Dangerous Idea: Democracy is Overrated

[Lithp]

Seeing the kind of idiocy that passes for government here in the U.S., I've recently come to the conclusion that democracy is overrated. My reasoning is that in a democracy, everyone is given an equal vote on any given issue, no matter how much or little they actually know or understand about it.

I would observe that democracy generally provides the least amount of possibility for a small elite to control everything. It can happen, sure, but it's basically de facto in an empire or a dictatorship.

Of course, a pure democracy is a terrible idea, which is why we aren't one. It's not a perfect system by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd say it's on the right track.

I'd say the best solution is to transform the nation to an Athenian Democracy

Athens was notorious for following politicians who told them what they wanted to hear, & ostracizing ones that tried to warn them about things or reform the city-state. The population could also be easily fooled into casting votes they didn't mean to cast. Finally, you lack a safeguard for rights. Even if you keep the judicial & executive branches in-tact & unchanged, simple majority controls both lawmaking & who is the President, & the executive & legislative branches combined could pretty much control the judicial branch.

No, you'd still get people voting for one party or the other because they've always done so, or because their parents did, or whatever.

You could have people vote directly on issues, with no names attached. Of course, there's the potential to get liars & people with a crazy agenda, but I'd say this is much less likely to happen in the majority of cases than if you simply checked "All Republican Ticket."

[Her3tiK]

Humanity cannot be trusted with its own well-being and governance. Machines must be given complete control over the world and its resource distribution. No bribes, no favors, no emotions, just cold, hard, mechanical logic.

[SimSim]

All hail the Robocracy!

[Witchyjoshy]

Humanity cannot be trusted with its own well-being and governance. Machines must be given complete control over the world and its resource distribution. No bribes, no favors, no emotions, just cold, hard, mechanical logic.

Is it sad that this actually sounds like the sanest option?

[m52nickerson]

Humanity cannot be trusted with its own well-being and governance. Machines must be given complete control over the world and its resource distribution. No bribes, no favors, no emotions, just cold, hard, mechanical logic.

Is it sad that this actually sounds like the sanest option?

It also sounds like the tagline to the next Christopher Lambert movie.

[Sigmaleph]

No, the sad part is that, should a superintelligence that can rule us properly ever come about, it will have to be built by us.

[SimSim]

And I think we've all consumed enough scifi to know how it'll turn out for humans. :p

[Her3tiK]

I am not kidding. Our emotions make us unfit to govern. As a species, we are unlikely to adjust our use of resources to a sustainable level, or distribute them in a manner that, if it does not level the playing field, at least does not leave the majority of the world starving and without shelter while a small minority lives in appalling excess. An Artificial Intelligence construct will have much more luck sending resources where they are needed, or at least where they will be best utilized, without being swayed by greed, pity, or intimidation.

US southwest running out of water? Goodbye Vegas, water parks, and golf courses. Homeless problem? Here's some wonderful foreclosed homes the banks haven't sold yet. Employment is low? I hear our highways and bridges need to be repaired; here's the labor force and materiel required. Climate change from excessive fossil fuel usage? Goodbye recreational motor racing, hello alternative energy. Food shortage? Everyone grows their own food; excess will be distributed to those having trouble. No bickering, no squabbling, no partisan maneuvering. Don't like it? Sucks to be you. Skynet is in control; heed its commands, or become another undesired variable.

Will this suck for a lot of people during the transition? Definitely. But it's going to suck more when it falls apart because we were too busy arguing over the effect of carbon emissions on our livelihood, and I'd rather deal with rationed food & power while corrections to our way of life are made, than pray for death to end the sound of stupid people arguing. Machines are our future; let's give them complete control.

Skynet 2016

[m52nickerson]

Overall people have not a bad job of governing ourselves.  Yes, every once in a while we make a hell of a mess, but overall we have not only survived but thrived.  I don't subscribe to the version of the future where we argue ourselves to extinction. 

[Sigmaleph]

Overall people have not a bad job of governing ourselves.  Yes, every once in a while we make a hell of a mess, but overall we have not only survived but thrived.  I don't subscribe to the version of the future where we argue ourselves to extinction. 

I don't necessarily either, but the problem with looking at our history of not completely destroying ourselves, is that we live in a changing context. With technological progress, we are continuously moving away from the sort of world our brains evolved to deal with, and the barriers for human-initiated extinction go lower and lower. Since we got nuclear weapons, we had a few close brushes with that during the Cold War. Worse challenges will surface if we get molecular nanotech, or non-consistent time travel, or other stuff I cannot possibly imagine. Of course, AI also falls under the category of technology that can destroy us, if not done right.

[Her3tiK]

Overall people have not a bad job of governing ourselves.  Yes, every once in a while we make a hell of a mess, but overall we have not only survived but thrived.  I don't subscribe to the version of the future where we argue ourselves to extinction. 

I don't necessarily either, but the problem with looking at our history of not completely destroying ourselves, is that we live in a changing context. With technological progress, we are continuously moving away from the sort of world our brains evolved to deal with, and the barriers for human-initiated extinction go lower and lower. Since we got nuclear weapons, we had a few close brushes with that during the Cold War. Worse challenges will surface if we get molecular nanotech, or non-consistent time travel, or other stuff I cannot possibly imagine. Of course, AI also falls under the category of technology that can destroy us, if not done right.

Basically what Sigma said. Previously, wars were waged with swords and bows; not exactly weapons that could raze an entire city within seconds. Now, if our leaders get, oh, offended, by something stupid and fly off the handle, we could easily level several nations. Yes, civilization has ultimately been a march towards progress, but it has also not had the possibility of destroying itself until about 70yrs ago. I would love to think that it won't come to this, but I'm seeing it as increasingly likely as time goes on, especially if a resource such as water were to become a scarcity.


ETA: 1939th post! Suck it, Poland!

[niam2023]

Her3tik, even if you are okay with signing away your freedom to a bunch of soulless machines, I am not, and I think a whole lot more people will likewise not be alright with that.

Count me as one of your precious machines' unwanted variables already, misanthrope supreme.

[lord gibbon]

Yeah, I'm to lazy to look to see if it's been said already, but,

Winston Churchill: Democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried.

Humanity is flawed, but for every horror that we have produced in history, remember every wonderful thing we have done also. For every Hitler, there is also a Gandhi. For every Custer, there is also a Chief Joseph. Humanity is not evil. There is good in us too.

[RavynousHunter]

Yeah, I'm to lazy to look to see if it's been said already, but,

Winston Churchill: Democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried.

Humanity is flawed, but for every horror that we have produced in history, remember every wonderful thing we have done also. For every Hitler, there is also a Gandhi. For every Custer, there is also a Chief Joseph. Humanity is not evil. There is good in us too.

Humanity is a creature with 7 billion faces, each one saying and doing something different from the others.

[Lt. Fred]

Note: we've basically created world peace.