The topic of these reflections is Applied Ethics. Today there is in the U.S.A. and maybe even in Europe a malaise, a nervousness. People feel off-balance. The power elite, instead of offering competent leadership, contribute to keeping the citizens in a condition of confusion and apprehension that things can only get worse.
Some satirists refer to the chief executive as Don-the-Con. Others call him Trump-the-Chump. Whatever the appellation, the general view is that he is not doing a competent job of uniting the country and providing wise leadership. And it is a fact that nearly everyone lives by mythology of some kind: we have at least one belief that is not supported by firm evidence.
The mythologies we, at present, live by, do not compute. They make for division, confusion and chaos. Examples of such counterproductive myths are belief in ghosts, angels, aliens, and in personal life-after-death. Some mythologies people hold serve as individual guidelines, such as “do what you feel like doing; just follow your impulses”; “anything goes”; “might makes right,” “everyone is selfish,” etc.
What might be the solution? It has been proposed that a super-computer be programmed to discard incompatible ideas; It would focus on non-contradictory compatible concepts that all humans can unite around. Such a self-learning artificial-intelligence computer could offer a practical solution to the prevailing social anxiety. It would find behaviors that are compatible with human well-being. The goal of it program is the thriving of the human family and of its individual members. It would seek out unity within diversity.
It would explain in a very logical manner why we need an ‘Economy for the Common-Good,’ one in which everyone wins; that is to say, everyone has a decent minimum level of comfort. As the economy gets stronger due to productivity rising, the level of the safety-net - the basic security grant - can also rise. Hence, at frequent intervals the level may get adjusted.
For further ideas on what to program into the self-learning supercomputer, see: Ethics As Science
myqol.com/wadeharvey/PDFs/ETHICS … CIENCE.pdf
and see its more-recent sequel:
HOW TO LIVE SUCCESSFULLY: New knowledge in human relations (2017) - the Kindle edition:
amazon.com/LIVING-SUCCESSFU … B01NBKS42C
An earlier edition is here: LIVING SUCCESSFULLY: How the new science of Ethics will benefit you myqol.com/wadeharvey/PDFs/HOW%20 … SFULLY.pdf
Comments? Critiques? Questions? Improvements?