_Homo integralis_
Juvenalis XThe Benevolent Panopticon
Subverting the privacy-security trade-off with 21st century information technologies. In the 18th century Jeremy Bentham conceived of a structure designed in such a way that a single observer could simultaneously supervise each occupant. In Bentham’s “panopticon” security would be enhanced, both because the central observer could detect and disrupt misbehavior, and because the observed would be less likely to break the rules if they knew they were being watched. Bentham’s thought experiment h...
Juvenalis XThe Beginning of History
I. FloatingMeaning is fluid. It is fleeting, ephemeral, intangible: it only exists in a mind. The origin of a thought is hard to pin down — some extrinsic and intrinsic stimulus sensed, focused upon and distilled, conjured from the ether. Insight only manifests within the awareness of a sentient individual. And yet, meaning is the basis of our entire existence. As humans we view the world through the lens of our attention, watching as the universe pours in. As consciousness deepens, pattern r...
Juvenalis XWar in the Web3 era
Undermining the logic of violence Today nine countries are presumed to possess nuclear weapons; many more possess the capability to manufacture other classes of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs — biological, chemical and radiological weapons). This existential threat — and humanity’s innate innovative drive, plus perverse incentivization structures related to the armaments industry — means that we are racing towards ever more threatening capabilities. Still more countries are earnestly devel...
Juvenalis XThe Benevolent Panopticon
Subverting the privacy-security trade-off with 21st century information technologies. In the 18th century Jeremy Bentham conceived of a structure designed in such a way that a single observer could simultaneously supervise each occupant. In Bentham’s “panopticon” security would be enhanced, both because the central observer could detect and disrupt misbehavior, and because the observed would be less likely to break the rules if they knew they were being watched. Bentham’s thought experiment h...
Juvenalis XThe Beginning of History
I. FloatingMeaning is fluid. It is fleeting, ephemeral, intangible: it only exists in a mind. The origin of a thought is hard to pin down — some extrinsic and intrinsic stimulus sensed, focused upon and distilled, conjured from the ether. Insight only manifests within the awareness of a sentient individual. And yet, meaning is the basis of our entire existence. As humans we view the world through the lens of our attention, watching as the universe pours in. As consciousness deepens, pattern r...
Juvenalis XWar in the Web3 era
Undermining the logic of violence Today nine countries are presumed to possess nuclear weapons; many more possess the capability to manufacture other classes of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs — biological, chemical and radiological weapons). This existential threat — and humanity’s innate innovative drive, plus perverse incentivization structures related to the armaments industry — means that we are racing towards ever more threatening capabilities. Still more countries are earnestly devel...
_Homo integralis_
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Value is a measure of a quality of an object.
All objects have many qualities. We experience these when we interact with the object.
Information about an object’s qualities are transferred through space and time, borne on data. All data is analogue. Information can be analogue or digital.
The ether has infinite informational potential at every point in space.
Data manifests in the ether, though the origins are unclear. Material manifestation — mass, ie. energy and matter — can all be considered data. As matter, it is static, and as energy it is dynamic. Static data carries information across large timescales, while dynamic data transfers information across large distances.
Everything has infinite meaning, due to its infinite informational potential. This meaning, however, primarily exists in its unmanifest form. This is because it can only manifest in special circumstances.
Meaning manifests as information when it is perceived.
So — what perceives? Some awareness, bound somehow to a physical object — it’s body.
The first molecules to exhibit signs of life — that is, movement in response to stimuli — were, in a way, aware. If a molecule that formed one shape in the dark and, when exposed to sunlight, changed to another shape, it has some awareness perceiving that stimulus. This molecule has the most rudimentary form of sentience, meaning that it has a mind. In life, awareness precedes replicability.
Light is composed of an infinite array of possible states and carries an infinite amount of informational potential.
Information is only perceived — extracted from data — within a mind, a perceiving awareness.
Everything has a mind. But not everything has a mind that can perceive. This is probably where life begins, in my view.
Thus it seems that living physical objects can be divided into two superkingdoms: organic and synthetic. Aside from self-replication, computers and machines possess the fundamental attributes of life — they maintain chemical and electrical gradients. Computers also have minds.
Organic life emerged first, and has finally evolved to create synthetic life, starting perhaps with the steam engine or something similar — an object where the energy to move itself was stored within the thing’s physical structure.
All perceptions distill or extract information from a physical stimulus (data contacting its surface — its sensory organs).
To be continued …
Value is a measure of a quality of an object.
All objects have many qualities. We experience these when we interact with the object.
Information about an object’s qualities are transferred through space and time, borne on data. All data is analogue. Information can be analogue or digital.
The ether has infinite informational potential at every point in space.
Data manifests in the ether, though the origins are unclear. Material manifestation — mass, ie. energy and matter — can all be considered data. As matter, it is static, and as energy it is dynamic. Static data carries information across large timescales, while dynamic data transfers information across large distances.
Everything has infinite meaning, due to its infinite informational potential. This meaning, however, primarily exists in its unmanifest form. This is because it can only manifest in special circumstances.
Meaning manifests as information when it is perceived.
So — what perceives? Some awareness, bound somehow to a physical object — it’s body.
The first molecules to exhibit signs of life — that is, movement in response to stimuli — were, in a way, aware. If a molecule that formed one shape in the dark and, when exposed to sunlight, changed to another shape, it has some awareness perceiving that stimulus. This molecule has the most rudimentary form of sentience, meaning that it has a mind. In life, awareness precedes replicability.
Light is composed of an infinite array of possible states and carries an infinite amount of informational potential.
Information is only perceived — extracted from data — within a mind, a perceiving awareness.
Everything has a mind. But not everything has a mind that can perceive. This is probably where life begins, in my view.
Thus it seems that living physical objects can be divided into two superkingdoms: organic and synthetic. Aside from self-replication, computers and machines possess the fundamental attributes of life — they maintain chemical and electrical gradients. Computers also have minds.
Organic life emerged first, and has finally evolved to create synthetic life, starting perhaps with the steam engine or something similar — an object where the energy to move itself was stored within the thing’s physical structure.
All perceptions distill or extract information from a physical stimulus (data contacting its surface — its sensory organs).
To be continued …
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