Matt Sornson

Humanity was never sustainable. It is a myth that there ever was a time of tranquility where we lived peacefully at one with nature and each other. Existence was absolutely brutal until very recently. And eventually, unless we choose otherwise, we will be wiped out by an extinction event. Only by creating the right Knowledge can we be saved.

There are no mathematically provably fair forms of Governing and therefore the most important aspect to get right is to be able to remove leaders (see Criticism and Error Correction) when necessary.

Universal Systems have Reach, unintended potential. For example the computer in your washing machine could, given enough memory and time, do astrophysics calculations. Oddly most jumps to Universality have been accidents. Only since the Enlightenment has their significance been understood and sought after.Both the Principle of Mediocrity (we are no... See more

Think of Memes as any ideas that are passed between lots of people. For example, a language, scientific theory, or religious belief are all memes. Memes have to be actively replicated to survive (i.e. spoken or written and distributed). A Rational Meme is a Good Explanation that relies on the recipient's critical faculties to cause itself to be rep... See more

Deustsch defines Optimism as the theory that all failures are due to lack of Knowledge. That doesn't mean proceeding as if there won't be bad outcomes (since problems are inevitable) - he calls that Blind Optimism. In contrast Blind Pessimism is avoiding everything not known to be safe.

Since all problems can be solved with the right Knowledge and we humans, as Universal Explainers, have the potential to obtain any knowledge, we can have a cosmically sized impact upon the universe. Not only can we survive, but we can explore, learn, and thrive throughout our galaxy and more. If we so choose.

Dynamic Societies tend towards Optimism and Rational Memes. Because they embody the principles of the Enlightenment they make rapid progress. Static Societies fear change, are dominated by Anti-rational Memes, and stifle Conjecture and Criticism.

Biological Evolution was a precursor to the main story of evolution, the unbounded evolution of Memes: ideas that cause themselves to replicate (aka Replicators). In many ways memes are analogous to genes, but there are also profound differences in the way they evolve.