10 Comments
May 7, 2023Liked by James R. Martin

James this is fantastic. Yep you could write several books explaining all this but you’ve really made it pretty clear for most of us already in the choir. I like where you’ve gone with this and wholly agree that the revolution will be love. The only way

Expand full comment

AI has no capacity for ethics. This alone makes it a powerful tool for domination , ii.e. Power over and abuse of others. Power is neither 'bad' nor 'good'. Use of power solely to gain more power over others as in extractive capitalism, is morally wrong ., Power developed with others can elicit transformative change at multiple levels of scale.

Here's my short definition of power:

*ability for self sovereignty, self definition

*participation in decision-making that effects day to day living

* access to resources ( water, clean air, food, community, meaningful living, learning places, creative expression, health supports, peace) Resources are much more than money.

Power with would be developing and maintaining that with others. Power over is defining who you are and limiting your capacity for self definition, making life shaping decisions without your input, without your consent and for one faction's benefit not for shared community well being.

We need each other right now, to unlearn, relearn and commit to the well being of ourselves and all the more than human world of inter being.

Expand full comment
May 4, 2023Liked by James R. Martin

You may or may not be right, James, but whichever it is, I appreciate your motivation and courage to tackle this topic that I haven't begun to consider.

Expand full comment
author

Wow! I wrote and published the above essay before listening to Daniel Schmachtenberger in this video.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCSsKV5F4xc

I'm nearing the end of listening to Daniel and Liv's talk at the moment, but I'm utterly blown away by how what Daniel is saying explains and corroborates what I was getting at in my essay! Naturally, I'm planning on much further development of the ideas in my essay, but I'm most of the labor of explanation, because Daniel has done it beautifully.

Now I need to talk with Daniel about the notion of centripetal versus centrifugal power dynamics. I think the two of us can think this stuff through better in collaboration than either of us in isolation from one another.

If anyone here knows Daniel, do let him know about this note. And let him know I'd like to hold a conversation with him on these themes and topics.

Expand full comment
author

This conversation goes a long way toward explaining the stuff I didn't explain in my above essay.

Misalignment, AI & Moloch | Daniel Schmachtenberger and Liv Boeree

https://rword.substack.com/p/misalignment-ai-and-moloch-daniel

Expand full comment
author

Artificial intelligence and algorithms: pros and cons | DW Documentary (AI documentary)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0dMTAQM4cw&t=258s

Expand full comment
author

Is “Polycrisis” the Right Word for Our Times?

By Asher Miller, originally published by Resilience.org

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-02-01/is-polycrisis-the-right-word-for-our-times/

Expand full comment