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| polemos:8th_age:lore_notes [2021/07/02 13:50] – [Body and Soul] Blake Anderton | polemos:8th_age:lore_notes [2021/07/02 14:15] (current) – [The Free Technology Problem] Blake Anderton |
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| ==== The Magic of Technology ==== | ==== The Magic of Technology ==== |
| Advanced technology seems secular in the 8th age, but is literally magical. K-H generators draw from the magic power of nature (see: Natural magic power in the 4th Age), Chaos power is technological use of Chaos energy (see: Chaos power in the 4th Age), Divine Machines are really demons posing as true AI. Normal people aren't aware and would not believe this if they found out. This wide-spread use of magic has not caused cataclysms like previous ages because it's use is relatively low-powered and un-ambitious, but things like K-H pollution (esp: the Meikyou disaster) are signs that the abuse of natural law for technological gains is pernicious. | Advanced technology seems secular in the 8th age, but is literally magical. K-H generators draw from the magic power of nature (see: Natural magic power in the 4th Age), Chaos power is technological use of Chaos energy (see: Chaos power in the 4th Age), Divine Machines are really demons posing as digital minds or True AI. Normal people aren't aware and likely would not believe this if they found out. This wide-spread use of magic has not caused cataclysms like previous ages because it's use is relatively low-powered and un-ambitious, but things like K-H pollution (esp: the Meikyou disaster) are signs that the abuse of natural law for technological gains is pernicious. |
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| ==== The Freedom Problem ==== | ==== The Free Technology Problem ==== |
| Should people be free? Can people be trusted with advanced technology? As the power a single individual can muster increases over time, does the control an oversight the group has also need to increase? This question serves as the foundation for the three major ideologies involved in the Long War: | Should people be free to use advanced technology? Can people be trusted with that power? As the power a single individual can muster increases over time, does the control and oversight the group has also need to increase? This question serves as the foundation for the three major ideologies involved in the Long War: |
| * [[polemos:8th_age:philosophies:constructionism|Constructionism]] - Individuals cannot be trusted to use technology left to their own devices, but they can be taught how to. A strong state/leader is needed to channel the use of technology in the correct direction. If done properly then nothing is impossible through the use of technology. | * [[polemos:8th_age:philosophies:constructionism|Constructionism]] - Individuals cannot be trusted to use technology on their own, but they can be taught by experts. A strong leader/state is needed to have the power to channel the use of technology in the correct direction. If people are properly controlled by experts, and led by a strong state, then nothing is impossible through the use of technology. |
| * [[polemos:8th_age:philosophies:freoismos|Freoismos]] - Technology is a tool, and so will be used for good or ill based on the person. Any fear of the use of technology is really fear of what the human heart is capable of. Freedom is fundamental to that question in that it allows virtuous people to practice virtue. If the control necessary to prevent immoral people from doing bad things with technology were possible, the flawed people with that control would inevitably become corrupted and now that control would be brought to bear against virtue, and thus do far more damage than the evil it was containing. | * [[polemos:8th_age:philosophies:freoismos|Freoismos]] - Technology is a tool, and so will be used for good or ill based on the person. Fear of technology is really fear of what the human heart is capable of. People must be free to use technology for good and free from abusive control by technology. The best way to achieve this is to treat people as individuals with rights and responsibilities, and to have checks and balances in government to prevent anyone from having too much control. |
| * [[polemos:8th_age:philosophies:unionism|Unionism]] - A person can use technology properly, but people cannot. Beyond the herd mentality problem, unequal intelligence will lead to the smart reaping the benefits of technology more than the rest. A strong communal, populist state (called a Union) is required to enforce protections against the disasters of unrestricted mass technology (crime, social instability, ecological damage, social inequality, etc). | * [[polemos:8th_age:philosophies:unionism|Unionism]] - A person can use technology properly, but people cannot. Beyond the herd mentality problem, unequal intelligence will lead to the smart reaping the benefits of technology more than the rest. A strong communal, populist state (called a Union) is required to enforce protections against the disasters of unrestricted mass technology (crime, social instability, ecological damage, social inequality, etc). |
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