Here, I am going to propose some basic theses of Informationalism that I believe can be best expressed by assembling statements that already carry a great deal of historical significance, with some of my own observations.
Term: Information- knowledge gained through study, communication, research, instruction, etc.; factual data.
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Root Motivation
1. It is in the ability to record, pass on, and understand information that the advanced manipulation of material circumstances becomes possible.
2. The best way to value a species is by its ability to expand and perpetuate the information it acquires over time, because a species that cannot do this must in time be overcome and eliminated by its material circumstances.
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Human Applications
4. Allowing all members of humanity access to the total pool of information acquired by humanity maximizes our ability to generate more information, if humanity accepts Informationalism.
5. Ensuring free distribution and acquisition of Information is the only way to maximize the value of a society. Therefore the goal of a human society must be the freedom of information and the pursuit of it in all fields.
6. Social decisions in an informationalist society should be weighted by their ability to ensure the free distribution and acquisition of Information.
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Civil Rights and Diplomacy
7. "The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man; every citizen can then freely speak, write, and print, subject to responsibility for the abuse of this freedom in the cases is determined by law".
-11th Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (August 1789)
"Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view."
-Woodrow Wilson; Point I (1918)
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Root Motivation
By the Root Motivation, I mean the fundamental argument by which I justify the utility and desirability of accumulating information as the highest goal. It does, of course, require the acceptance of subjective criteria, all of which I find reasonable. It goes as follows:
Observation 1: Species can only survive indefinitely by adapting to their environment in some sustainable fashion.
Observation 2: A species can manipulate its environment if it has some useful knowledge about its workings.
Observation 3: The more useful knowledge that a species accumulates, the greater its ability to manipulate its environment will be.
Observation 4: A species with all useful knowledge about its environment knows how to control it completely, if it can be controlled.
Observation 5: If a species can control its environment completely, then it has adapted to its environment in a sustainable fashion, and can survive indefinitely.
From these observations, it seems evident to me that acquiring useful knowledge about one's environment is a valid solution to the problem of perpetuating a species. From here, I need an assumption:
Assume: The highest goal of a species is to perpetuate its own existence.
Conclusion:
If the acquisition of useful knowledge is a valid solution to the problem of perpetuating a species, and perpetuating the species is the highest goal of a species, then the acquisition of useful knowledge is the highest goal of the species. This is the Root Motivation.
Discussion:
What I'm trying to justify here, more or less, is that the perspective which individuals and society should take concerning all relevant decisions concerning general welfare should be one of maximizing the amount of useful information acquired about their environment. To not do so would be placing the continuity of the species at a lower level of priority.
To be clear, this does not mean that this perspective, which I call Informationalism, is the only perspective. I am only asserting that, if you agree that survival of a species should be its highest goal, and agree with these observations, that it is a valid perspective.
Observation 1: Species can only survive indefinitely by adapting to their environment in some sustainable fashion.
Observation 2: A species can manipulate its environment if it has some useful knowledge about its workings.
Observation 3: The more useful knowledge that a species accumulates, the greater its ability to manipulate its environment will be.
Observation 4: A species with all useful knowledge about its environment knows how to control it completely, if it can be controlled.
Observation 5: If a species can control its environment completely, then it has adapted to its environment in a sustainable fashion, and can survive indefinitely.
From these observations, it seems evident to me that acquiring useful knowledge about one's environment is a valid solution to the problem of perpetuating a species. From here, I need an assumption:
Assume: The highest goal of a species is to perpetuate its own existence.
Conclusion:
If the acquisition of useful knowledge is a valid solution to the problem of perpetuating a species, and perpetuating the species is the highest goal of a species, then the acquisition of useful knowledge is the highest goal of the species. This is the Root Motivation.
Discussion:
What I'm trying to justify here, more or less, is that the perspective which individuals and society should take concerning all relevant decisions concerning general welfare should be one of maximizing the amount of useful information acquired about their environment. To not do so would be placing the continuity of the species at a lower level of priority.
To be clear, this does not mean that this perspective, which I call Informationalism, is the only perspective. I am only asserting that, if you agree that survival of a species should be its highest goal, and agree with these observations, that it is a valid perspective.
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