Eecognizing Complicity in Ensuring Beneficial Disaster for Humanity

Possibility of eliciting insight from polycrises with AI assistance

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Introduction

An early consideration of this matter took the form of Wanted: Enemies of the Earth and Greenwar International which appeared in The Book of Visions: An Encyclopaedia of Social Inventions (Institute for Social Inventions, 1992). A subsequent approach took the form of Ensuring Dynamics of Sustainability by Appreciative Recognition of Evil (2022) -- in the light of widespread recognition of "evil" by authorities (Existence of evil as authoritatively claimed to be an overriding strategic concern, 2016). The approach can now be justified -- and further refined -- in the light of the widely acknowledged progressive erosion of trust.

The question here is whether various roles and functions in society could be creatively framed in the light of the disastrous consequences they engender for the many. By "creative" is then any insightful implication of what those actions evoke, if only for the few -- namely for those who may remain after any apocalyptic collapse and must then draw on insights as the basis for any viable renewal.

Framing a set of social actors as inherently part of a process engendering an ultimate catastrophe for humanity -- rather than avoiding it -- then frames the adequacy of any articulation of what some might learn from that (in)action in anticipation of any potential recovery. There is therefore a case for recognizing that, unless one understands how one is part of the problem, one is fundamentally unable to comprehend the nature of the solution required.

As an example, particular focus could therefore be given to identifying the problematic consequences of the following and to the benefits those consequences may engender for humanity as a whole in the longer-term -- however ironically and tragically. As indicated in the discussion, the preliminary list was presented to an AI for possible "refinements" -- duly incorporated as appended comments into the list (in italics).

• Arms manufacturers -- for the fatalities they so righteously enable, and their total indifference in that regard. Whilst they contribute significantly to beneficial constraints on excessive population growth, the consequences can be understood as engendering aspirations to another mode of social organization
  • Current Contribution: Enablement of conflict and fatalities through the production and trade of weaponry.
  • Evoked Insight: How can the engineering ingenuity applied to weaponry foster peacekeeping, disaster relief, or resilience-building technologies?
• Weapons researchers -- for their creative thinking in developing ever more powerful and reprehensible devices for mass destruction, irrespective of the associated pain and long term effects. Whilst they too contribute significantly to beneficial constraints on excessive population growth, it is the possibility for applying such creativity otherwise that is much to be appreciated
  • Current Contribution: Pioneering innovations that escalate destructive capacities.
  • Evoked Insight: Could such creativity design systems that neutralize environmental threats or promote collaborative problem-solving?
• Financiers and bankers -- for their manipulative opportunism to the benefit of the few through the exploitation of the many. However, understood otherwise, that mode of thinking potentially evokes insights into engendering and redistributing creative energy for the many
  • Current Contribution: Fueling economic disparity through exploitative investments and speculative practices.
  • Evoked Insight: How might financial systems better align with principles of regenerative economics and distributive justice?
• Pharmaceutical industry -- for the ill-health and premature fatalities it ensures, and its creation of unnecessary dependencies in the guise of health and safety. As widely argued, it contributes significantly to beneficial constraints on excessive population growth -- but in doing so it potentially evokes fruitful exploration of vital natural alternatives
  • Current Contribution: Over-medicalization and dependency on high-cost treatments
  • Evoked Insight: Can the industry prioritize holistic health approaches and support indigenous medical knowledge?
• Agro-businesses -- for the systematic introduction of pollutants into the food chain and the unpredictable vulnerabilities ensured by genetic modification. In contributing to ill-health, and undermining the immune system and fertility, they contribute significantly to beneficial constraints on excessive population growth. That recognition evokes widespread exploration of natural alternatives and the avoidance of unpredictable dependency
  • Current Contribution: Depletion of soil, biodiversity loss, and contamination of food chains.
  • Evoked Insight: What role could these enterprises play in scaling regenerative agriculture and food sovereignty?
• Timber industry -- for widespread deforestation and destruction of unrenewable habitats, endangering species and aggravating climate change. This may ultimately be matched by the inter-species empathy thereby increasingly evoked
  • Current Contribution: Deforestation and habitat destruction for economic gain.
  • Evoked Insight: How might reforestation projects and sustainable harvesting models reshape the industry?
• Advertisers -- for their cynical misleading reframing of products as necessities and their invasive creation of dependency. However ever-increasing exposure ensures beneficial erosion of trust in dubious claims, thereby evoking a much higher degree of critical thinking
  • Current Contribution: Creating unnecessary dependencies and consumer manipulation.
  • Evoked Insight: Could the tools of persuasion empower sustainability and well-being rather than exploitation?
• Mainstream media -- for placing itself dubiously and deniably at the service of authorities with questionable agendas, "dumbing down" as a distraction from matters of strategic urgency. In thereby contributing to creative distrust in such dependency, and in "psychic </strong>", it evokes an increasing level of critical thinking and the quest for authenticity elsewhere
  • Current Contribution: Amplifying authority narratives and curtailing dissent.
  • Evoked Insight: How might journalism reclaim its role as a medium for genuine inquiry and the amplification of underrepresented voices?
• Religions -- for their righteous framing of believers in other faiths as gullible (or evil) and their failure to transcend that modality -- despite misleading claims to the contrary and extensive complicity in abuse. Beyond atheism, this potentially evokes the quest for authentic spirituality framed otherwise
  • Current Contribution: Perpetuation of division and exclusion through doctrinal rigidity.
  • Evoked Insight: How can the spiritual frameworks of religions evolve to embody inclusivity and transformative reconciliation?
• Statutory professions -- for assiduously framing their duties to their own personal advantage whilst righteously claiming otherwise. The sense of untrustworthiness that this engenders focuses the need for greater vigilance in the engagement with those claiming authoritative expertise
  • Current Contribution: Prioritization of self-interest over public service.
  • Evoked Insight: How might professional ethics center systemic accountability and collaborative innovation?
• Educators -- for their uncritical inculcation of questionable perspectives -- evoking critical thinking from the unconvinced
  • Current Contribution: Uncritical transmission of hegemonic perspectives.
  • Evoked Insight: What would education look like if it were rooted in dialogical methods that empower critical and imaginative thinking?
• IT specialists -- for their righteous quest for continuing improvements to technology such as to handicap those with lesser skills especially following development of dependency. This elicits a higher degree of vigilance in response to innovation and evokes the exploration of alternatives requiring lesser dependency.
  • Current Contribution: Exacerbating inequality through rapid technological obsolescence and complexity.
  • Evoked Insight: Could design thinking center accessibility and decentralization?

Both the original articulations and the AI refinements (and additions) could be challenged as variously inadequate -- as discussed below. A particular concern would be whether the indications are sufficiently "sharp", with cognitively appropriate "bite".

The sense of progressive convergence of problematic dynamics has been discussed and visualized separately (Convergence of 30 Disabling Global Trends, 2012). Catastrophic collapse is widely anticipated, as well as being explored in movies (Imminent Collective Communication "Info-death"? Collapse of global civilization

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