A World That is Nurturing for All of Us

Global Optimism

I believe that our civilization has reached a state of negativity, hostility, and exhaustion for too many. I feel that wonderfully typical desire to so something about it.

Trust in others is rare, skepticism is vigorous, we expect to be deceived, betrayed, and bombarded with falsehoods. Our online existence is filled with complexities, passwords, and the constant threat of predators. Junk mail, ads, disinformation, and fear mongering consume our attention. Software adds more misery with unwanted calls, scams, and frustrating help. We have normalized to a culture of junk, violence, riots, manipulation, and neglect.

This is an absurd way for our species to treat itself. Very few other species behave in such a manner. We are intelligent beings who have accomplished much for ourselves.

Let's declare that this is a problem we will solve: Create a thriving world that prioritizes the long-term well-being of all of us, not just a few. We set aside the stories that tell us it's impossible. Our lives filled with meaning, passion, and self-expression. Civilization 2.0 is my name for it. 1.0 got us here, bringing huge storehouses of knowledge. Let's pour it into revising the way we relate to each other. Hippies merge with high powered philosophy and neuroscience. Slow and steady. Declaring that we will pull it off.

Essentially we are declaring to s. We'll do this, even though a detailed plan does not yet exist. We'll build the plan using our collective intelligence and empathy. We'll draw on

Do these goals resonate with you?

1. All information sources are reliable. Everyone gets a say. We are practiced in the arts of words and relationships.
2. Optimize everything to fulfill existing needs, not profit nor wealth. Make efficient use of global resources so nobody feels left out.
3. Provide excellent education that prepares us to be ethical, benevolent, and adaptable. Foster both individual and collective thinking. Include everyone.
4. Our opinions make us who we are. We give voice to them in social media. Going further, we will establish a secure and foolproof repository of diverse opinions that accurately represents each and every one of us. Deep and detailed and private. It will influence decisions and select and remove decision-makers.
5. Elevate the importance of meaning, passion, creativity, genuine needs, and relationships over consumerism.

As an intelligent species, we possess a wide range of capabilities, including language, technology, culture, and creativity. What we lack is the training to unlock our collective intelligence—the deep understanding of ourselves and each other, along with rational rules of engagement. As we acquire these skills, we will gradually become more intelligent as a group.

Here's the good news: this training is already emerging. It primarily exists outside of academia, but it offers valuable insights. It's challenging to describe convincingly, but once experienced, it becomes evident as a compelling answer to the question of how. In simple terms, we need to learn to communicate with each other, considering each other's best interests.

In the meantime, glimpses of 2.0 are emerging here and there in the world. We are exploring various ways to implement 2.0 within the existing 1.0 framework. I have been collecting examples of robust and solid instances of 2.0 to build a case for optimism.