The "Tightrope"

---

       To visualize the challenge that we humans now face regarding our society and technology, consider the following metaphor:

     Mankind is walking a tightrope toward the future and could fall off either side. Successfully reaching the end of the tightrope means that we will have achieved technological mastery over all the matter of the universe. It will require us to ground our society in the Laws of Reality, halt and reverse the aging process, merge our biology with our technology and become super-intelligent.

     The tightrope is anchored in and stretched over a landscape called “Reality.” The tightrope itself, which supports us, is what we refer to as the “Laws of Reality.” The Laws of Reality include the specific natures of things that exist in reality, from the nature of a sub-atomic particle to the “Nature of Man.” Man must stay firmly balanced on the Laws of Reality to reach the end of the tightrope.

     Man’s arms are outstretched for balance holding two buckets, one on each side. One bucket is labeled “Technology,” and the other is tagged “Culture.”

     “Technology” means artificial intelligence, augmented human intelligence, genetics, nanotechnology, blockchain, 5G network, quantum computing, and fusion energy. Advances in these transcendent technologies will spread through society from scientists to engineers to business people to consumers. Each step forward on the tightrope means that we have made discoveries of the Laws of Reality and then applied them to create new technologies added into our Technology bucket. Discoveries and technologies make further additional steps forward possible. Continuing these advances will be necessary to reach the end of the tightrope. However, each of these technologies also holds the potential for our destruction. 

     “Culture” as we step forward means the dominant set of philosophical ideas that are believed and held by individuals in our society, especially those who create and control technology. These ideas include what we think about reality, knowledge, ethics, politics, and art. Ideas are crucially important. They determine the course of an individual’s life and society. These ideas will determine our culture’s relationship with our technology, such as how we create it, apply it, and reap its benefits while avoiding its dangers. As our technology advances with each step forward on the tightrope, we must increase our culture’s understanding of and commitment to reality-based philosophical ideas. We must add those increases to our Culture bucket.

     Falling off the “Technology” side of the tightrope could mean the extinction of humankind. A super AI entity could kill us. Or a synthetic virus either kills us directly or renders the Earth uninhabitable. Or technology could enable a fanatical regime to instigate a domino effect of global nuclear-style wars of jihad intended to send the world’s population to god.

     Falling off the “Culture” side could mean that Western society has abandoned its commitment to reality and reason. It has disintegrated the rational principles and institutions of society and has revolted against technology and achievement. It lives by emotion for the range of the moment. Any survivors have been thrust back into a New Dark Ages where they toil daily to survive. An elite totalitarian ruling class that claims to have mystical revelations dictates the terms. Or, having lost touch with its rational founding principles of individualism and freedom, Western society is unable or unwilling to defend itself against communist China or another totalitarian regime that could gain the technological upper hand and implement totalitarian control of the entire world.

     Man must balance the contents of the Technology and Culture buckets to reach the end of the increasingly steep tightrope. The Technology bucket has been continuously filling, and the rate of filling is accelerating. The Culture bucket only fills when our society’s predominant philosophy moves toward reality and reason—and empties when we move the other direction. Our Culture bucket was at its fullest two hundred years ago. Its heft enabled the Industrial Revolution, counter-balancing all the technology we put in our Technology bucket up through today. Unfortunately, the Culture bucket has been emptying over the last two hundred years as we continue to add new technology to our Technology Bucket.

     The risk is that our Technology bucket will soon become too heavy for our society to handle. We are rapidly approaching a critical imbalance that could cause us to stumble and fall off one side of the tightrope or the other—Extinction or a New Dark Ages. Or we can reassert reality and reason in our culture, regain our balance, and keep moving forward. You could possibly live to see the outcome. Your children will probably see it, and your grandchildren will almost certainly see it. 

     Our Culture bucket can catch up, and, as we will consider later in the book, perhaps our technology can even help. This book is an example of how we can elevate the importance of reality-based thinking in our society’s discourse. It will take time to catch up. Hopefully, we have the time. 

[Excerpt from the book, "INTELLOPY: Survival and Happiness in a Collapsing Society with Advancing Technology" by JJ Kelly  https://intellopy.com/ ]