Nautilus

Collective Intelligence Will End Identity-Based Politics

It is possible to imagine, explore, and promote forms of consciousness that enhance awareness as well as dissolve the artificial illusions of self and separate identity.Photo illustration by Shane Taremi / Flickr

The Canadian poet Dennis Lee once wrote that the consolations of existence might be improved if we thought, worked, and lived as though we were inhabiting “the early days of a better civilization.” The test of this would be whether humans, separately and together, are able to generate and make better choices. This is as much a question about wisdom as it is about science.

We don’t find it too hard to imagine continued progress in science and technology. We can extrapolate from the experiences of the last century toward a more advanced civilization that simply knows more, can control more, and is less vulnerable to threats. Indeed if humans have any sense, they will demand the best of —prosthetic limbs, synthetic eyes, and expanded memories—so that they can keep the interesting jobs along with the

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