Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history;
such is the history of civilization for thousands of years.
– Mao Zedong
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Are some people good, while others are bad?
People, in general, seem to agree that some actions are good while some are bad.
People also seem to agree that people sometimes do bad things to people who have done good, and that this is unjust.
People also agree that people sometimes justifiably do bad things to people who have done bad things to good people in the name of justice.
People also agree that, sometimes, the bad done to other bad is excessive and unjustified, being thus bad itself rather than good.
In the days of yore…
When I read about the past, I can’t help but think that life has gotten so much better. That there is less evil than ever before – less violence, cruelty, and domination. Of course, the world remains far from perfect, and over the span of days and years it may feel that we are slipping back into barbarian times, but if there is any evidence for goodness and hope in this world, the long-term trends of human well-being and justice must be one of them.
It is curious to think about whether this trend is inevitable. I’d like to think that it is. That deep down, every human wants the same – life, liberty, purpose, and love. That by wanting the same, we eventually find ways to work together to bring everyone up rather than tear each other down. That, no matter the short term decline and struggle, this creed lives within every human and comes out when the opportunity arises, as it always inevitably does.
Indeed it appears to be universal. Across every continent and every generation, we continue to dream of peace even as war wages on. Across every religion, we speak of reciprocity and good character. The Golden Rule echoes in the hearts of every person. Though, of course, so does conquest, ego, and hate.
Perhaps it is that these are not as separable as we believe them to be. Hate is destruction, and evolution would not have cursed us with such evil were it not for some useful purpose. For all the times that ego has led to downfall, we forget the times where ego is the fuel of persistence that leads the underdog to success against all odds.
We forget that life is endearing to humans – that we do not go to war over matters of little consequence. Yet, we have a horrifically violent history. Some scholars think this was driven at least in part by a sense of justice - that we killed off the most violent and selfish amongst us, that this explains why modern humans are less violent and more coordinated than our related species, and that we still cary this furious justice with us today.
I have read too little about this topic to take a personal stance, but if recent events and the reactions of the citizens of the internet are any indication, I am inclined to believe it. I have never seen humanity in such a bad mental state before. Fearful, hateful, and hungry for blood. Ready to compromise on its values. I see this online and in the real world. Authoritarianism is on the rise. As is clickbait. Humanity is rearming itself. Humanity is angry.
Taking a drink from a fire hydrant…
The internet is a challenging and confusing place.
I grew up on the internet, and came to love it at a young age. I remember the first time I was introduced to Google, back in the 2000s. I was 6 years old, I queried for something stupid related to online games, and discovered an impossible universe – one that children from every generation preceding mine could only have dreamt about.
The internet has given me opportunity. I taught myself math through brilliant.org and Khan Academy. I discovered the common app on it. I learnt much of what I know about the world on it.
Although I love the internet, it is a difficult thing to love at this point in time. We were told it would bring us together. Right now, it seems to be doing its best to pull us apart.
The internet has been compared to the printing press. The comparison is apt – they have both fundamentally altered information dissemination, and both appear to be catalysts for unrest and social upheaval. The question remains whether the long term effects will be the same, with increased access to information leading to generally increased prosperity for the majority of humanity, or whether the differences between the two are leading us in a political and social direction we don’t yet understand.
There is one primary difference between the two, one which significantly alters the equation. Algorithms driving the internet have significantly more control over the content you see relative to books from the 1500s. They understand you better, track you better, and have more content to choose from.
The advantages are clear and significant – on average, every individual on the internet can expect to be shown far more relevant and interesting information than they would have 500 years ago – but so are the downsides. An algorithm that is optimized for a purpose not aligned with the objectives of the information consumer can cause far more damage than books produced for a general public ever could.
So why are these algorithms so divisive if that is not their objective? Well, the algorithms are trained to show us that which we want to see the most, and for many, I would wager that injustice is high on that list. Though much of it may be fabricated, much of it is likewise real, and there is so much to choose from. There is always some injustice in the world tailor made for you.
I sometimes see wonderful people behave in the most perplexing ways on the internet, saying and doing things they would never think of in the physical world. Though many agree with this, and the literature supports it, we do not ever seem to think that we are the problem ourselves.
In the long term, I remain optimistic. I believe that improved access to information helps everyone, in particular those with the least power. However, I believe that the path there will be long and difficult. The upheaval of the printing press took centuries to unfold, and though history does not repeat itself…
A vast, early warning system…
We are starting to hear the echoes of the past 500 years. Citizens across the world feel lied to by the leaders and elites of their countries. Strong, visionary leaders come forth and promise direction and stability. Coordination and dissemination of negative information threatens incumbent institutions.
We are hearing the echoes of a population rediscovering the injustice of the world. It is a disorganized and fiery energy looking for an outlet. If ancient history were to repeat itself, then perhaps those most dominating and selfish stand to lose the most.
That said, history does not always repeat itself. Last time around, the novel information dissemination system tearing up our existing sociopolitical fabric was decentralized and uncontrollable. This time, there are mere individuals with the power to shape global discourse.
Last time around, information dissemination was not yet effectively free. A lone person having a bad day would not risk having a book written about them and a country-size mob passing judgement. A bad actor could not as easily fabricate malicious information and alter population behavior. We didn’t have systems that could identify and surface the most anger-inducing content to each of us at every point in time. More feels at stake this time around. Unlike last time around, we now fight with the power to end humanity.
I hope that history does not repeat itself, most of all because despite the progress that we have made, the history of humanity wasn’t good enough. In the past, we humans moved forward as a species by destroying those who were the worst of us. When two sides could not agree on who was the bad guy, they were left to figure it out through force.
If history had to repeat itself, then perhaps there is no way forward except for the “good” to win against the “bad”, and if that means the destruction of the “others” then so be it. But history does not repeat itself, and we are not the same people that we were a hundred, five hundred, or ten thousand years ago. We are capable of acknowledging that hate is a natural human reaction when we have been hurt – and we are capable of forgiving. Look at how far we have come. We can move past that.
We need to move past that.
He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.
And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
– Friedrich Nietzsche