Appearance
Techvolution: A New Philosophy - Act One
The Beginning
It all started with a door in my face. And then, actually, a few more. I was either being too stubborn or too hopeful. Either way, I eventually learned my lesson. I was selling a web app that those in upper management were never going to buy.
Before you wonder, it wasn't a matter of price, because there was no price. It wasn't a question of competition. None of that either. And I can promise it worked because I had spent years in a cubicle doing the frontline job it serviced. After years of thinking about political and economic theory in the Internet Age, I'd written a book (Starting Starfleet) about some untapped possibilities of new tech like smartwatches, bio-monitors, and bitcoin. I only made this simple web app (using open-source technologies) to validate my ideas.
I was right to. They were good ideas. I figured out how to solve a problem and save 100 million dollars, 300,000 hours of worker productivity, and even dozens of lives every year. All I did was enable mass-collaboration with a free app. Why wouldn't I want to tell people about the theory behind it?
Sadly, I was a fool. I didn't know it at the time, but I wasn't even knocking on doors. I was knocking on gates. See, I wasn't talking to frontline workers (who thanked me). I was meeting with the layers of bureaucrats, lawyers, managers, and executives who paid themselves a lot to meet, discuss, delegate about "garbage problems" they never wanted to solve.
I went against all they stood for; solving industry problems was asking them to fire themselves.
Worse, I was asking the middlemen to invalidate their identity as being "superiors." It's why they put up gates to shut out Internet Age innovation. In their mind, the levers of power, even small ones, are theirs by right.
In retrospect, what I encountered was fascinating. I wandered into pure antagonism and got to see the Industrial Age making its last stand against human evolution.
That's why the head office people never said no to me. No needs a reason. Instead, they simply said it was against the rules to say yes. You know—those obscure rules, hidden inside regulations and contracts. The antagonists believed in the rules, especially the one against frontline workers acting with initiative, holding their own levers, and taking out their own garbage, so to speak.
Like anyone, I knew bringing new products to market is hard. I knew sales is difficult. I even knew antagonists exist. But I didn't realize how strongly the Internet Age was being held back. Antagonists do a good job masking their self-interest with self-righteous rules. In their eyes, I wasn't an innovator helping his society win the game. Instead, I was just an "uppity extra."
I don't want to dwell on my experience too much. All that's important is this. There was a huge problem costing millions of dollars, weeks of workers' time (lots of it unpaid overtime), and maybe even your life. And it was against the rules to solve it. If I had won this battle for the Internet Age, it would be a tiny victory.
So instead, I'm going to talk about winning the war. Our hospitals, schools, repair-shops, government bureaucracies—our entire way of life is being held back from the Internet Age by a group of self-entitled holdovers of the Industrial Age.
So, I learned my lessons and wrote this book.
Because despite already having the digital technology to improve our lives, antagonists maintain gates all over the place to protect the pre-digital "1969" way of life. They know—even if subconsciously—they lose their coveted managerial status, executive positions, and superiority complexes in a mass-collaboration economy. Being held back from this brighter future is why our jobs are often bullshit, our lives can be so unhappy, and our civilization is degrading.
To improve our days then, the people need Techvolution. A new ruling philosophy that says improving our society is the only rule that matters.
Reaching for New Tools Upgrades Our Civilization
Do you love stories? I think it's a safe bet to say that you do. Who doesn't? They entertain us after a hard day of work, bring us together to share our joys, and (my favorite), open our minds to the different rules, philosophies, and technologies of foreign cities, mythical worlds, and galaxies far far away.
Stories are so compelling because they're so simple. Protagonists are good because they want to fix a problem. Antagonists are bad because they don't. Stories aren't debates. We take the protagonist's side. Thus, Romeo and Juliet's love is beautiful and worth dying for, while their families' feud is ignorant and stupid. Luke Skywalker's rebellion is righteous and worth fighting for, while Darth Vader's empire is wicked and must be destroyed.
Our moral clarity about a problem turns the protagonists into our heroes and the antagonists into our villains. We follow their story with strong emotions—which burst out at the climax as we find out who wins.
Our hero fights hard to defeat the bad guys, but his superior morality, justice, and heroism aren't enough. He's often too weak or unskilled, and the villain beats him bloody. On the verge of failure, the hero needs to find something that'll turn the tide in his favor. He seeks, sees, and reaches for his salvation: a tool or a weapon, like a gun, magic wand, or lightsaber.
Will our hero reach it first, or will the enemy? In the audience, like extras in the story, we hold our breath because the story's society is controlled not by marches, protests, or rules, but by which character holds the levers of power. The wielder is the victor. The victor writes the laws.
This lesson was worth repeating. It's the biggest thing Main Street must learn to improve our way of life.
Because only when we fund our own open-source powered content, apps, and electronics do we stop watching our civilization and start playing it. Only when we hold the levers of power will we be player gods of the Internet Age.
Techvolution is Better
You may be thinking I'm talking about a revolution. I'm not.
A revolution is a sudden uprising to change the rule-makers in government. It's what happens when evolution is held back for too long.
Techvolution is totally different. Instead of waiting for change, Techvolution simply distributes new levers of power. Techvolution is better. Because those with the power get to make the rules. So why not reach for the gold right away?
Happily, we've already been evolving ourselves into the modern era.
That's the reason we're so addicted to new technology. Checking news feeds, flying drones, taking endless photos, playing hours of computer games are acts of extras mastering the tools of player gods. Our ancestors did the same thing when they read many printed books, used scientific instruments, and owned muskets. At first, these were merely addictive toys until new philosophies turned them into the lightsabers that finally brought down the Medieval Age's nobility.
When regular people could read unknown history, see the Universe for themselves, work their own land, and revolt against royalty, the game was won.
Our addicting toys are also new levers of power. They're so powerful, we can use these proverbial lightsabers to earn a happier life.
Once we stop chasing Left/Right phantoms, we will adopt Techvolution and buy our own levers of power. Only then will we defeat antagonism and upgrade to the Internet Age.
A New Philosophy We'll Take Us to the Stars
Darth Blockbuster appears every time we upgrade to a new age. He uses antagonism to prevent regular people from taking control of the new levers of power. Here's one example in our history and our present day.
When you look up at the night sky, you see a dazzling show. It can seem to defy explanation. But even with the naked eye, you'll see trends. The stars never move, some "objects" (really planets) look to be wandering, and it seems like the Moon, Sun, and everything else revolves around you. With all this evidence, our ancestors were sure Earth was the center of the Universe. So much so, it was a pivotal part of the "Divine Rights of Kings" philosophy that ruled European Kingdoms starting in the Medieval Age (500-1400) and even into the Science Age (1543-1687).
When you look at the night sky with a telescope, like Galileo (1564-1642) did, you see it differently. Jupiter has moons, Venus has phases, and it looks like Earth is just another planet. When Galileo told everyone these facts, the "divine kings" were threatened. By using a telescope, Galileo was saying, "we don't know until we test, so let's use instruments to test what we think we know." Scientific inquiry questioned the ruler's divine leadership. Although Catholics and Protestant political leaders hated each other, they worked together to suppress Galileo. Neither facilitated the new truths the protagonist's new tools were discovering.
Eventually, however, Europe adopted the new philosophy of science and embraced the lessons of Galileo. As a result, they started the Science Age, which in turn created the technology to start the Industrial Age.
Galileo is just one example of how an establishment finds it very hard to embrace a new era. The lesson is, to enter into a new age, civilization can't just use new technology. Main Street must welcome a modern philosophy too. Today we're also using an outdated philosophy from a bygone age. Here's an example of how that's hurting our everyday lives.
Space travel is a significant step for humanity. It means better satellites, worldwide internet accessibility, and ensuring intelligent life doesn't put all its eggs in one earthly basket. All possible if we can build an affordable and reusable rocket.
Left/Right political culture was unable to meet the challenge. Ideologues can bicker about speeches, but rocket science doesn't fit into soundbites. New companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin (funded by a few protagonists) answered the call. They harnessed digital technology and fostered collaboration to make rockets 10 times cheaper. The protagonists even learned how to land their rockets so they can be reused!
Think about how cool it is to safely land a frickin rocket.
But many people, especially Left/Right ideologues, still didn't care.
Notice how happy those people were. All workers will experience that joy, once we stop micro-managing and start setting ourselves goals for everyone to reach.
For now, we're dependent on old philosophies, and thus also confined to its old tools and live within its old narratives. Today Left/Right politics makes us obsesses over tax cuts, government regulations, and endless media soundbites because that's what their philosophy says is essential. New and super-powerful technologies like landing rockets are talked about, but more as a novelty act that falls beyond the believers of old philosophies comprehension and comfort zones.
That's the power of philosophy. It tells people which tools and rules are essential, and which should be ignored.
Today, the old Industrial Age philosophies hold back the incredible, world-changing, happiness granting potential of the Internet Age. Up and down our economy, we emphasize mass-production, layers of bureaucracy, and heavy management practices when workers mass-collaborating to solve frontline problems is far better.
The lesson is, once we believe in a new philosophy that embraces the Internet Age, we'll control our society's real levers of power, and soar to the stars.
Techvolution is as Natural as Evolution
Fighting to upgrade our ruling philosophy is a classic human story. It happens every time we start a new age. It happened when Galileo fought a religious establishment with a telescope, George Washington fought a political establishment with a musket, Steve Jobs fought an economic establishment with an iPod.
We are embracing this history. But note that this is not a book about how to invent tools. Amazing books like Rework and Zero to One already do that. Nor is this a book about the history of digital inventions; The Innovators does that better than I could dream of doing.
This book is about pushing us into the Internet Age with a new philosophy that encourages our evolution. Nature thus inspires Techvolution. Notice that gatekeepers don't exist in our world's ecosystems. Evolution doesn't have anyone telling a cheetah she's running too fast, that the ants are too cooperative, or that a camel is too water-efficient. Lifeforms adapt to their own problems. There are no non-playing characters, middlemen, or gatekeepers in Nature, just problem solvers.
And only the best problem solvers live on.
Human biological adaptions take so long, however, that ours have effectively stopped. We'll never biologically evolve to fly, do advanced calculations, or breathe Martian air. Humanity continues life's evolution with tools. We're basically cyborgs who adapt by upgrading our tools to the latest problem. Hold a spear, then a gun, an abacus, then a calculator, an airplane joystick, then a space ship joystick, and you're a different and more powerful cyborg each time.
Nonetheless, our problem solving is held back when the power of bygone age antagonizes civilization's upgrades. This is the equivalent of Blockbuster getting to write rules to keep us renting DVDs instead of saving time and money with YouTube and Netflix.
Antagonism is the opposite of evolution.
The battle between old and new, good and evil, fills our stories from Greek Mythology to Shakespeare. Today the most famous story is Star Wars, so I use it most often in this book. Star Wars is about a galaxy with an all-powerful energy field called the Force. Luke Skywalker's Jedi warriors' harness "the light side" to help others. Darth Vader's evil Sith lords' harness "the dark side" to help themselves and hurt all who oppose them.
In our world, we call our protagonists "trailblazers." But we don't have a political name for the antagonists. Gatekeepers are often corrupt, but these people are sometimes just doing their job. Thus, I collectively call the antagonists to our technological evolution Darth Blockbuster: people who actively and knowingly prevent human development for the sake of their self-interest.
Since biological adaptions and upgrades are Evolution, I've called human technological evolution Techvolution. This book is about inventing Techvolution. The new ruling philosophy empowering Main Street to solve problems with technology as smoothly in human society as other lifeforms do with adaptation and natural selection.
Uber is Mass-Collaboration
So, how do regular people solve the problems of society? By acting like any other lifeform, and doing what's best for themselves.
It's not too daunting. In fact, upgrading society is as easy as taking an Uber.
Have you ever use the popular pick-up app? If you haven't, it's an app that connects a person needing a ride, with a person willing to drive them. All the steps like payment, GPS locations, ratings, and rules taken care of within the app experience.
So, if you've ever taken an Uber ride, you've participated in mass-collaboration as an Internet Age cyborg. Seriously, think about it. One person needed to get somewhere, and another drove them for some money, and they solved each other's problem using smartphones.
Once upon a time in the Industrial Age, this coordination was done by many managers. Driver timesheets, dispatch call-centers, complaint resolution, company marketing, vehicle licensing. In the Internet Age, all this paperwork is handled by Uber's (mostly open-source) software. The company Uber still has to staff managers, marketers, executives, and whatnot. But the proportion is far less.
While Darth Taxi-Cab tried to stop Uber with lawsuits and government lobbying, it didn't work. Once people use mass-collaboration, it's too practical to be stopped.
Paying for an Uber is how easy it is to become a player god.
With all this in mind, it's time to meet the hero of Techvolution. The one who'll defeat Darth Blockbuster, and bring on the era of mass-collaboration.
Nice to Meet You, Stargazer
You're the hero! You're the one who can bring happy lives to Main Street. If you go for a jog, you just upgraded society's health statistics. Walk to a friend's house, you've lowered traffic and socialized your community. Stay inside and socially distance, you've helped "slow the curve" on a pandemic.
It's my mission to make you realize you're the player god capable of so much more.
That's why, whoever you are, and wherever you are on this Earth, I'm calling you Stargazer. It's a name in honor of ancestors like Copernicus, Bruno, and Galileo. All brave people who toppled royal antagonists by merely looking up at the stars and asking questions. These giants took on the responsibility to advance civilization and let Evolution deal with the naysayers.
You can transform our civilization, Stargazer. Not only do you already wield much power with eReaders, smartphones, and hi-speed internet, you hold the most potent lever of power ever. From hospital cleaners to internet technical support, from civil engineers to insurance underwriters, you are at the frontline—the place that creates political power.
I'm serious. Remember, when I said, "power is to politics what money is to finance." Well, being on the frontline is why you're so powerful. You are society's nervous system. Feeling the pain of real work tells you the exact tools we need to finish the Internet Age upgrade.
Darth Blockbuster will never understand what you know.
Do you think corporate or government bureaucrats really understand the frontline pain points of our healthcare systems COVID-19 response? How could they, if they don't feel fear every time they punch their clock-like paramedics, cleaners, nurses, doctors do every day?
To upgrade our society, all we have to do is connect this frontline pain with modern technology, and Main Street will once again hold the levers of power.
All the antagonists can do is play defense.
That's why you, Stargazer, are the hero of Techvolution. That's the way it should be. Average Joes and Janes are always the heroes. Luke Skywalker, Hermione Granger, Neo, and Cinderella were all regular people feeling the pain of real-life. Heroes aren't born. They're stargazers, dreamers, believers, and achievers. They become heroes when they step up to defeat the bad guys. I'm like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Dumbledore, Morpheus, or the fairy godmother, merely a guide teaching you how to overcome the villains.
So, the time is now, Stargazer, to leave the farm and join the rebellion.
Techvolution Builds on the Past
The rebellion I speak of might be different than what automatically comes to mind. It is not a physical revolt. It does not involve rallies, marches, or protests. It's a rebellion of the mind.
Because only when we click a new philosophy will we make a new player god, and thus enter the Internet Age.
The difference is, by adopting Techvolution, we expect ourselves, and each other, to bring on the era of mass-collaboration by using apps and electronics custom-designed to solve frontline problems. Vitally, player gods also demand the freedom to take responsibility for our home and work lives whenever a Sith Lord says helping our society is against the rules.
But none of this means you Stargazer have to re-invent society. We aren't throwing away any philosophy you, or anyone else, may believe in. After all, Protestantism and Catholicism rule Europe for centuries but still to his day reach millions of people.
Likewise, Left/Right will always teach us lessons, help us do our jobs better, and enlighten our personal opinions. Progressivism's ideals and openness help bring new peoples into Western culture while giving a helping hand to those already inside. The practicality of Conservatives helps ensure our society keeps working and doesn't derail from too much idealism.
Moreover, moderate Progressive and Conservatives have an immense understanding of complex fields like monetary policy, farm regulation, labor relations, and more. This single book can't replace their hard-won and valuable knowledge. It would be laughable to suggest it could.
So please keep in mind, when I say Left/Right politics, it's outside ideologues with a simplistic view of our world who I take aim at. These are the people who radicalize our politics and make it hard for those inside the government to seek compromises to long-held problems like unfunded retirement funds or confusing tax codes.
The solution to radicalization is giving power to the frontline. Only frontline people like you, Stargazer, are more concerned with problem-solving then ideological purity. More important, only you know which tools will establish the Internet Age.
And that's why antagonists make new tools against the rules. And why I needed to write a book to remind everyone philosophies and regulations are supposed to empower protagonists and player gods to push human evolution, not get in the way.
But since many rules stall the Internet Age upgrade Stargazer, we must pack our bags, rally our friends, and get ready for a fight.
It's time to blow up a Death Star.