On 29 January 2016, I wrote my first blog about Interconnectedness. After writing yesterday’s blog on “Blockchain and Black Swan events”, I realised that there are two kinds of interconnected networks: the ones in nature (eg, Ecology) and human copycats (eg, Internet).
My recent “Westworld” blog mentioned its writer Michael Crichton. A certain line in that blog has stuck in my mind for several days: “As usual in Michael Crichton’s stories, the advanced technology is abused by humans with disastrous consequences (eg, cloned dinosaurs, eco-terrorists, genetics, nanotechnology and viruses).”
Scientists sometimes refer to the Perfect Universe as everything around us is geared towards creating and sustaining life. This natural form of “Interconnectedness” can only be admired for its beauty, balance and symmetry. The human version of “Interconnectedness” is often praised for its efficiency and effectivity, user friendliness and speed (eg, Internet of Things).
There is however a big difference between these 2 versions of Interconnectedness.
Nature is based on an interconnectedness of Needs while human interconnectedness is based on Wants and Beliefs.
Humans have 7 Belief systems: Love, Money, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science and the Truth.
The Bible states: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Money is one of the 7 extreme human beliefs, or Belief systems. Its typical modern proverb is “Greed is Good”.
The primatologist Frans de Waal has shown that chimpanzees are also capable of evil (eg, Passion & Pom, Puist). Please see my 24 May 2016 blog on Evil for further details. My blog of 13 October 2016 already showed that primates (eg, apes/monkeys, humans) represent the 2nd layer of the pyramid of Needs, Wants and Beliefs.
These human Wants and Beliefs make this version of interconnectedness a perfect tool for misuse and abuse (eg, deception, fraud, scamming, theft). It is where the human belief in Science (in the Knowledge domain) will meet the human belief in Money (in the Power domain).
It is increasingly likely that the resulting future clash will create a Black Swan network event: an extreme impact of rare and unpredictable events. A combination of a prolonged national power grid hack, a national internet blackout, and a banking heist might give some idea. To some extent, this already happened in Ukraine on 23 December 2015 (eg, Reuters, Wired).
Interconnectedness is a beautiful concept in our nature. It’s also a powerful and dangerous tool in the hands of humans.
0 Comments