Let’s start with Copernicus
Like it or not, Life, indeed the Universe, can be entirely described with 1’s and 0’s. From time to time we have revolutions in our thinking. In the mid 1500s Copernicus postulated the unthinkable: The earth revolved around the sun rather than the other way around. Galileo was later threatened by the Inquisition for supporting that idea. The Catholic Church did not approve, perhaps not the origin of Groupthink but a really good example of it. Thereafter civilization progressed through a series of important discoveries, each time having to choose 1 = “yes” for the new paradigm and 0 = “no” for the old concept being cycled out. Brave individuals like Galileo carried the message: Wrong choices had consequences.
At each fork in the road we had to decide to replace the 0 with the 1 as we did in the matrix a couple of weeks ago
Each such decision made a difference. It changed the path of civilization. It became the future.
Let’s return to our original graph, this time on a personal level. We breathe life into those abstract labels, A1 … A6, by giving them familiar names. Below, two paths lead to different outcomes, learning to success and watching television to failure. Yes, I know those are not the only two paths (but they are the shortest). I also know the destination labels are less than neutral. I know that by changing a single 1 to a 0, the words “Failure” and “Success” may be swapped. Change another 0 to 1 and the message will be delivered only on Tuesday. Change a different 1 to 0 and it only goes out to blondes. By now, if you are over the age of 15, you should get my point.
At each fork in every road we face binary choices. Where we end up after the series of forks is how we get the old saying that our lives are the sum of our choices.
Decisions by The Group
At the societal level we observe the aggregate: Where the world ends up is the sum of our collective choices. Below is a series of many choices over many years. Warning: Items ahead sound pejorative. Deal with it.
A Choice as Chance
Every choice represents an opportunity to get it right. Every chance embodies probability. The first five lines above are about individuals dealing with physics and the long run. We can debate the length of any such list and who belongs on it. I apologize for omitting Boltzmann, Heisenberg and Feynman, each of whom also captured an unambiguous Truth of Life. I have no regrets about ignoring Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini, each champions of a misguided group.
Soon after extraordinary individuals perform, the group sets about capturing the benefit of their ideas. The group indulges in the ephemeral, a luxury made possible by individuals who went before. Short term work arounds involve passing silly laws that attempt to repeal laws of Nature, all choices to replace a zero with a one, each with a consequence observable today.
Debate as we may, what is not in doubt is that recent years have shown how over time intelligence becomes artificial, at least for a while.
We are all Galileo.