How would it feel to be followed against your will constantly?

No matter how hard you tried to evade your followers, they always seemed to know where you were, where you would be next and always seem to beat you there.

An entity that practices this behavior exhibits a "cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control.”

This is the definition of tyranny. (and also reeks of George Orwell’s “1984”)

Unfortunately, this is the environment and society we create when we attempt to eliminate all aspects of uncertainty.

The Problem with Being “All-Knowing”

Absolute certainty leaves no room for revision, contemplation, or privacy.

It does not facilitate an environment that promotes experimentation because it does not need it.

It never finds new connections, asks questions, or produces new ideas because it is confident that everything is already known.

All else is irrelevant because it does not exist and is therefore invisible creating blindspots or “unknown unknowns” to quote Donald Rumsfeld.

Are You Certain, Human?

The problem with seeking 100% certainty is humans are flawed.

We are not all-knowing, individually or collectively.

We are not "clean" or "cut and dry".

We are irrational creatures that make mistakes, often trying to justify those mistakes despite the clearly flawed decision-making that led to them and even trying to pin the blame on others.

While attempting to codify the entire human experience into a predictable framework seems to mitigate some of the negative aspects of society, when people lose their ability to operate independently, randomly, and privately, they become victims of and subjects to tyranny.

Knowing that a crime will occur and arresting the conspirators before it is committed is great.

BUT

Can we ethically arrest someone before they have committed the crime just because a prediction formula said so?

Will all people in a certain socioeconomic class or wealth level have the same, certain outcome?

OR

Can their circumstances be a motivator to change their environment, either for themselves, everyone around them, or the world at large?

These questions are not considered in a 100% certain society because they are not posed.

In certainty:

• All that exists outside of the currently known is demonized.

• All creativity and new thought cease.

• Transformation stops.

• Exploration stops.

• Questions stop.

You and everything around you are all you will ever be.

And the entity (human or artificial) utilizing the predictive formula is certain of it.

The Land of Possibility

How do we combat this?

• Become more comfortable knowing your knowledge is incomplete and allow yourself to see the world more probabilistically.

• Move away from certainty and more into “highly likely based on past precedence and current observations”

• Update your assumptions based on the information available, not what you want to see

• Don’t blindly buy into “group think”. Learn to make your own choices and come to your own conclusions but, most importantly, field test your conclusions in the real world. (Unverified opinions are just as dangerous as 100% certain ones.)

When we seek to limit the outcomes available to us on an individual or societal level, we dictate what choice should be taken and leave no room for even the appearance of dissonance.

Leave the door open for uncertainty.

It’s the only way to usher in a future better than we could ever imagine.

In Mastery,

Matthew