[ExI] "Toward a Type 1 civilization" by Michael Shermer

[Samantha Atkins]

On Jul 30, 2008, at 11:15 AM, Michael LaTorra  (quoting from excellent  
Michael Shermer piece) wrote:

> Type 1.0: Globalism that includes worldwide wireless Internet  
> access, with all knowledge digitized and available to everyone. A  
> completely global economy with free markets in which anyone can  
> trade with anyone else without interference from states or  
> governments. A planet where all states are democracies in which  
> everyone has the franchise.
>

Yes!  This has been part of what I see as near term extropic goals for  
some time now.   The world wide web is how the true "global brain"  
comes into being.  Right now the global brain is largely stroking out  
with relatively random fits of activity and some actual good  
functioning.  It is nowhere near what a fully activated healthy global  
brain would be.   Here in the early 21st century the reality is that  
the internet is nearly utterly unattainable for much of humanity.   
Even where I am in the very heart of Silicon Valley there was exactly  
one and only one way to get reasonably functional internet access.    
That is true in most of the US, that is in those places where you can  
get anything but dial up.   I just saw a map of AT&T cellular data  
coverage of any kind at all in the US.  At least 90% of the country is  
dark.  Almost no place in the US has full wireless (or even wired)  
coverage.  Given that how many products, ideas, applications, tools
whose benefit rises exponentially (Metcalfe's law ) are stillborn if  
they are thought of at all?  How many contributions to our total  
knowledge, power, understanding, joy, live are we missing by these  
great fissures and chasms in the global  brain?  If I was 20 years old  
again I could think of few better things to make a career of than  
ensuring that the global brain is fully connected up.

Sharing of knowledge, information also exponentially increases our  
total pool of truth wealth (knowledge, ability, joy).   There are many  
factors in the way of such sharing.  Many have made it part of the  
definition of "good business" to restrict such sharing and lock minds  
into one carefully throttled offering or another.  This may maximize  
short term profits for such businesses in relation to other businesses  
but it is arguably not at all maximal or even necessarily the best we  
can do in relation to our potential true wealth.  New ways of being  
profitable, perhaps of measuring profit itself and thus attracting  
resources to make ideas realities are needed.


> The forces at work that could prevent us from making the great leap  
> forward to a Type 1 civilization are primarily political and economic.

I would add that we have much ingrained EP that underlies the more  
structured entities mentioned.  There is a large amount of  
psychological and other internal work to be done along the Way.

> The resistance by nondemocratic states to turning power over to the  
> people is considerable, especially in theocracies whose leaders  
> would prefer we all revert to Type 0.4 chiefdoms.

This is one form of EP at work.  There are many others much closer to  
home.

> The opposition toward a global economy is substantial, even in the  
> industrialized West, where economic tribalism still dominates the  
> thinking of most politicians, intellectuals and citizens.


This is in large part scarcity thinking at work.  It is deeply  
ingrained and it has more than a little basis in fact today even in  
relatively affluent societies.   There is a chicken and egg problem.   
Which comes first, the shift beyond actual scarcity (at this level) or  
the shift in conscious to an abundance mentality and worldview?   
Without the shift in conscious even full MNT will not produce true  
abundance in the world.

- samantha
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