Is the blockchain the new Global City? - Part IsteemCreated with Sketch.

in philosophy •  8 years ago  (edited)

"Is the blockchain the new Global City?" - Part I
Introduction

This post is a sequence of a list of articles that you can find at the end to explain the theory of realizable Utopias and help to integrate this part of the work of Utopia and the blockchain.

Like I said in my last post here, this article will deal with the problem of the construction of the post-Scarcity, post-Truth and post-Destruction Era to integrate a model of a myriad of small equalitarian communities or "critical-groups" of blockchained citizens, that want to exercise their Influence and "Importance" in a direct democracy.

My next post is called "Is the blockchain the engine room of Starship Earth" and will examine the possibilities for reconstructing direct democracy of the "primitive cities"
in the blockchain, to help people to think more about what should be different in decentralized autonomous systems, to revolutionize, to corrupt, to make Power obsolete, and fight the increasing dictatorship of actual society against the flux of autonomy and freedom.

1 - Importance and Social Situation

The Role of a person in society can be be seen by and an outside observer using Yonas's "objective language" to make same conclusions:

a) - Society is influence propagation.
b) - Social situation is similar to "Importance" and is result of a sum of influences received and given in a society.
c)- The result is the "role" of a person in any society.

For each person the "role" is seen by the inside, within self-attributed arbitrariness of "Importance", based in his own criteria and reason intuitively chosen.
"Social situation" is importance, when observed by an observer outside the system.
For the person himself "Importance" depends on personal inside self-attributed values, that can't be observed or measured.
As Yona Friedman say "Importance" is the importance an individual values on the importance of the others.
The "Importance" of an influence is not observable or quantifiable, because it is not-communicable.
"Importance" is only valued by any member of society for his personal use.
A society can be equalitarian in the balance of influences is equal to all , but it will never be felt as equalitarian in the personal balance each one makes of it.
So we can have an equalitarian society besides the inequality every individual will always feel on the self-percepted "Importance".
"A theory must be general and valid for anybody". -Yona Friedman

2 - The Utopia of Immobilism of our generation

I will call the Utopia of Immobilism the worst utopia of our times.
In an article about memes I read surely more then ten years ago, about the influence a the new-age vaccine against other kind of memes more related with the structures of reality:
"new age: accept all aesthetically-appealing memes, new and old, regardless of empirical [or even internal] consistency; reject others. [note that this one doesn't provide much protection.]" (1) Glenn Grant - Memetic Lexicon.
The actual conservative tendency is based in the fear of change, but it is blind-folded by the belief that the possible consequences of our choices are not so scary and won't have much consequences.
We are now reaching the abyss where the Environment have one of the most emergent cataclysms of planet Earth, that began with the first consequences of man change to a "crop" society and the agricultural revolution affecting ecology - kill the forest, kill species, kill the air, kill the oceans., kill water sources, pesticides, genetic crops and so on - so that our species became urban, gregarian and sedentary.

"We are in danger of destroying ourselves, by greed and stupidity" - Stephen Hawking

The ecological traces of destruction with urban and industrial pollution, that are not immediately killing all the species, but opens the possibility and create conditions for the possible emergence of a new human species, the ones that will survive the post-Destruction era.
And most of the people do not care because they are living in the worst utopias of all times: the Utopia of Immobilism.
Immobilism is the dream of any Government, Power , Rulers, Technology or Science the dream of perpetuity and immobility.
"The failure of social scientists to seriously question their own ideological and methodological assumptions contributes to the complex interrelationship between global ecological and individual psychological problems. Much of the literature on the tragedy of the commons focuses on saving the global commons through increased centralization and regulation, at the expense of the individual's autonomy and psychological sense of community. "Utopian" speculation in general and anarchist political analysis in particular are necessary correctives to misplaced attempts to merely rearrange the elements of the status quo rather than to radically alter it in a direction more in keeping with both survival and human dignity." (2) - Dennis R. Fox (1985) American Psychologist - "Psychology, Ideology, Utopia, and the Commons"
"If this keeps on with rise of authoritarianism, humans won't need to have sex anymore, because the Government is f'ck'ng us all more and more everyday"charlie777pt
Well for Yona Immobilism is not an Utopia, but a consequence of an Utopia because like he asks:
"But....what is the social organization that is not or was the result of an Utopia that preceded it.?"

YONA FRIEDMAN INFORMATION from BALKIS PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

Iceland seems to be the only country that fights the Immobilism Utopia quoted by their own President:
"The Government bailed out the people and imprisoned the banksters, the opposite what America and the rest of Europe did."

3- Why do some realizable Utopias fail?

There is no miracle recipe for avoiding Utopias to fail, and instead of blaming "human nature" for it, we are going to make some conclusions that can help in the diagnosis for failures, in the case same of the mechanisms of realizable Utopias are absent.

a) - For a Utopia to rise we need a generalized dissatisfaction, one technique and collective consent.
b) - Utopias can be paternalistic (proposed by the outside) or non-paternalistic (shared by the ones that assume the risks of the consequences of the collective choices).
c) - Utopias can be expressed in an objective language by any external observer.
d) - Society and Environment are synonyms.
e) - The Utopias we should be aiming are the equalitarian society(man2man) and its evolution to a "non-competitive society" (man-objects2objects-man).
f)- This utopias can only exist if we don't exceed some numbers inherent to human bio-genetic-psychological limitations on the number of a group of people can have to keep it equalitarian.

This only works if there is constant feedback in a language everybody understands, because Continuous Feedback is the self-preservation, a self-regulating mechanism to preserve the Utopias.

YONA FRIEDMAN UTOPIA STATION from BALKIS PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

4 - The City and the Blockchain

Yona Friedamn (1975) says that the city is "one territory inhabited by a set of organized human beings", and is definition of territory is not necessarily physical has we will see.

a) - Realizable Utopias are projects to enhance collective satisfaction in a group.
b) - The same project in endorsed and consented by the group.
c) - Happen inside an organized group in a territory.

As Yona says "the city" was maybe one of the realized utopias of human history.
The objective of most Utopias is centered in "organizing" the city and "is much more an organization of an occupied territory."
Yona expresses clearly in his theory that it must not necessarily be a physical territory because the city is an organization if the members are disperse.
So the blockchain could be from now on the territory where people inside multiple communities(human organization) will thrive and balance prosperity in the world.
Now let's see the City as two aspects - human organization and territory.

5 - Agricultural revolution, the Primitive City, and the birth of Direct Democracy

Actual society was born by agriculture, after the society of hunters, followed by the pastor society and then the sedentary villages of farmers, the city of "crops".
Agriculture created the conditions for the emergence of the concept of industry and the division of work.
So the old city was born and turns into the marketplace of industry specialists and artisans making the primitive city "a set of equal individuals, where everyone is indispensable".

This primitive urban utopia brought "equality of each individual by his indispensable character".

From the agricultural conglomerates of farmers, where the traditional Clan or Family had an organization, and the technical knowledge was equal and permutable, while in the "primitive city" every individual have an unique knowledge and the tasks are not permutable.
In the farmer cities the Family and Clans had an hierarchy of power, the "Pater" owner of the family estate (pater familias in ancient Rome), the boss, the Chief, that decodes everything and have all the powers to take decisions.
In this new "primitive cities decisions" are made by equals in a general council, creating the first born and realized Utopia of Direct Democracy .

Direct Democracy based in equality in the uniqueness of every member, governed by collective decision made with the participation of every individual.
So the "primitive city" made possible direct democracy and became a Realized Utopia.

The growth of this primitive urban cities soon would show that the numbers of members of a "critical-group" to keep it equalitarian had his consequences.
This numbers that are limits to the human capability in the dimensions of a community to preserve direct democracy.
As this small cities started to attract more and more peoplY, broke the limits of numbers of the equalitarian structure by excess of numbers and became Hierarchic and destroyed the roots of direct democracy and gave birth to today's "democracy".

This primitive growing city exceeded the limits of equalitarian members or "critical-group" and the Chief appears and this groups, the worst plague democracy brought, the politicians.

"The Politicians were born and they where empowered for something they couldn't do, decide for the other individuals". charlie777pt

Hierarchy eliminate consensus and blocks Utopia's realization.
End of Part I

In part II of this posts we will discuss the consequences of this concepts on the construction and evolution on the Blockchain.
Part II
6 - Can the blockchain bring back Direct Democracy and Consensus?
7 - Can Steemit and the blockchain be a total equalitarian Society?
8 - The counter-development of the big city : "Private city" and "urban village"
9 - The non-geographical critical-group
10 - The society of "weak communication" and the new singularity of the Blockchain
11 - Self-regulation and autoplanification
in the "Engine Room"

Footnote:

(*) I choose the term Equalitarian for a vision that accepts or promotes the view of equalitarianism , instead of Egalitarian a vision who accepts or promotes social equality and equal rights for all people because that is not yet possible in the material hierarchic structure of our world of objects and assets.

My other posts on Steemit about the blockchain and Realizable Utopias

The Rise of a Non-Competitive Society and the Importance of "Importance"
Can Steemit attention-economy be a "non-competitive" society?
Can Steemit be a Gandhi Phenomena?

Do Blockchain communities have a "Critical-Group" ?
Is the blockchain a "Hierarchical" or an "Equalitarian" Community?
Is the blockchain a Realizable Social Utopia?
An Ode to the blockchain - the Dialectic of Liberation
Steemit Value : Intangible Asset vs Tangible Asset Analysis
Steemit: Altruism and Financial Scarcity and the rise of Advertising
Steemit : The Shrinking of the Money Pie and the Rise of Human Pie

My Other posts on Steemit that discuss the problem of Power

Autonomy, Responsibility and Freedom - Interview Part 1 Autonomy, Responsibility and Freedom - Interview Part 2

B/W Pictures Source:

All black and white hand writing pictures included in the slides, are originally copied from the book - "Utopias Realizáveis" - (Realizable Utopias )by Yona Friedman , Sociocultur, Lisbon, 1977 (in Portuguese)

References:

Yona Friedman - wikipedia : Architect, urban planner, designer but also a sociology student, physics and science communications, Yona Friedman (Budapest, 1923) is back at the center of international architectural culture after having long been dismissed as Utopian. Member of the Hungarian anti-Nazi resistance, Friedman spent a few years in Haifa, Israel, where he sketched the first of his many theories, namely the Mobile Manifesto architecture in which special construction systems allow the inhabitant to determine for itself the shape, style etc. his apartment and to change it when they want it. website: Yona Friedman
Interview with Yona Friedman: "Imagine, Having Improvised Volumes "Floating" In Space, Like Balloons"
Yona Friedman 1000+ photos - Pinterest
One Video among hundreds : Yona Friedman: You are obliged to stay Mainstream
Attention economy - Wikipedia

Books of Yona Friedman

Yona Friedman - Utopies réalisables (1975)
"Utopias Realizáveis" - (Realizable Utopias )by Yona Friedman , Sociocultur, Lisbon, 1977 (in Portuguese)
Yona Friedman - About critical-group size (1980)
Yona Friedman - Comment vivre entre les autres sans être esclave et sans être chef, J.J. Pauvert, Paris, 1974
Other Books and Weblinks

Dennis R. Fox (1985) American Psychologist - Psychology, Ideology, Utopia, and the Commons The Politics of Utopia: A Study in Theory and Practice By Barbara Goodwin, Keith Taylor
(1) Memetic Lexicon. Glenn Grant
(2)"Psychology, Ideology, Utopia, and the Commons" - Dennis R. Fox (1985) American Psychologist
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Hello @charlie777pt,

Congratulations! Your post has been chosen by the communities of SteemTrail as one of our top picks today.

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Thanks a lot for motivating me more to pursue the goal of being a good writer with a message and insights that can help to build a blockchain that makes our world better.
My regards for all the work you guys do without self-interest, except one, make Steemit an example for the coming new social networks.

Always impressive, @charlie777pt. Thanks for sharing your dream.

Thanks a lot @seablue for your compliment. :)
And thanks a lot for your support and nourishing humor, the best way to teach people.:)
I've always forced me to learn and try to use humor when I train people, but you have a Master Degree on these matters, hehe.
What do you think humor comes from?. Is it genetic or learn, or a combination of both.
I think I was not gifted with humor on my genetic code, but I always try to learn from the masters.:)

It is a little bit nurture, a little bit nature I would guess. I've met many people in my life who express the 'Joker' archetype. It doesn't come naturally to me. I've had to cultivate it. The internet affords me the luxury of not having to be spontaneous with my humor, as I lack the mercurial wit of the true joker. My humor is plodding and considered. :-)

Thanks a lot, it suits what I feel, humor very well thought and elaborated and always with total humanity and to dissipate conflicts in other peers in a group and make things flow better in the ether of the group.
My compliments for your expert answer, because with this kind of humor shows a lot of knowledge of psychology and human nature.
Cheers mate. :)

This post has been ranked within the top 10 most undervalued posts in the second half of Mar 09. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $20.21 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.

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Thank's a lot to you guys, you are awesome.:)

Amazing text, as always :), waiting for next part on the cities of the future :)

Thanks a lot, Billy, and my compliments for your programming skills adding value on the steemit network

Maybe you should explain first why we need "direct democracy". For me it seems quite stupid system. Most people are so irrational that it's hard to see anything good coming out from it.

Thanks for your comment.
This first part is about the problems is the actual society, so please read part II that is about the solutions and why we need direct democracy to change.
People must learn how to reach consensus and to get more involved in the construction of their destinies, instead of being passive and let reality felt as Fate.
The most difficult structure to change is the human variable, because Culture is being built by the Power and Culture is the only way changes people's attitudes and minds.
Social non-mainstream media has the capacity to start a change of Culture and subsequently people's awareness on their right to fight for freedom

Reaching consensus seems to be pretty much impossible. There are so many different groups who just can't find any meaningful compromise. Some of the differences are innate, for example Jonathan Haidt has been speaking about this, most notably in his book The Righteous Mind.

I agree about the power of culture. I've been libertarian for many years and recently understood better that laws are only one important piece in a successful society. Culture is another and it's highly undervalued nowadays.

My proposal for solution comes from totally different perspective than democracy. Instead of "voice" (like voting in elections and participating in decision making) we should focus on "exit" (if you don't like the current system, you should move to another which is better). We have to create bigger markets for different kind of states and societies and let people decide with their feet what's the one they prefer.

In a direct-democracy, there is no election just consensus learned in the collective process of decision making.
In this actual democracy of kleptocrat politicians, that steal the exercise of our will, by a bureaucratic act like elections, that gives the illusion of participation in common decision making of our destiny.

In my view, the blockchain is a good "exit" to be an infrastructure that can be used in the future and provide an environment for a better world where everybody can be heard and take ownership of their destiny in their hands, without the interference of chiefs or politicians.

Downvoted to counteract upvoting from other whales.
More info here: https://steemit.com/test/@abit/whales-no-up-voting-test

This is proof that I'm being targeted under the excuse that I was voted by a whale.
I love this fear campaign because that's how people get strong to fight for freedom.
So Steemians have to be silenced if they are being used as a guinea pigs.
You have shown how power is arbitrary in Steemit.
Why don't whales attack their enemies directly?. Why use innocent bystanders for a war in the fight for power?
So go ahead and downvote all the posts, just to see if nobody in power or on Steemit is opposing.
On Steemit Power view anyone can make a post and initiate any kind of experiment using other as simple stones.
And my direct answers are finished, because I don't like to talk to people in a room of inequality where they have a sword and want to call it a dialogue.
One more time I will quote here:
contradictory philosophical problems on Steemit I would like to clarify all the possible strategies for change that can be used or are already happening all mixed and in collusion:

a) - Cooperative strategy: based on consensus where everybody has power to participate and have influence in collective decision, signs of an equalitarian society
b) - Destructive strategy: control self-interested groups inducind chaos or manipulation by trying to control the collective resources pool or creating proposals that affect the flow of resources, vision, and mission of the network, signs of a dissolving society
c) - Hierarchic or Oligarchic strategy: propositions for change of the community by 1% of power owners of organizations inside and outside the community and characteristic of a hierarchic society.

So I think problems can be solved only with strategy a)- based in cooperation and collaboration based in consensus, but maybe there are already working strategies b) and c) can can leave to the dissolution of the community, that have a reason to resist and fight this kind of behaviors.