Mentatul

Tag: ethics

  • The Morality and Behavior of Children

    The Morality and Behavior of Children

    Some adults lack morality even after an entire lifetime. Yet, as this study shows, constructive ethical values are something that the vast majority of us are born with:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/magazine/09babies-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0^

    So when does one lose one’s moral compass? Perhaps, like almost any quality in life, it has to be cultivated:

    https://littlebearabroad.com/raising-pippi-longstocking/^

    Here are more tips about how to ensure the healthy development of a child’s behavioral dictionary:

    http://www.regardingbaby.org/2012/03/20/understanding-your-toddler-why-she-does-the-things-she-does/^

    And more:

    https://www.janetlansbury.com/2010/03/a-baby-ready-for-kindergarten-college-and-life^

    Obviously, there are many routes available when one wants to foster a child’s healthy emotional and intellectual development. All or any of these lead to a happier adulthood, to people we can rely on, to a better world of tomorrow.

    But there are also routes that jeopardize a child’s development. Here’s an article about self-soothing:

    https://raisedgood.com/self-soothing-biggest-con-new-parenthood^

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  • Ethical Economy

    Ethical Economy

    If one would be to chronicle the history of illegal or unfair use of economic practices, one would probably need to fill ten tomes of at least a thousand pages each. From rich to poor, almost everybody has, at least once, suffered due to our misshapen financial system.

    There are many reasons for this, such as perfectly healthy and natural human greed^. The problem is that greed and other evolutionary adaptations have been allowed to spiral out of control by a broken educational system^. Insufficient education allows profit-seeking entities to exploit evolutionary weaknesses. They profit by making individuals invest into items and activities of no real value (no increase in happiness and no profit for the individuals or their families).

    This social weakness has brought with it the perpetuation and success of a class of dangerous individuals^. People of otherwise great potential, but who are successful because of a dangerous disconnection from the society they should (as skilled individuals and leaders) be taking care of. These people only behave this way because it’s possible. They can (still) get away with it.

    Fake money

    At the very core of economic unfairness lies the manufacture of money out of thin air. Or, more precisely out of paper and ink. Actually, in the Information Age^, money is made out of electricity (lots of it^). Cryptocurrencies, for all their rebellious hopefulness, epitomize the ridiculous of the times we live in: billions are created based on something as fickle as public opinion, unsubstantiated ideas and charismatic individuals (Musk, anyone?^).

    The fact that money is fake has never been more evident than it is today. We’ve also never had more debt than today. Most money in the world is, actually, debt. It is an instrument of distraction that has been used masterfully for thousands (yes, thousands) of years. But that’s history and we shouldn’t let ourselves condemned by it. Let history be history and look towards the future. Besides, back when money was invented, we didn’t have the technology we have today.

    Ethical everything

    We are fortunate to have evolved to a state of awareness that allows us to make some significant leaps forward when it comes to knowing right from wrong^. Economic structures that were inconceivable decades ago are now gaining traction. We have concepts such as ethical consumerism^ and ethical banking^.

    Technology today, in fact, allows us to very accurately measure each individual’s contribution to society. And ethics today allow us to discern meaningful contributions from wasteful or even toxic contributions.

    What I advocate is ethical everything. The implementation of such a system concerns the fusion between an ever-evolving ethical framework and a super-fragmented decentralized financial system. Let’s see what these terms mean.

    The ever-evolving ethical framework

    Society usually adapts to new ethical principles on a generational level. But ethics can change from one minute to the next. One of the catalysts of prosperity is a society’s ability to quickly adapt to changes in the way humans relate with each other. A social life with reduced friction ensures that individuals can channel more energy into constructive ventures.

    The implementation of ethics into law is sometimes very sluggish. The economic system of the future, however, has to be able to adapt, sometimes in a matter of hours, to people who might exploit it. Think about how an antivirus company works. Once the company is aware of a dangerous application, they release a software update that allows their product to protect users from that application. The same can be done with all sorts of harmful social behaviors.

    It is therefore imperative for our future financial institutions to continuously adapt and climb to a high moral ground. Having “Financial institutions” and “moral high ground” in the same sentence is almost laughable in this day and age; but things will change. The alternative is to continue living in a state of perpetual financial seizure where an ever-increasing number of people suffer during economic downturns.

    The super-fragmented decentralized financial system

    Through the use of cryptocurrencies, we can create a highly adaptable financial system. This would consist of a world-wide currency that would then split itself into regional (state-level) denominations, then city-state level denominations and then further down to villages, families and even per-individual currencies. The purpose of this fragmentation would be to drill down to where actual value is created: the individual.

    All currencies would feed back into the planetary currency, a sum yielding the total value generated by the entire species. How such a hierarchical cryptocurrency system could be implemented is homework for those that are experts in this field.

    Econoethics

    The fusion of economy and ethics can be called econoethics. This could be achieved, for example, through the implementation of an ethical layer within the global cryptocurrency we discussed earlier. Such a construction can bring the concept of dollar voting^ into the foreground of our economic lives.

    This ethical cryptocurrency would be both hierarchical, fragmented and subject to localized ethics transformations. This means that for a social structure located in a certain area, the currency’s development will be influenced (transformed) by the ethical principles valid in that area. Indeed, ethics should be culture and region-specific.

    What this means, in practice, is that a manufacturer that produces a good that is considered undesired in a certain society will not make that much profit off of it. Or, citizens that have an important contribution to their surrounding society will enjoy better pay. In a society governed by different laws, roles might reverse.

    Implementing such systems is not easy and would require a lot of testing and brainstorming. But make no mistake, this is already doable with today’s (primitive) technology. All that is required is some good will and the courage to experiment.

    I have faith in the thousands of engineers, thinkers and tinkerers around the globe to come up with the foundations for a new financial framework; one that will give us a more transparent, cleaner and healthier economic development during the following centuries.

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  • On Assisted Dying

    On Assisted Dying

    You’re 102 years old. You still want and can work. You have no disease, your mind is sharp and brings joy to those around. However, the industrialized healthcare system and society has other plans. You’re costly to keep under permanent supervision, as if you even want to be constantly watched. So, whether you like it or not, you must accept round-the-clock care or move to a nursing home. This happened to David Goodall. Thanks to Swiss laws, however, he could die on his own accord:

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-43957874^

    Euthanasia^ is a heavily debated topic. Many people have sought the right to end their life. Check what Terry Pratchett (suffering from Alzheimer’s^) had to say^ about it. Pro-life associations rushed to condemn BBC^ for broadcasting Pratchett’s statement, accusing BBC of imbalanced reporting.

    These are the same people that have no problem with all the other violent and trivial garbage being broadcasted most of the time. These are the people who like to censor other opinions simply because they’re not theirs. These are the people who think they have the right to decide what others should do with their lives.

    I guess my opinion on assisted suicide is pretty clear by now. People should mind their own business. If somebody wants to help a friend or family member die, then they should, by law, be allowed to do so, provided that they have ratified the decision in a forum consisting of at least two witnesses, in front of a local official.

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  • This Year’s Dose of Horrible Behavior Towards Animals

    This Year’s Dose of Horrible Behavior Towards Animals

    How would you feel if some dudes would grab somebody dear to you from the comfort and safety of their home, tie that person to a car and drag them around town for a couple of miles? While doing this, of course, they would laugh, because torture is fun:

    http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/13/us/shark-dragged-video-arrests-trnd/index.html^

    And then there’s this horrific way to celebrate students’ achievements: a jungle-themed prom where majestic wild animals are disrespected and psychologically tormented. This sets, of course, a wonderful example for the adults, parents and decision makers of tomorrow:

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/miami-dade/fl-reg-tiger-at-school-prom-20180514-story.html^

    There’s a reason why I’ve timed this post to show up exactly after the one detailing how ants take care of their wounded^, which is yet another discovery from a long string of marvelous findings about the creatures living along side us on Earth. I’d like to create contrast between the amazing diversity and complexity of life on Earth and the lack of respect (many) humans show towards it.

    My only comfort is that at least society is taking some action against such behavior. It’s a step in the right direction. I await the day when all of our children will respect wildlife and will leave it well enough alone.

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  • The CLOUD Act – or Another Nail in the Coffin of Privacy

    The CLOUD Act – or Another Nail in the Coffin of Privacy

    Finally, thanks to the CLOUD act^ passed earlier this year, American companies have the right to spy for the government of the USA on pretty much anybody that uses American products. The act also indirectly opens the door for other governments that enjoy snooping in their citizens’ private lives. And guess what, major tech companies had no problem turning their back on their customers because (surprise!) the act will save them loads of cash:

    http://www.tomshardware.com/news/big-tech-cloud-act-surveillance,36730.html^

    It was bound to happen sooner or later. Of course, this is all done with ethics and responsibility at the forefront, in the glorious battle against organized crime. Even if I wasn’t sarcastic, this is, after all, yet another weapon in the USA’s cyberwarfare arsenal^. And the walls protecting our private lives have already started to fall^.

    That’s one small step for a nation-state, one giant leap backwards for mankind.

    Here’s what the Electronic Frontiers Foundation had to say:

    “Because of this failure, U.S. and foreign police will have new mechanisms to seize data across the globe. Because of this failure, your private emails, your online chats, your Facebook, Google, Flickr photos, your Snapchat videos, your private lives online, your moments shared digitally between only those you trust, will be open to foreign law enforcement without a warrant and with few restrictions on using and sharing your information. Because of this failure, U.S. laws will be bypassed on U.S. soil.”

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  • Fairness in the World of Economic Inequality

    Fairness in the World of Economic Inequality

    We often gasp at the amount of wealth various entrepreneurs have amassed. News about economic inequality^ (sometimes known as income inequality) is quite common lately, and so it should be. Slowly but surely, society’s patience^ is reaching the breaking point^ and when that happens, chaos^ ensues.

    It is hard not to be shocked when confronted with the knowledge^ that the accumulated wealth of 42 individuals (no typo, it really is a two-digit number) is greater than that of the poorest half of the world’s population put together. And then there’s that already outdated statistic about the world’s top 1% owning more than the bottom X% (82% as of 2017 and growing).

    Is there a reason to rage when these statistics show up? To many, the answer is an obvious “yes”. Indeed, the disparity is staggering, but fury isn’t usually the right attitude to address a problem. There are many factors that contribute to the present state of affairs and we are directly responsible for some of them. Owning up to this is the first step towards improving things.

    As I’ll soon show, there are different kinds of “rich and powerful”. Some of these people are highly beneficial for the progress of our species, while others are destroying lives and wrecking our ecosystem, dragging down society by setting the wrong examples.

    The problem isn’t with the rich. If we can even call it a problem, it lies with a society that produces individuals who would do anything to accumulate more wealth, fame and power. When such people do not possess neither the skills nor the opportunity to advance, they start breaking the rules. Eventually, they lose touch with constructive social values while trying to satisfy their insatiable hunger. Empathy and ethics go down the drain so there’s no wonder some of these people act in a completely alien way^. The good news is that it is well within our power to modify the social constructs that are at the root of all this.

    Greed and recklessness

    Examples about the excesses of the rich are very easy to find. Most of these cases concern an increasingly staggering waste of resources: luxury goods of questionable origin, extravagant properties and a way of life that is severely out of balance with the rest of society. Unfortunately, there are even worse excesses than the material ones, such as the exploitation of other people and, to generalize, disrespecting the ecosystem.

    Some of these behaviors are not that difficult to understand because they are driven by instinct. Read this earlier article about the rules of the human game^, which describes how instinct drives a wedge between society’s noble goals and the often-greedy personal needs. Fortunately, we’re a highly adaptable species. It’s up to us to change the rules by which we play with.

    Take the worst example of a human being you can think of and realize that the way they acted is, for the most part, a consequence of their education and life experience. We were all born innocent. Genetics plays a role too, of course, but especially when it comes to character and life choices, it is mostly society that shapes individuals.

    Philanthropy and inspiration

    What many people seem to ignore is the fact that most of the wealthy tycoons are talented administrators and gifted visionaries. They are alchemists of skill and opportunity. Many of them have blasted their way through the hard rock of ages to carve a path through which our civilization can advance.

    It is not only scientists and philosophers who deserve credit for our progress. More often than not, having the courage to invest in the dreams of another (even if doing so for the purpose of taking over said dreams when they mature) and having the will power to pour one’s entire life to reach a certain goal are qualities that can produce tremendous benefit for society.

    So how exactly do the super-rich help us? There are countless examples of charitable acts that have helped our society, going back to the dawn of recorded history. As our philosophy and social ethics developed, charity evolved into philanthropy^ (read the first paragraphs of the linked article to learn about the difference between the two). The number and influence of philanthropists^ make this into a very powerful social force.

    One of the best examples is the Nobel Prize^. It shows how one wealthy man’s donation can ripple through time to create one of the most distinguished and inspiring recognitions of achievement a human can receive. Warren Buffet’s Giving Pledge^ is also worth mentioning as a catalyst for such acts. A less clear-cut example is Bill Gates’ wealth, which led to the creation of a foundation whose modus operandi and purposes are slightly questionable^.

    We need people like Elon Musk (as controversial^ as he is) and all the other up-and-coming entrepreneurs. Such individuals always had the potential to find new ways through which we can progress. This does not mean that the abuse and unfairness of some magnates should be tolerated and accepted as the status quo.

    This is why we have free press (in most of the world), so that we may find out about and openly condemn people demonstrating an unethical, unconstructive behavior. Hopefully, one day they will realize that they’ve strode away from the honorable path. Yes, these things do exist: honor, ethics and wisdom. You won’t see these words too often in the mainstream media because a sort of hopeless pragmatism has infected many writers. They have either given up on their inner idealist, or are on the payroll of the wrong camp.

    The social impact of the rich and famous is very important. They can inspire in both directions: towards the betterment of society or towards the obsessive interest with one’s ego. Again, let’s not forget that we are responsible for growing the powerful people of tomorrow.

    A new method is required. And here is where the Internet and social media come into play. Today, we can unite in our thoughts regarding the worldwide changes that we desire. Through direct communication and public appeal, our words will slowly make it to the ears of the people at the top of the pyramid. And instead of beheading them or, worse, scaring them into beheading us, we will pass along a message of friendship and understanding. A message that we can start…

    Building together

    Many activists are so hooked on this idea of “revolution”. They are strung up on violent upheaval and showing their frustration using the fist and the gun. Some people^ knew this was wrong decades ago^. Have we completely forgotten them? Revolution is not what we need. A revolution implies a return to the status quo, but history must stop repeating itself. This can only be accomplished through evolution.

    It’s time to decriminalize “utopia”. We need to cut some slack to the few dreamers who believe we can transform our society into something greater. We need to forgive ourselves for our history and understand, once and for all, that our future is our own choice. Our history is not a song stuck on repeat. Only then, will we see the light at the end of the tunnel and can begin pushing ourselves towards it.

    And tell me, what wise leader wouldn’t enjoy knowing that he or she has empowered this species to change its course? It’s true that there are not many wise leaders today. They mirror our society, which in turns mirrors an obsolete industrialized educational system.

    The wealthy who abuse power only do so because that’s the only way they know how to cope with their inner struggles or how to derive pleasure from their existence. A significant percentage of the world’s population suffers from a disastrous lack of understanding of what happiness really is (among others: it’s not a destination, but a way of traveling through life).

    It is up to us to show what life and this world can be. But we won’t ever succeed if all we do is complain until it gets too much and then violence becomes the last resort. Nothing short of a work of art will suffice. And this work of art is the web of knowledge that is right now being spun by thoughts such as these, or these^ or these^. Countless writers in countless ways^ echo the same verdict: the time for change is near.

    The way forward is to spread this knowledge. Because those of us that understand what working together truly means are still in the minority, we must be patient, we must wait for our peers to be interested in the alternatives we come up with. The struggles ahead must be overcome together. This is the next test that evolution has laid in front of us.

    Discouraging violent response and encouraging calm and rational discussion (this is not incompatible with going out in the streets and voicing our arguments) is the only way we can write a new chapter in this species’ history, without the stains of blood and xeroxed cemeteries that come with the ravaging tides of war.

    [ax_meta fbimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/02761-FairnessInTheWorldOfEconomicInequality-Share.jpg’ lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/02761-FairnessInTheWorldOfEconomicInequality-Thumb.jpg’ fbimgw=’1170′ fbimgh=’350′ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Fairness in the World of Economic Inequality’ desc=’People often rage at the amount of wealth various entrepreneurs have amassed. But let's give them some credit and see if we can work together.’]

  • Corporations vs The Public

    Corporations vs The Public

    Back in September of 2017, I met Oliwer, a Norwegian Green Peace activist looking for donations in Stockholm. He told me that they’re trying to stop the Norwegians from drilling for oil in the Arctic. He also told me about how a powerful, profitable company involved in logging is attempting to disrupt the environmental organization by suing it for a massive amount in damages to their business.

    I asked him to tell me more, as it was hard to understand for me how such a thing could even work. My image of Green Peace was that of a world-wide, semi-decentralized network of agents (mostly volunteers). It’s hard to kill such an organization, especially given the volunteering aspect. Unfortunately, most money still leaves a trail (I’d switch to donations via cryptocurrencies if I were Green Peace).

    I promised the man that instead of donating money, I’ll donate time and do what I do best: investigate and write. The case he told me about is only one of the many times corporations and even governments have went after Green Peace^. It is, however, one of the most ridiculous (although admittedly not as ridiculous as when the government of Australia tried to basically pay a corporation to sue Green Peace^).

    The case the activist I met last year was referring to is that of Resolute^, a company in the tree-cutting business (wording intended). The firm went as far as using RICO^, an act conceived and used against the mafia, to go after the environmental organization. That’s almost as preposterous as the mafia using the act to go after the government. Fortunately, both major Resolute cases against Green Peace have been thrown out of courts, including the case the activist was talking about:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolute_Forest_Products#Greenpeace

    I don’t want to even imagine what would happen if a lawsuit manages to eventually kill a major organization working for protecting the ecosystem from the rampant expansion of human industry. Setting that sort of precedent is extremely dangerous. Green Peace is not without its faults^, but compare it to the mining industry^ or to some automakers^.

    And since the seed for this article was planted in Stockholm and I brought up the mining industry, I’ll close with one more recent example of criminal negligence on the part of mining companies. This time it’s about a Swedish company called Boliden.

    Last year, the company was sued, here in Sweden^, by Chileans who suffered due to living close to the toxic waste that had been dumped^ by a company that Boliden employed in order to move the poison from Sweden to Chile. The court ruled in favor of Boliden^, which is not surprising given that this was taking place in the city where the company was founded.

    It’s a typical black & white ruling that doesn’t even offer an apology (however symbolic) to the victims; not even acknowledging that Boliden had zero interest about how its toxic waste was being stored; ignoring the fact that a well-off country conveniently dumped poison in another part of the world. By the way, this is the same Swedish company responsible for one of the worst environmental disasters in Spain^.

    To ensure that our children benefit from healthy living conditions, I suggest taking part into and protecting the institutions that are concerned with the future of our ecosystem and making sure that those that disrespect the environment pay a hefty price for their negligence.

    [ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/02873-CorporationsVsPublic-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Corporations vs The Public’ desc=’This is only one of the many times corporations and even governments have went after Green Peace.’]

  • One More Hyper-car for the Hyper-consumerist Empire

    One More Hyper-car for the Hyper-consumerist Empire

    Diversity is beautiful. It’s the reason why our planet is so different than everything else we’ve encountered so far. Humans have added to the diversity through art and technology. But what if there is a boundary after which adding more diversity becomes ugly?

    Some people don’t have running water. Some people start their day thanking that their home wasn’t blown up. Some people struggle in a hospital bed. Some people build cars like these:

    http://www.automobilemag.com/news/mercedes-amg-project-one-hypercar-revealed/^

    And some people buy them.

    I’m not saying that it’s wrong to be able to afford such a car. It’s “good diversity” to be able to use technology to build masterpieces like the one above. But not until we’ve done some progress in fixing our society. Not while there’s still people undergoing extreme suffering. We have bigger problems to tackle and issues to consider before we can play around on the race track.

    Do I blame the engineers that build hyper-cars? Of course not. Besides being a former Formula 1 fan, I know that these people are only doing their job. I do blame, however, a society that doesn’t encourage these bright minds to work on fixing bigger, more meaningful problems. It’s a paradox:

    In order for society to begin to want to fix itself, society must first fix itself.

    [ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/02802-ProjectOneHyperconsumerism-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’One More Hyper-car for the Hyper-consumerist Empire’ desc=’Society doesn't encourage these bright minds to work on fixing bigger, more meaningful problems.’]

  • The Survival Instinct and the Rules of the Human Game

    The Survival Instinct and the Rules of the Human Game

    Irrespective of us having free will or not, at least a part of our mind is taking decisions based on a very deeply rooted program. That program is our instinct and, like for all other species, its job is to ensure our survival. Instinct is both necessary and ruthless.

    In the same time, we’re living in a society that reaches for higher moral grounds through the evolution of ethics and empathy. Our need for moral progress is probably also an evolutionary trait, ensuring social progress, which is a necessity of our survival as a species. We have gotten this far not only because we are skilled individuals, but also because we’ve found ways to work together through the direst of circumstances. However, the evolution of our society is sometimes in conflict with the instinct of the individual.

    Healing the social schism

    Through the use of education, most people today are aware of what their society is trying to build. Even so, there are those who fall prey to darker instinctual desires, which can become destructive. Sadly, due to their behavior, these individuals also face social exclusion of various kinds (imprisonment, disconnection due to social stratification).

    This exclusion only serves to aggravate the problem because disconnected individuals lack the nourishment necessary for healing and growth. It becomes especially dangerous when such individuals reach positions of great power. The result is a sort of social schism where we as a species agree that we should be noble and kind, while in the same time individuals or social groups engage in harmful competitive behaviors.

    The accelerated development of our technology means that unless we keep our destructive ways in check, we might go down like monkeys that went too far playing with the nuclear button. And this artificial “intelligence” thing^ racing towards us is much more dangerous than nukes. Globalization has also made it clear that it’s about time to develop a culture of planet Earth that acts as a sort of middle-ground between the countless conflicting cultures.

    Reducing the risk of our species’ self-destruction as well as addressing world-wide suffering requires a paradigm shift that will see us question the very foundations of what we consider acceptable and unacceptable. It’s been a long time coming.

    Fortunately, also regardless of us having free will, human behavior can change very quickly. What can be said about this is that, at the very least, it’s an evolutionary trait that has contributed to our survival. So, changing the rules of the game is well within our capability as a species.

    Greed and the lust for power

    One of the most common ways the survival instinct expresses itself is through the desire to accumulate. This is not limited to material goods. Humans are, for example, very good at accumulating friends in order to ensure social support for themselves. Having a social edge is a valuable currency that our primal brain knows very well to work with.

    Greed has been tied to a so-called ruthlessness gene^ in our DNA. Again, through education, society has learned to tame certain urges. But even when the higher values taught by society manage to temperate greed^, humans are still notoriously poor at estimating their real needs.

    The lust for power is rooted in the (quite accurate) perception that social status guarantees the access to an increased quantity of pretty much everything, including mates. It is understandable why this behavior exists. Natural selection is, after all, responsible for ensuring the quality of the gene pool.

    Another interesting aspect is that some individuals have a very strong urge to compete, even after their basic needs have been met. This is at least partially influenced by genetics. Since most societies on Earth have fortunately distanced themselves from crude violence, we generally settle for intellectual competition within a peaceful society. But even there, the rules are strict (ethics, for example, are evolving fast). Some people are simply too competitive to be able to operate within such a restrictive context and then their “only option” is to break the rules. There are, in fact, lots of other options to satisfy competitive urges, but they are not fully exploited yet.

    Preparing for the post scarcity economy means changing the rules

    Even though (most of us) still have to pay (in various ways) to have a decent life, developed countries are approaching what is called a post-scarcity economy^. In a nutshell, it means that living will essentially become free. This will initially apply only to basic needs such as food and a place to live, but as technology advances, so will the number of things that will be provided for free (as in without having to have a job).

    We could experience this very soon, if it wasn’t for an outdated system that is fighting for its survival. Like I said in a different article^, we can see any economic entity (small firms, corporations) as life forms in their own right. These creatures are right now fighting for their survival. Some are more ruthless than others. The same applies to governments. All of these entities try to mask their accountability through any means possible, because this allows them to become increasingly merciless. This, for a while, provides a competitive advantage, but often ends up blowing in our collective faces. Just look at how corporate negligence^ destroys lives and the ecosystem^.

    It’s not surprising that we see so many scandals and abuse. The system is made up of people who often haven’t come to terms with the cold and calculated survival machine that lies at the bottom of our subconscious. What’s worse is that even people who try to change this are facing an uphill struggle against a system that promotes egotism and economically punishes charity.

    Due to social inertia, this cannot change overnight. Radically different concepts need time to take root. But the change must happen, and it must arise from all social layers at once. Like many times before, it is up to the minority to inspire through the examples they’ll set. We already have people from all walks of life starting to talk about the same thing: we cannot risk our future by throwing bigger weapons at each other.

    When the circle becomes a spiral

    After countless cycles of bloodshed and revolution, it is time for evolution. Unlike most times, we will change the system without blaming our leaders or those that built it. We are, after all, together on the same planet, part of the same unfolding process of evolution. Is there a magically simple solution to achieve this? Surprise, there is! It’s called education.

    Education is the foundation of our society. But education is also controlled by an obsolete system that fights for its survival. This is the reason why the changes we need must arise from everywhere at once, bursting through society in all directions. And yes, adults can be educated too. This is not a process that applies only to children, even though they are the easiest targets, which the current system uses to perpetuate itself.

    Fortunately, there are also people at the top who see the need for change, but these sorts of leaders are increasingly outnumbered in a divided world that crashes towards nationalism. It is up to us to create the educational paradigms and institutions that will rear a generation of merciful and empathic leaders.

    Today, working together across borders is discouraged due to the primitive and tribal way our society is still organized (nation states, rivaling corporations, often strict separation between cultures). But we can change the rules so that cooperation is rewarded. It’s not that difficult really.

    For example, let’s spread the word about ethical consumerism^. This will make corporations change their way of operating, or risk dying due to a lack of customers. And let us introduce empathy as a mandatory subject throughout all layers of our educational system, studied from the very basics and up to the intricacies of philosophy and genetics.

    I firmly believe that one day, we will look back at this century and be thankful for the changes we have made. Yes, I am part of the optimistic bunch that has decided that cooperation is the only way forward. Oh, don’t worry, we will still find all sorts of ways to compete through. How about competing in who can give most to the other?

    [ax_meta fbimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/02746-SurvivalInstinctRulesHumanGame-Share.jpg’ lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/02746-SurvivalInstinctRulesHumanGame-Thumb.jpg’ fbimgw=’1170′ fbimgh=’350′ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’The Survival Instinct and the Rules of the Human Game’ desc=’Irrespective of us having free will or not, at least a part of our mind is taking decisions based on a very deeply rooted program.’]

  • Why It’s Not Surprising That Smartphone Privacy Is Going from Bad to Worse

    Why It’s Not Surprising That Smartphone Privacy Is Going from Bad to Worse

    Throughout the past years there have been several high-profile occasions when apps were in the news for questionable tracking strategies. Even applications that do not use novel means of compromising our privacy are gobbling up increasing amounts of data while their creators cash in on the profits obtained from selling the user’s digital life^ to the highest bidder. At the receiving end of this deluge of spyware are we, the people.

    Even for those of us that do read the list of permissions an app requests upon installation, it is hard to avoid installing certain apps because they come with other features that we need. It’s an old trick that is akin to the Trojan horse. This is how these dubious app creators get in our back yard: by offering something that is 90% useful and 10% spyware, but which must be accepted as a whole.

    Devious solutions for the same old need

    Smartphone espionage has gotten very clever as of late. Check these two^ stories^ about ultrasonic tracking. According to one research, hundreds of Android apps with an install base in the millions include a library that is used for this purpose. The way this works is by listening to ultrasonic audio “beacons” implanted in advertisements. Humans can’t normally hear sound in this range, but smartphones’ microphones can.

    When a user has one such application running and an advertisement that includes an ultrasonic marker plays on TV or anywhere around the user (for example radio or an ultrasound-emitting advertisement panel in a shopping mall), the app can make an association between the user and the played content. This can be used for simple tasks such as sending a unique ID back to a service which then sends a shop’s deals to a user, but it can just as well include a lot of other information about the device and its owner.

    Some of the things this system can achieve are rather worrying. For example, it can be used for determining a user’s (approximate) location even if the GPS is turned off or out of range. This can be done by having a particular advertisement panel emit a unique ultrasound beacon. This can later be used to determine when the user is in its proximity. The system can also be used to track a user’s TV-watching habits without consent. Some of these uses are legitimate though, like pushing advertisement and coupons to somebody that has given their consent for using this “feature”. A few such apps disclose the tracking prominently. But this is usually not the case.

    More recently, the Uber app was found to be capable to record portions of the iPhone screen^. The company defended itself saying that this was done in order to send images with maps to the iWatch (using the iPhone to render the map because the iWatch lacked the required performance). There’s a gazillion ways this can go wrong not if but when hackers manage to leverage this capability in order to steal passwords and other sensitive information. The feature was reportedly removed but it still shows exactly what the smartphone really is. And there’s no way to sugar coat this…

    The smartphone is a surveillance device

    Economically, it is used by corporations to mine data^ out of people and use it to manipulate them into buying products. The smartphone grew into a fascinating tool for mass surveillance because it comes with a bunch of features that users really want. I mean, it’s really nice to have a browser and a video camera available at all times, right? Except that all these “free” apps are just a gateway for companies that are tracking users ever since advertisers figured how to use our digital lives against us and our vulnerable minds.

    Currently, the goal most of these companies have is to get us online for as much time as possible. As for the camera and the other (many) sensors inside a phone, we might end up not being the only ones controlling them. There are innumerable cases of this technology being used with criminal intent. There’s only need for one backdoor to take control of our devices and that backdoor’s existence is ensured by the producers of these devices.

    Governments will of course not oppose this (they’ll even encourage it^) because the greatest concern of a government is to maintain its appearance as a legitimate organization. Investigative journalists^ and whistle-blowers^ have greatly damaged governments^ and corporations as of late. By increasing surveillance capabilities under various pretexts, governments and corporations hope to prevent the next public relations scandal. I’m not even blaming them; they’re just trying to survive^. But people who realize they’ve been sold behind closed doors won’t remain the loyal followers that these entities need in order to justify their existence.

    To make things easier for themselves, governments will make sure they also have access^ to whatever technologies are deployed on these devices. One problem, however, is that the citizens of one country may use devices produced in another country. What is the percentage of electronics we manufacture in Asia? And then there’s this thing about hardware backdoors^.

    Innocent bystanders

    A few days ago I was waiting in line for an old lady that wanted to change the battery of her phone. It was a keypad phone of the kind considered modern 15 years ago. The image of her sitting there in front of the cashier will stay with me for a long time because, in an instant, my mind ran through the entire planned obsolescence racket^ and understood the inevitable verdict that will be given by the system this woman fell prey to.

    In the past years I’ve become increasingly aware of the hideousness of hyper-consumerism^. But this situation has put a face on it. Of course, the shop couldn’t help her. The only option for the old lady was to switch to some other phone, most probably with a non-replaceable battery, so she can be forced to change it every few years. Not to mention she must adapt to new software every time it happens and probably be at the receiving end of automatic updates that will change features in her phone, which is exactly what an old lady wants from her device (not!).

    With corporations making money from data and with governments drooling over the private lives of its citizens, it’s no wonder that phones with replaceable batteries have disappeared off the market (using “water resistance” as a cheap excuse). Yes, there is a likely connection between forcing people to upgrade their phones and the need to make sure that those people voluntarily carry around the latest and greatest in spying technology in their pocket. Hey, some people will even queue for days and pay outrageous amounts for these things.

    Reasons & solutions

    But why is it like this? The answer is terrible in its cruel simplicity. These are the rules of the Human Game^ at this point in time. What’s terrible is that even though we are directly responsible for creating and tolerating these rules, we also face an extremely powerful opposition to change them. The machine has grown into a huge, lumbering beast whose behavior harks back to our most ancient instincts, such as the imperious need to survive. Corporations need to earn money. They exist for this purpose and this purpose alone. So it is no wonder they buy governments and do whatever it takes in order to survive in the jungle of a (stock) market^ that is the very heart of the machine.

    Can this all change? Of course it can. And the solution is wonderful in its beautiful simplicity. We just need to change the criteria with which we purchase goods and services and with which we vote. It’s as simple as that. We need to change the rules of the Human Game. Stock market processes can be changed to encourage responsible and long-term investment. Governments can be encouraged to invest into research and education. Corporations will have no alternative but to transform themselves into entities that value the environment and respect their customers. Because otherwise, nobody will purchase what they’re peddling. There’s only need for one commercial entity in every field to prove that this works. This will generate a mass extinction of the old business model. And it’s us, the consumers, who can trigger and sustain this.

    The very reason I write these words is because I strongly believe in this change. And what’s beautiful is that the change doesn’t even need to be sudden (and therefore potentially violent). Actually, it can’t be sudden because this modification in people’s mentality will not occur overnight. It will take time until more of us are ready to champion this cause and for it to spread. But it will happen. Of that, I am sure. I just wish that it will happen before another disaster strikes our civilization.

    A lovely (even if sad) wordplay
    A lovely (even if sad) wordplay

    In closing, here are a few other factoids from the war against privacy (I noticed that ZDNet has a pretty good section about all this):

    http://www.zdnet.com/article/snoopers-charter-expansive-new-spying-powers-becomes-law/^

    http://www.zdnet.com/article/inside-the-global-terrorism-blacklist-secretly-shadowing-millions-of-suspects/^

    http://www.zdnet.com/article/meet-the-shadowy-tech-brokers-that-deliver-your-data-to-the-nsa/^

    http://www.zdnet.com/article/millions-verizon-customer-records-israeli-data/^

    http://www.zdnet.com/article/one-federal-wiretap-order-recorded-millions-phone-calls/^

    [ax_meta fbimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/02596-NotSurprisingSmartphonePrivacy-Share.jpg’ lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/02596-NotSurprisingSmartphonePrivacy-Thumb.jpg’ fbimgw=’1170′ fbimgh=’350′ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Why It's Not Surprising That Smartphone Privacy Is Going from Bad to Worse’ desc=’Throughout the past years there have been several high-profile occasions when apps were in the news for questionable tracking strategies.’]