We are at that moment in history where technology that can enable catastrophic breakdown in almost every domain is held in the hands of people who really do not care about anything else but their own short term interests.
Web 3 is the new meme. Blockchain, bitcoin, AI, VR, various metaverses. It might be an antidote or an accelerant.
Few of us appreciate the power of the algorithm, few of us understand the degree to which we are all being manipulated. If you find yourself saying…not me!…then definitely you. And me. All of us.
Erosion of trust in public or private institutions is universal.
Integrity in leadership – particularly those leaders with the most ability to influence – is almost non-existent.
Media has been so corrupted, so hijacked by the algorithms that thrive on fear and rage, that truth is a black hole.
Our ability to make sense of the landscape is infected with the most malicious of viruses – the tech monopolies who profit from our colonisation.
And our current purpose for humanity, for government, for business seem to ignore the achievable possibility of being able to increase the wellbeing of Earth and all her creatures without ecological offence or the disadvantage of anyone. Instead the focus is on some ridiculous goal like making more money to buy more things that we do not need, or to pay for power, access and privilege.
Into this milieu we must step, whether we like it or not.
The tech lovers rush to jump into this mix, dollar signs and status symbols in their eyes, promising:
“Tech will save us!” “Tech will solve the problem.” “Tech is the answer.” Even the Prime Minister of Australia, who knows so little about tech, see’s it as the saviour to all the issues he refuses to actually face head-on.
Have we come this far to enact another round of such utter foolishness?
The arrogance or ignorance – or both – that has us think tech is the soul answer!
Tech may be part of the answer – but it is by far not the whole. Before we even get to tech deployment we need to deal with the complex, complicated, strange, weird things that happen when humans are in relationship together – either working, playing or creating a thing.
But damn – this human stuff is hard. How good is tech! Seemingly more logical, linear, easier than co-ordinating humans.
A few binary – 0’s and 1’s. So simple, yet able to do so much.
But not everything. Not feel. Not do analogue acts, non-linear, divergent, convergent, synergistic.
If I were the designer of the Universe I would still make human relationship’s hard work. Why?
Human relationships are worth working on: The lived university in action. Where magnificence beyond words lives. The experience of synergy, where together we are far greater than apart.
Before we rush to technology, before we rush to create a DAO – decentralised autonomous organisation – we might step back and get the messy human stuff right first.
Or not? Isn’t it easier to reduce our human relationship dynamic into a no-thing. Not important. Well at least not until we are in high need, or on our death bed and the only thing that matters is the quality of our relationships.
Before we rush to tech as the solution we might first do at least the following things.
- Get very clear – crystal clear – on the purpose of our doing. No space for ambiguity and uncertainty. Why are we here, gathered? How will we know when why we are gathered is complete? What will be evident? How will others describe this?
- Consider deeply and agree on how we want the people who have come together around this purpose behave, respond, act, treat each other, speak, report, get remunerated for their effort?
- Build an ecology that enables the greatest exponential tech of all to enliven every day: human minds working together synergistically.
- Place human relationships and their thriving – the collective move towards higher orders of wellbeing for all participants, in all domains, as of central importance. Even greater importance than the thing we have come together to create, perhaps?
- Deeply consider the consequences, the precession of what we are doing, both short and long term. We might create tensegrity teams to play out the push-pull of difference.
- Craft an agreement on how we do all of these things. What we call a Syntropic World Trust Manifesto – designed deliberately to create ecologies of high trust and synergy. In a world of low trust, anything that moves towards collective trust is possibly the difference that will make the difference.
- Explore the often unexplored territory of what is power, what is control, what is equity, what is exploitation, what is value?
- Consider the role of authority, stewardship, consensus, polarity, diversity. Ask these questions: Is a space that is 100% decentralised and 100% consensus based a healthy one? Is anti-hierarchy of any kind likely to get the outcomes desired? What is good hierarchy?
Only when we have done these things might we consider the application of tech.
In other words – only when we have created the needed human ecology, or done the messy human relational work – the analogue stuff – might we consider the digital application.
Humans have the capability to think differently, to hold wisdom or silliness, to act from intuition or rationality, to be unpredictable and creative, to be synergistic. Consciousness does not live in our skulls. Science is so far from knowing where consciousness resides and what it is that anyone suggesting we can upload human consciousness into a computer at this time is deluding themselves.
Quantum computers might accelerate the analogue capture into a digital world, but until we are across consciousness, I am not sure we will pull off the upload.
I love tech. I love what my computer does. I love speaking to people live on Zoom around the world. But tech absent the warm data input of humans is a cold, dead machine.
If we rush to deploy Web 3 without taking time to get the messy human stuff sorted in the very teams building things on Web 3, we are going to get more of the same: a world that rushes to use the next bright shiny toy to gain status, make money, become famous, and never considers the consequences in their haste; a world that never considers the precessional effects, neglecting to factor in the power of tech without thoughtful complex considered application.
Throwing tech like a safety blanket across a beautiful idea thinking it alone is the solution while the humans and the gorgeous field of warm data and relationships between people is neglected as not worthy of consideration – is this wise?
Ultimately the space between us is one of the most important areas of consideration.
No one on their deathbed wished for more money or more technology. They wished for human touch. Love. Being held.
Syntropic World has spent the last two years building the human relationship foundation, taking an idea and beginning to grow the garden of its expression. Only now it is time to consider the application of some of the exponential tech tools. Not absent the human, but working to support the best of our human community, all humans, and Earth.
Now we are ready to consider using tech for such things as a Universal Syntropic Income, complementary currencies and wise use of algorithms that do not exploit or extract against will or awareness.
Technology that serves us and our collective future, that enables synergy beyond even the ability of human synergetics.
We know that if we want to truly create a world where Syntropic Enterprises become business-as-usual we need to work with exponential technology in a fully considered way.
Like everything we do in Syntropic World, we start by holding our purpose – co-creating a world where Syntropic Enterprises that leave everything better become business-as-usual – provides the ultimate pull towards what is possible, and the Source idea and its Pattern Integrity provide the anchor. In communion with what I have been gifted to steward from idea to form, to marry its emergence with appropriate technology that continues the Syntropic World Pattern Integrity of zero exploitation, zero extraction to extinction and zero colonisation.
This plus the deep inquiry by the community as to the precession of our applied technology, and the ability to adapt it as we progress.
Given the power of our exponential technologies, there really is no other way than to use them. Wise, considered, thoughtful application, held in community by synergy.
While it may seem we are late to the party, in all things, we aim to arrive as a living demonstration of integrity in action.
