Yesterday OPOL posted a diary called "Future Shocked and the Emergent Future" and if I have understood him correctly, he presented a hope and vision that would answer the question in this diary's title with: "Yes, why shouldn't it be possible?" and summarized his opinion and view points like this:
I believe that we can make life sweet for future humanity, if we can become sufficiently determined to do so and if we can overcome the obvious obstacles. If we can bring ourselves to be wise enough, kind enough and peaceful enough as we make this massive paradigm shift, we can be guided by science and cooperation to a better place for everyone. Humanity working together to restore and heal the earth while increasing global human happiness could conceivably be just beyond the horizon. And it's certainly just what the doctor ordered. The alternative could be hell on earth. And haven't we had about enough of that?
We have to get our hearts right for a future where everyone is free and powerful.
We have to imagine the kind of future we want.
based on the many examples he described in the body of his diary that convincingly made his vision realistically possible.
Imagine a strongly encrypted and free ultra high-speed global Internet impervious to attacks by malicious control freaks or random assholes or spying by surreptitious governments and other powers, ensuring privacy and actual democracy for all while providing an unprecedented capacity for collaboration across great distances between all nations and cultures, and including all people. This is unlike anything the world has ever seen. Humanity liberated, connected and empowered. Humanity in harmony. Imagine all of humanity's genius pulling together to make life not only possible but better for every one of us. It could be Bucky being right again.
Even though the trend toward a decentralized, web-based democracy seems clear, there's no guarantee that it will be a truly democratic and humanitarian hive mind, but it could be and it should be – we really need it to be. The tools are evolving that could make it happen. In theory, every node (person) on the net is equal.And coupled with non-trust based (because its not necessary) identity authentication based on bulletproof encryption, there could be nothing more democratic than that. We have a shot at it.
When I read his diary I had an alternative view point to his vision, which I was not able to really express due to lack of knowledge of the ideologies and visions that the supporters and makers of the new technologies are embedded in. I just didn't know how to express why the concept of decentralization is one I have difficulties to believe to be for real.
This morning I read this article in "Der Spiegel": Tomorrowland: How Silicon Valley Shapes Our Future and realized how well it could be presented as an addition and sort of skeptical answer to OPOL's vision.
It is a very long article, but I think well worth reading in its entirety. It's too much for me to go through the points OPOL made in his diary and contrast it with all the points the above article makes and write something about it. But I do believe that it is a task one should tackle given enough time and enough reading has been done.
I try to excerpt a couple of paragraphs to wet your appetite to think about the role of Silicon Valley shaping our future and if you think they will shape it the way you would like it. There were a lot of bells ringing in my mind, while reading the article. May be they will ring to you as well ?
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