“It’s not a religion, it’s more of a balance between creation and destruction.” Rai was in his loquacious mode, dispensing ideas like a busy ice cream truck owner. “See, humans are very binary – and I don’t mean in the sexual sense for this – in decision making by biological design for survival. But the conditions of the human environment are changing rapidly … so rapidly that we are having great difficulty adapting. Adopting binary certainty, faith, disbelief, like, dislike, pro, anti, love, hate is all old philosophic technology. And it doesn’t work with the level of interconnectivity, speed of information and growing classlessness of the 21st Century world.” He wondered what would have been akin to coffee shops in ancient times of philosophers. Would Socrates approve of his selected venue and brew? Was he doing the work of thinking, justice? He had switched to decaf to help test the OptEvo principle of Moderation that minimized stimulants or any unneeded substances.
Tyler was aware he was hearing something new, so he tuned in more intently. For a left-wing inclined mindset, he appreciated Rai’s seeming neutrality and rigorous reasoning. He adjusted his gray hat that concealed his thinning hair as the steam wafted off the large rust mug in front of him. “Yeah, that’s why religion is becoming obsolete, and so is the idea of a utopia” he said punctuating his point with his ring clanking on the thick wood table.
“We should stop shy of that, Ty. Did you know that some of the only surviving utopias of those attempted in the modern world are the Amish and the Mormons? And both have a religious foundation. This vilification of religion is itself an example of binary position adoption by the old technology.”
“Yeah, but you can’t be neutral about everything, and people have given up on the idea of a utopia.” Tyler earnestly questioning.
“I realize this is new. Just think of us as cutting a thinner slice of reality than humans have ever been able to imagine before, like an MRI, or CAT Scan. Resolution is a measure of how fine a point can be distinguished from another in an image, right? Well, just as the resolution of our TV screens becomes increasingly fine, so must our thinking. Binary positioning in human beings is like the first black and white photograph. That’s where we are in philosophic technology. Meanwhile we’re at 4K in electronic technology.” Rai felt exhausted as he formulated his analogies. His hands cupping the green mug and eyes admiring the darkness of the brew in front of him. If I give up, coffee will be one of the palliatives to soothe me through my descension from order, he thought, before continuing …
“It’s not neutrality. It’s Active Uncertainty. Actually recognizing that you don’t have certainty and that no one does is different than merely staying neutral to remain uninvolved. There’s neutrality in it BECAUSE it’s uncertain but not for the sake of being non-confrontational. See the difference?” Rai always struggled to not sound parental. He truly was attempting to live the principles and code of the philosophic system he believed would move the world closer to homeostasis in the citizen body. “And when you’re using a more scientific reasoning process or, technical process, you’re naturally less emotional and less binarily allegiant.
The din of baristas and milk frothers ebbing and flowing added romance to the conversation, and suddenly filled the silence while Tyler considered Rai’s points. “Ok, but you have to have a position in the voting booth. It’s not like you can go in there and cut some thin slice in the middle, it’s completely binary.” Tyler sounded cool and stylish whatever he was talking about, and Rai could see why he was both a musician and lawyer.
“Of course, but by the time you get in there you have a whole systemic philosophic system driving carefully calibrated values, and idea of the ideal principles for humankind, and strategy for voting and motivation that has very little to do with what individual candidates are selling. See, our comfort configurations, while helping us get through days and weeks, comfortably, are making the months and years increasingly difficult because they are based on an older human operating system for earlier eras, configured for different human conditions. Our brains are like a device Ty, our beliefs are like our operating system … but our operating systems are tribal leftovers from a very different time in our spiritual evolution. IT and AI has taught us that coding that drives behavior has to continually be updated.” Rai seemed to have no end to how broad and deep this vision was … sometimes seeming to verge on brilliance and sometimes seeming to verge on insanity … he wasn’t sure himself sometimes, but he had reasoned faith and knew he had to continue down this road.
Tyler looked beyond him for a moment and Rai could see something or someone had caught his eye momentarily. “Rai, I’m a happily married man. But there is an instinct I suspect will never cease when we spy a beautiful woman.
“Okay, so I have a process for this. Let’s go back to our conversation and in about 10-30 seconds, I’ll take a look in the most inconspicuous of ways.”
“I’m over it now. Cam’s great.” Tyler felt he had performed the moral gymnastic maneuver of steering out of temptation deftly.
“Well, now I can’t, NOT look.”
“I know. Hey, can we use philosophic technology to regulate our libidos?” Tyler laughing as he asked the question.
“That’s actually the one I struggle with the most.”
“Kevin … your order is ready” a bubbly barista called in the background.
The Citizen Body 