yung.carl.jung
Hey Bird! I'm Morose & Lugubrious
It is 2050. The science of morality is far advanced. Some say it is complete. The field of ‘optogenetics’ took off in 2020. It is now possible to genetically engineer human embryos during early development. Genes can now be inserted and modified so that the activity of single neurons can be both measured and manipulated externally.
GMNs, or genetically modified neurons, contain ‘nanosignalers’ – these indicate when activity is occurring in a single neuron. GMNs emit “signatures” of light and these GMNs can be controlled via light in precisely the same range, not visible to the human eye. This light signature is now picked up by a ubiquitous light-based communications network that replaced the old mobile phone network. Information is transmitted to bioquantumcomputers that are trillions of times as intelligent and fast as the most powerful supercomputer earlier in the millenium.
The Great Moral Project was completed in 2045. This involved construction of the most powerful, self-learning, self-developing bioquantum computer ever constructed called the God Machine. The God Machine would monitor the thoughts, beliefs, desires and intentions of every human being. It was capable of modifying these within nanoseconds, without the conscious recognition by any human subjects.
The God Machine was designed to give human beings near complete freedom. It only ever intervened in human action to prevent great harm, injustice or other deeply immoral behaviour from occurring. For example, murder of innocent people no longer occurred. As soon as a person formed the intention to murder, and it became inevitable that this person would act to kill, the God Machine would intervene. The would-be murderer would ‘change his mind.’ The God Machine would not intervene in trivial immoral acts, like minor instances of lying or cheating. It was only when a threshold insult to some sentient being’s interests was crossed would the God Machine exercise its almighty power.
Nowdays, the God Machine rarely intervenes in this world. As a part of the Great Moral Project, people have also been morally enhanced by biomedical and other means. Their altruism and sense of justice is now so strong they almost never decide or choose to act immorally.
Human beings can still autonomously choose to be moral, since if they choose the moral action, the God Machine will not intervene. Indeed, they are free to be moral. They are only unfree to do grossly immoral acts, like killing or raping. This is seen as preferable to physical incarceration, which physically restricts the freedom of the immoral. While people weren’t free to act immorally in the ‘old days,’ since the law prohibited it on pain of punishment, the instalment of the God Machine means that it has become literally impossible to do these things. It is seen as preferable that would-be murderers “change their minds”, rather than an innocent person is killed and then the murderer incarcerated for life. And, the would-be murderer never knows that her intentions have been changed by an authority outside of herself. It seems to her that she has “changed her mind” spontaneously – she experiences a life of complete freedom, though she is not free. Although any intention to kill or rape immediately changed, this was put down to the efficacy of moral education. It seemed “from the inside” that she had just developed an aversion to killing an innocent person. And no one was ever killed.
People understood the God Machine existed and suspected that it did indeed intervene, though no one knew how often. Some were so deeply attracted to complete freedom that they enlisted in extra Moral Enhancement courses which sought to provide advanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help one to rid oneself of all evil intentions and desires. These Freedom Lovers retained their complete freedom.
There had been quite a bit of controversy over what should be classified as “grossly immoral action” which should be within the God Machine’s purview. Should cheating in exams be extinguished? Marital infidelity? The Machine decided that only those acts which would have resulted in imprisonment of a person should be prevented. Thus prisons were abolished.
After reading this text1 I have one question for you:
Do you think that the God Machine is a good thing over all, assuming the God Machine really does get rid of all violence and grossly immoral behavior?
Would you check yourself into the God Machine, assuming absolutely nothing negative came from it besides the fact that you could no longer murder, or be horrifically immoral?
1 (by Savulescu & Persson, two eminent specialists on "moral enhancement")
I have already answered this question for myself (in fact as you could probably tell I wrote a paper on it), and I'll put my answer later on after people have made up their thoughts, in order not to sway the debate
GMNs, or genetically modified neurons, contain ‘nanosignalers’ – these indicate when activity is occurring in a single neuron. GMNs emit “signatures” of light and these GMNs can be controlled via light in precisely the same range, not visible to the human eye. This light signature is now picked up by a ubiquitous light-based communications network that replaced the old mobile phone network. Information is transmitted to bioquantumcomputers that are trillions of times as intelligent and fast as the most powerful supercomputer earlier in the millenium.
The Great Moral Project was completed in 2045. This involved construction of the most powerful, self-learning, self-developing bioquantum computer ever constructed called the God Machine. The God Machine would monitor the thoughts, beliefs, desires and intentions of every human being. It was capable of modifying these within nanoseconds, without the conscious recognition by any human subjects.
The God Machine was designed to give human beings near complete freedom. It only ever intervened in human action to prevent great harm, injustice or other deeply immoral behaviour from occurring. For example, murder of innocent people no longer occurred. As soon as a person formed the intention to murder, and it became inevitable that this person would act to kill, the God Machine would intervene. The would-be murderer would ‘change his mind.’ The God Machine would not intervene in trivial immoral acts, like minor instances of lying or cheating. It was only when a threshold insult to some sentient being’s interests was crossed would the God Machine exercise its almighty power.
Nowdays, the God Machine rarely intervenes in this world. As a part of the Great Moral Project, people have also been morally enhanced by biomedical and other means. Their altruism and sense of justice is now so strong they almost never decide or choose to act immorally.
Human beings can still autonomously choose to be moral, since if they choose the moral action, the God Machine will not intervene. Indeed, they are free to be moral. They are only unfree to do grossly immoral acts, like killing or raping. This is seen as preferable to physical incarceration, which physically restricts the freedom of the immoral. While people weren’t free to act immorally in the ‘old days,’ since the law prohibited it on pain of punishment, the instalment of the God Machine means that it has become literally impossible to do these things. It is seen as preferable that would-be murderers “change their minds”, rather than an innocent person is killed and then the murderer incarcerated for life. And, the would-be murderer never knows that her intentions have been changed by an authority outside of herself. It seems to her that she has “changed her mind” spontaneously – she experiences a life of complete freedom, though she is not free. Although any intention to kill or rape immediately changed, this was put down to the efficacy of moral education. It seemed “from the inside” that she had just developed an aversion to killing an innocent person. And no one was ever killed.
People understood the God Machine existed and suspected that it did indeed intervene, though no one knew how often. Some were so deeply attracted to complete freedom that they enlisted in extra Moral Enhancement courses which sought to provide advanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help one to rid oneself of all evil intentions and desires. These Freedom Lovers retained their complete freedom.
There had been quite a bit of controversy over what should be classified as “grossly immoral action” which should be within the God Machine’s purview. Should cheating in exams be extinguished? Marital infidelity? The Machine decided that only those acts which would have resulted in imprisonment of a person should be prevented. Thus prisons were abolished.
After reading this text1 I have one question for you:
Do you think that the God Machine is a good thing over all, assuming the God Machine really does get rid of all violence and grossly immoral behavior?
Would you check yourself into the God Machine, assuming absolutely nothing negative came from it besides the fact that you could no longer murder, or be horrifically immoral?
1 (by Savulescu & Persson, two eminent specialists on "moral enhancement")
I have already answered this question for myself (in fact as you could probably tell I wrote a paper on it), and I'll put my answer later on after people have made up their thoughts, in order not to sway the debate
