A less dramatic way of putting it would be “Civilization is in a traumatic transition”.
And I wish he hadn’t framed things in terms of male-female stereotypes (even if he calls them archetypes). But the point is still valid: as we move into a world where abundance is, in many areas, replacing scarcity, we need a fundamentally different way of organising to deal with the new reality effectively. And many of our current problems are a result of dealing with new situations as if they were old situations.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
Not the most uplifting intro. But the good news is, Ismail had some pretty unique insight to share about the nature of the problems society is facing, and plenty of thoughts on how to fix them too.
I agree, not a big fan of describing those polarities as male/female even if he is careful to say he is talking about archetypes. Not sure how useful the frame is anyway whatever words are used to describe it. You could call in Yin/Yang but would that be better? Its catchy, but does it illuminate anything?
His very brief take on historical systems is flat out wrong. Feudal systems are not the only type of political system that existed prior to the rise of democracies, and, to call them top-down systems underscores the problems in understanding them. Feudal system were somewhat decentralized systems, where local or regional leaders has only loose ties to the king.
Rome, which during the Imperial Period, did have a top-down system, was anything but feudal. He is not the only person who makes the claim that feudalism was the default mode prior to the development of democracies (David Brin also makes that claim), but, it is false.
That’s true. His history is one of several things he’s either gotten wrong or simplified out of any kind of coherence. This sometimes happens with tech people who think that their tech expertise makes them universal experts rather than experts in one narrow field.
Donna Buckles This is what I call the Ignorance of Arrogance. Folks smart/agile in one area think they’re smart/agile in all areas. Working in tech/sciences, I see it over and over again. Folks who invest poorly, questionable design decisions, essays…
Yes. Doctors are prone to this as well.
And of course the well known “government should be run like a business,” crowd.