost of mobility. Similarly, as labor time is compressed, leisure time becomes a luxury, with its price escalating inversely to the decreasing cost of labor. The allure of artificially illuminated screens further commodifies daylight leisure. In response to these shifts, we consciously organize ourselves into hierarchical class structures, reinforcing these power and price dynamics while elevating those who embody intellectual or economic mastery over them. This pattern reflects our persistent tendency towards self-imposed servitude in the pursuit of survival.
One of the greatest threats to human autonomy and therefore flourishing is our own capacity to see through the fog of complexity, and to disillusion ourselves from those constructed features of our lives that bind us to conditions of unfreedom. Sometimes, the binding conditions are not even cultural. For example, our cognitive predisposition to visual stimuli is so pronounced that we rarely allocate enough expensive "free" time to develop skills for looking at the dark interior of ourselves-a practice that so many ancient traditions associate with a fundamental disruption of values-or, enlightenment. But in today's society, where are the images of wisdom we can all aspire towards?
Even before a new philosophy can steer technological governance towards human flourishing, we will need to carve out new contexts (perhaps even so new that they break time-space frames) within which it becomes possible to develop an innate sense of what it is to be a human again.
Would the soft-despotism of global AI systems be different from the soft-despotism of global human governance? Does the nature of the boot matter whether it is biological or artificial?
Seems like AI has a “local” reach that governance doesn’t quite get too. AI can impact us all, governance can set a frame but doesn’t necessarily reach each one of us. If you agree with that, then AI’s effect is more pervasive, and tangible. Curious to hear back from you!
We don't even need to look to the past to know what it is to be "transformed from free agents to passive subjects." Progression of technologies is inextricably linked to those power structures that set forth the rules of price, value, and social status, collectively defining the boundaries any individual's freedom. So long as society has been of a technological nature, free agency remains elusive. Perhaps such a freedom is merely the intermediate goal on a path to something else, which might reveal itself through a latticework of ideas that are collectively telling us we are all part of something big, mysterious and impossible to explain.
Take a look at some of the trends so far. The impact of mobility technology on spatial dynamics has rendered land a scarce commodity, increasing its value while simultaneously reducing the cost of mobility. Similarly, as labor time is compressed, leisure time becomes a luxury, with its price escalating inversely to the decreasing cost of labor. The allure of artificially illuminated screens further commodifies daylight leisure. In response to these shifts, we consciously organize ourselves into hierarchical class structures, reinforcing these power and price dynamics while elevating those who embody intellectual or economic mastery over them. This pattern reflects our persistent tendency towards self-imposed servitude in the pursuit of survival.
One of the greatest threats to human autonomy and therefore flourishing is our own capacity to see through the fog of complexity, and to disillusion ourselves from those constructed features of our lives that bind us to conditions of unfreedom. Sometimes, the binding conditions are not even cultural. For example, our cognitive predisposition to visual stimuli is so pronounced that we rarely allocate enough expensive "free" time to develop skills for looking at the dark interior of ourselves-a practice that so many ancient traditions associate with a fundamental disruption of values-or, enlightenment. But in today's society, where are the images of wisdom we can all aspire towards?
Even before a new philosophy can steer technological governance towards human flourishing, we will need to carve out new contexts (perhaps even so new that they break time-space frames) within which it becomes possible to develop an innate sense of what it is to be a human again.
Would the soft-despotism of global AI systems be different from the soft-despotism of global human governance? Does the nature of the boot matter whether it is biological or artificial?
Seems like AI has a “local” reach that governance doesn’t quite get too. AI can impact us all, governance can set a frame but doesn’t necessarily reach each one of us. If you agree with that, then AI’s effect is more pervasive, and tangible. Curious to hear back from you!
(we have always lived in the maze.)