The Third Timeline

In terms of creating technology, two timelines want our attention:

Slow things down or speed things up.

In the former, those known as “decelerationists” (decels) advocate for slowing down technological advancement. In the latter, those known as “accelerationists” (acels) advocate for speeding up its development. Decels believe rapid technological growth will lead to suffering, while acels think it will lead to flourishing. Like all ideologues, they have their extremists, who usually have undue influence over the philosophy’s direction. These extremists cast a spell upon us, attempting to ensnare us into their timelines.

If decel extremists have their way, it might lead to a “decomplexification event,” as collapse theorists describe it. This occurs when simplifying a complex system leads to societal breakdown. Conversely, if acel extremists prevail, they could cause what existential risk scholars term “misalignment.” In this scenario, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence could result in it making autonomous decisions that are net harmful to humanity. This timeline could also lead to human extinction or the “world in chains” scenario, where there is a total loss of human agency, enslaving humanity into a state of perpetual suffering.

Now, advocates for both timelines will argue against these scenarios, claiming their decel and acel ethos will lead to more human (or transhuman) flourishing, not less. Beyond these techno-intelligentsia debates, the rest of us are stuck in the middle, feeling great uneasiness, wanting healthier technologies while stunned with fear at the unprecedented world that rapid technological advancement is creating.

The good news is there is a third timeline that avoids the fate of the above scenarios, stepping out of the frame of slowing down or speeding up. This third timeline makes an orthogonal move and is not about time at all. It carries a radical hope for a future we sense is possible but forget to believe in.

Now we remember. Today we believe once more. The third timeline is here.

Follow the daylight. ☀️