The author also explores the idea of democracy and capitalism as information systems, and the vulnerabilities these systems have to hacking. The author argues that we need to rethink our systems of governance to be more suited to our power level, and to be more rights-based rather than permissions-based. The author also suggests that we need to rethink scale, growth, and agility in governance. The article concludes with a discussion of two potential ideas for democracy - sortition and liquid democracy - and the role of technology in building systems of trust and aligning incentives.
Key takeaways:
- The political and economic systems of governance created in the mid-18th century are poorly suited for the 21st century due to misaligned incentives and vulnerability to hacking.
- Our systems of governance are not suited to our power level and cannot keep up with fast-changing disruptive technologies, posing catastrophic consequences for society.
- We need to create new systems of governance that align incentives, are resilient against hacking, and can handle catastrophic risks. These systems should leverage cooperation more and conflict less.
- Technology, particularly AI, can be a key component of the solution, helping to align incentives, defend against hacking, and potentially acting as our representative in a democracy.