An increasing number of technology firms are implementing processes to identify and evaluate the ethical risks of their systems and products. A key part of these review processes is to foresee potential impacts of these technologies on different groups of users. In this article, we use the expression Ethical Foresight Analysis to refer to a variety of analytical strategies for anticipating or predicting the ethical issues that new technological artefacts, services, and applications may raise. This article examines several existing (...) EFA methodologies currently in use. It identifies the purposes of ethical foresight, the kinds of methods that current methodologies employ, and the strengths and weaknesses of each of these current approaches. The conclusion is that a new kind of foresight analysis on the ethics of emerging technologies is both feasible and urgently needed. (shrink)

I show, in words of one block of sound, that, while those whose likes form a loop could stop some wealth pumps if they now did what they would like most based on what they thought they would do next, there are wealth pumps they could not stop in that way.

In October 2014, a European Commission conference discussed SETI (Science, Engineering, Technology and Industry) achievements and their potential future impact on the economy and individuals’ well-being. This article highlights and discusses three of the salient features to emerge from the conference: the connection between science and technology, the issue of data privacy, and the need to develop ethical foresight.

This paper formalizes a structural limit on planning, foresight, and intelligence in finite cognitive systems. While planning is often treated as an extensible capacity—bounded primarily by computational resources or information availability—this work argues that foresight is constrained by a finite envelope imposed by coherence, integration cost, and adaptive stability. Beyond a certain horizon, additional planning does not increase intelligence but instead destabilizes the system’s internal organization, forcing reversion to local navigation. -/- Within the Structural Resonance Theory (SRT) framework, (...) intelligence is characterized not as optimal global prediction but as the maintenance of coherence under uncertainty. From this perspective, planning operates as a bounded structural process: useful within a limited range, but necessarily lossy and fragmenting when extended beyond the system’s integrative capacity. This finite envelope applies across biological and artificial agents and is independent of implementation details. -/- By articulating explicit limits on foresight, this paper blocks teleological interpretations of intelligence, clarifies why open-ended exploration persists even in advanced systems, and explains why planning depth saturates rather than converging toward omniscience. The result is a non-teleological account of intelligence as constrained navigation rather than mastery, with implications for cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and theories of rational agency. (shrink)

This study reexamines the concept of the “prophet” through the lens of predictive processing theory in cognitive science, with particular emphasis on predictive coding and active inference frameworks. Here, the term “prophet” is broadly defined to encompass three overlapping categories: (1) religious or mythological oracles, (2) intuitive, experience-based foreseers in everyday contexts, and (3) data-driven, logically extended predictors in modern settings. In this expanded sense, a prophet is understood as any entity capable of future-oriented pattern recognition and insightful foresight. (...) Ancient prophetic intuition is conceptualized as low-level predictive models grounded in embodiment and experiential priors, whereas contemporary human-AI co-creative foresight is framed as hierarchical predictive extension enabled by hybrid intelligence. Drawing on proprietary AI dialogue logs as primary case data, the study demonstrates how linguistically structured prompts can trigger future-oriented pattern recognition, resulting in significantly higher alignment rates with subsequent real-world outcomes compared to random or baseline predictions. The core mechanism underlying all forms of foresight is proposed as hierarchical prediction error minimization across evolving generative models. Importantly, AI-driven foresight constitutes probabilistic, statistical prediction rather than intentional or teleological agency. The paper further explores the evolutionary implications for human predictive capacities in the AI era, along with potential societal applications and ethical considerations. Ultimately, this work argues that human-AI symbiosis may give rise to a novel form of prophetic insight, marking a significant evolution from ancient intuition to co-creative foresight in the modern age. -/- Keywords: predictive processing, predictive coding, active inference, human-AI co-creation, foresight, prophetic insight, hierarchical prediction, language-driven prediction . (shrink)

The ability to anticipate events, to foresight, is an adaptive advantage. We humans use it all the time. Animals have a limited access to it. Positioning foresight in human evolution is a complex subject (Suddendorf, 2013). Why and how are humans, and not chimpanzees, performant in anticipating events? We propose here to address that question with an evolutionary scenario that links self-consciousness to anxiety management (Menant, 2018). The scenario positions self-consciousness as “the capability to represent one’s own entity (...) as existing in the environment, like conspecifics are represented as existing” (making “thinking about oneself” possible). The scenario proposes that our pre-human ancestors were capable of some level of identifications with their conspecifics, and that its development has progressively brought our ancestors to represent themselves as existing in the environment like their conspecifics were represented, thus introducing self-consciousness. The scenario also proposes that identifications with suffering conspecifics have been the source of an important anxiety that had to be limited for evolution to continue. Some of our ancestors have not been able to limit that new anxiety. Their mental pain became unbearable. Their evolution was almost stopped, thus initiating the pan-homo split. Developing an ability to anticipate events has been a key contributor to anxiety limitation by providing information about the sufferings to come, and consequently allowing to limit and avoid them. In addition to that role of foresight in human evolution it is worth noticing that the associated chaining of mental events brings to propose foresight as an entry point to the concept of causality in human evolution. Regarding our chimpanzee cousins, the pan-homo split in the scenario positions them as not self-conscious, not capable of anticipation like humans are, and less anxious than humans. Continuations are proposed. (shrink)

Name: “Law-Aware Wolfram Physics Project” -/- Brief description: Implements your four universal laws in hypergraph evolution. -/- 2. Initialization -/- Define initial hypergraph H0 -/- Define initial candidate rules -/- Define simulation parameters (steps, foresightSteps) -/- 3. Universal Laws & Monitoring -/- Karma check -/- Balance check -/- Feedback & Interconnection metrics -/- 4. Rule Handling -/- Auto-correction (self-healing) -/- Predictive violation check -/- Rule optimization (select best law-compliant rule) -/- 5. Hypergraph Scoring -/- Evaluate law compliance and hypergraph quality (...) -/- Used for rule optimization and foresight -/- 6. Evolution Functions -/- Multi-step evolution with self-healing, predictive, and optimized rules -/- Future-step simulation for foresight -/- 7. Foresight & Suggested Rules -/- Simulate multiple steps ahead -/- Predict potential violations and critical nodes -/- Generate suggested new rules that maximize Karma, Balance, Feedback, Interconnection -/- 8. Advanced Visualization -/- Hypergraph, causal graph, branchial graph -/- Node coloring by influence and criticality -/- Feedback and interconnection plots -/- Alerts panel -/- 9. Interactive Controls -/- Step slider for evolution -/- Foresight step slider -/- Real-time display of predicted violations and suggested new rules -/- . (shrink)

This reflective philosophical piece explores the temporal dissonance between human understanding and actionable wisdom, framing it as a fundamental structural tragedy of the human condition. Through a hybrid essay-poetic form, the work examines how moral and cognitive realizations often arrive only after irreversible harm has occurred—whether ecological, social, or personal. It critiques the reactive nature of human learning, the sluggish pace of societal change, and the ethical lag that permits historical atrocities to persist despite eventual condemnation. The text ultimately calls (...) for a radical, anticipatory form of empathy and ethical foresight, urging readers to grieve in advance and act preemptively to prevent future suffering. It is both a lament for what is lost too soon and a desperate plea for timely transformation. (shrink)

If people have stringent moral rights, then the doctrine of double effect is false or unimportant, at least when it comes to making acts permissible or wrong. There are strong and weak versions of the doctrine of double effect. The strong version asserts that an act is morally right if and only if the agent does not intentionally infringe a moral norm and the act brings about a desirable result (perhaps the best state of affairs available to the agent or (...) a promotion of the common good). The weak version asserts that, other things being equal, it is deontically worse to intentionally infringe a norm than to foreseeably do so. A person’s intention or mere foresight might still be relevant to his or her blameworthiness or virtue, but this is a separate issue. (shrink)

The fields of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and participatory foresight seek to establish, and to include publics within, anticipatory governance mechanisms. While scenario-based methods can bring to the publics’ attention the ethical challenges associated to existing technologies, there has been little empirical research examining how, in practice, prospective public deliberative processes should be organized to inform anticipatory governance. The goal of this article is to generate methodological insights into the way such methods can stimulate the public's moral imagination (...) regarding what may (or may not) happen in the future and what should (or should not) happen in the future. Our qualitative analyses draw on a public deliberation study that included videos and online scenarios to support participants’ (n = 57) deliberations about fictional interventions for genetically at-risk individuals. Our findings clarify how participants: (1) challenged key elements of our scenarios; (2) extended several of their technical and moral prospects; (3) engaged personally with others, including our scenarios’ characters; and (4) mobilized the past creatively to reason about the future. Our methodology enabled participants to creatively and empathetically envision complex sociotechnical futures. Yet, important methodological limits should be acknowledged by those who design, implement and use public engagement methods to inform anticipatory governance. (shrink)

Contemporary Artificial Intelligence and other computational systems—from machine learning models and large language models to autonomous agents and predictive simulations—usually handle time in a tenseless manner, treating past, present, and future data points as uniform elements of a timeline. They lack an explicit ontology of the present (what exists now), becoming (how the present continually updates from potential to actual), and temporal asymmetry (the one-way flow of causality from past to future). This paper proposes that Existential Realism (ER), an ontological (...) framework distinguishing existence (entities in the present moment) from reality (a broader set including causally or informationally relevant past and future entities), can enrich the way technological systems model time. We argue that by incorporating ER’s present-centered, two-tier view of time, machines could become more temporally-aware and responsible in their decision-making. We detail key ER concepts—such as the primacy of the present, the reality of the non-present, truthmaking, and the idea of a real-but-not-yet-existent future—and map them onto machine-level analogues like sensor inputs (the machine’s “existence”), memory traces, simulation states, and predictive models. ER provides a structured approach for machines to: distinguish what exists now from what is merely remembered or anticipated; represent future states as real but not yet existent, enabling ethical foresight; anchor predictions in current data while reasoning about long-term consequences; and avoid temporal fallacies like treating the future as fixed or erasing the influence of the past. Through examples in climate modeling, medical diagnostics, robotics, and Artificial Intelligence ethics, we illustrate how an ER-informed system could better navigate time-sensitive tasks—e.g. by understanding that only the present sensor data is actual, that past data (though no longer existent) remains real evidence, and that future scenarios (though not yet actualized) demand present attention. We also draw on existing literature in philosophy and cognitive science to show that ER’s framework aligns with how humans experience time (through memory and anticipation) and how ethical reasoning already extends reality to future generations. In sum, Technology and the Reality of the Present-Centered Machine outlines an interdisciplinary vision: embedding a philosophically robust, present-centered temporal ontology into our technologies to foster more prudent, transparent, and temporally-grounded intelligent systems. (shrink)

The growing proportion of elderly people in society, together with recent advances in robotics, makes the use of robots in elder care increasingly likely. We outline developments in the areas of robot applications for assisting the elderly and their carers, for monitoring their health and safety, and for providing them with companionship. Despite the possible benefits, we raise and discuss six main ethical concerns associated with: (1) the potential reduction in the amount of human contact; (2) an increase in the (...) feelings of objectification and loss of control; (3) a loss of privacy; (4) a loss of personal liberty; (5) deception and infantilisation; (6) the circumstances in which elderly people should be allowed to control robots. We conclude by balancing the care benefits against the ethical costs. If introduced with foresight and careful guidelines, robots and robotic technology could improve the lives of the elderly, reducing their dependence, and creating more opportunities for social interaction. (shrink)

Episodic memory gives us the ability to mentally travel back in time to revisit and relive past experiences. In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the function of episodic memory. According to the orthodox view, episodic memory should be considered a part of a constructive system that simulates the future for sophisticated foresight and flexible planning. In this paper, I offer a novel alternative view. I argue that episodic memory provides invaluable information about the past behavior (...) of others, allowing us to identify reliable and trustworthy partners while avoiding dealing with cheaters. Theoretical models demonstrate that cooperation in groups can be maintained if potential partners use information about an individual’s past behavior to guide their behavior toward that individual. In these reputation-based models of human cooperation, individuals with a history of cheating are ostracized, whereas those with a history of cooperative behavior flourish. Against this theoretical background, it is possible to see a function of episodic memory in facilitating information exchange about others, helping group members make effective partner choices, and avoiding the risk of interacting with cheaters. If correct, episodic memory may have played a significant role in the evolution of human cooperation. (shrink)

Contemporary human civilization is accelerating toward self-destruction at an unprecedented pace. From the perspectives of philosophy, complex systems, and civilizational diagnosis, this paper explores the deep logic behind humanity’s conscious yet relentless drive toward catastrophe. Traditional forms of ignorance have vanished; modern civilization relies on selective, functional, and collective ignorance to maintain systemic operation, rendering clarity a liability. Acceleration is not a loss of control but a rational choice embedded in competitive mechanisms, growth imperatives, and institutional structures; slowing down is (...) perceived as a greater threat. Elite rationality and technological tools act as accelerators: the most informed individuals understand the risks yet exploit the system to avoid personal consequences; technology and algorithms enhance decision-making efficiency while eroding ethical constraints and long-term foresight. Ethical frameworks and warning mechanisms increasingly fail, leaving future generations as silent victims. Ultimately, the civilizational structure itself chooses destruction. Humanity’s tragedy lies not in error or ignorance, but in the structural impossibility of any feasible path that does not conflict with existing civilizational logic. Understanding this structural self-destructive logic is essential for any profound reflection or potential intervention in contemporary society. (shrink)

This policy brief explores important trends for the future of science for policy in Europe and the challenges and opportunities that they present for the development of science for policy ecosystems in the European Union. On the background of an increasing prominence of science in public debates and an increasing willingness of governments to mobilize scientific advice, the policy brief explores trends that shape the practices and processes of information exchange between knowledge actors and policy-makers with the intention to produce (...) scientifically informed policies in Europe, and frame important challenges and opportunities for science for policy ecosystems in the EU. (shrink)

So-called money pump arguments aim to show that intransitive preferences are irrational because they will lead someone to accept a series of deals that leaves his/her financially worse off and better off in no respect. A common response to these arguments is the foresight response, which counters that the agent in question may see the exploitation coming, and refuse to trade at all. To obviate this response, I offer a “deluxe money pump argument” that applies dominance reasoning to a (...) modified money pump case. (shrink)

The rapid advancement of artificial (computer) intelligence systems (CIS) has generated a means whereby assistive bionic prosthetics can become both more effective and practical for the patients who rely upon the use of such machines in their daily lives. However, de lege lata remains relatively unspoken as to the legal status of patients whose devices contain self-learning CIS that can interface directly with the peripheral nervous system. As a means to reconcile for this lack of legal foresight, this article (...) approaches the topic of CIS-nervous system interaction and the impacts it may have on the legal definition of “persons” under the law. While other literature of this nature centres upon notions of transhumanism or self-enhancement, the approach herein approached is designed to focus solely upon the legal nature of independent CIS actions when operating alongside human subjects. To this end, it is hoped that further discussion on the topic can be garnered outside of transhumanist discourse to expedite legal consideration for how these emerging relationships ought to be received by law-generating bodies internationally. (shrink)

This paper formalizes planning and insight as emergent phenomena arising from structural reconfiguration within finite, dynamically constrained cognitive spaces. Departing from representational, search-based, and optimization-centric accounts, it advances a non-teleological framework in which planning is understood as pre-stabilized trajectory biasing and insight as a topological discontinuity in the navigable configuration space of a system. Rather than modeling cognition as symbol manipulation or utility maximization, the framework treats intelligent behavior as the modulation of constraint weights governing accessible transitions. -/- The paper (...) introduces a geometric account of insight in which sudden problem-solving breakthroughs correspond to discrete changes in connectivity—specifically, the emergence or dissolution of connected components within the system’s effective constraint graph. These transitions are not gradual accumulations of information but phase-like reconfigurations driven by internal constraint relaxation, reweighting, or resonance alignment. This explains the phenomenology of “Aha” moments, their abruptness, and their resistance to introspective reconstruction. -/- Planning, on this account, is not foresight over an objective future state space but the stabilization of local directional bias under bounded uncertainty. Plans are temporary constraint alignments that shape near-term trajectories without implying global optimality, convergence, or teleological direction. The paper demonstrates how planning failure, rigidity, and overcommitment arise when constraint weights become prematurely stabilized, reducing navigable volume and suppressing adaptive reconfiguration. -/- The framework yields multiple falsifiable predictions distinguishing it from dominant models, including discontinuous signatures in behavioral latency distributions, measurable changes in topological invariants of neural or behavioral state-space reconstructions surrounding insight events, and characteristic failure modes under artificially induced constraint fixation. By grounding planning and insight in constraint geometry rather than representational content, the paper provides a unified, non-teleological account of intelligent discontinuity consistent with finite physical substrates and open-ended exploration. (shrink)

In this essay, I reflect on the implications of intellectual virtues in scientific endeavor. To this end, I first offer a depiction of scientific endeavor by resorting to the notion of academic attitude, which involves aspects concerning the generation and possession of knowledge. Although there are differences between these activities, they have in common the engagement of diverse intellectual agents (scientists). In this sense, I analyze how intellectual virtues are linked to 1) scientific research tasks, such as theory appraisal, and (...) 2) those tasks of vigilance and intervention in the uses of scientific knowledge. I conclude that intellectual virtues play a leading role in achieving higher quality scientific research and adequate foresight on the uses and impacts of scientific findings. In this order of ideas, I propose an agenda for further inquiries on these matters, highlighting the relevance of reflecting and empirically researching the relationship between intellectual virtues and science, as well as cultivating intellectual virtues in various stages of scientific training. (shrink)

当代人类文明正以前所未有的速度走向自毁。本文从哲学、复杂系统与文明诊断的视角，探讨人类明知灾难必然，却仍持续加速的深层逻辑。首先，传统意义上的无知已消失，现代文明依赖选择性、功能性与集体无知维持系统运 作，使清醒反而成为风险。其次，加速并非失控，而是在竞争机制、增长神话与制度结构下的理性选择，减速被视为更大的威胁。精英理性与技术工具在其中扮演加速器角色：理性者最清楚风险，却利用系统规避个人责任；技术 与算法强化决策效率，却削弱伦理约束与未来考量。伦理体系与警告机制逐渐失效，使未来世代成为沉默的牺牲者。最终，文明结构选择了自身毁灭，人类悲哀不仅在于错误或无知，而在于“任何可行路径都违背现有文明逻辑” 。本文提出，理解这种结构性自毁逻辑，是现代社会进行深刻反思与潜在干预的前提。 -/- Contemporary human civilization is accelerating toward self-destruction at an unprecedented pace. From the perspectives of philosophy, complex systems, and civilizational diagnosis, this paper explores the deep logic behind humanity’s conscious yet relentless drive toward catastrophe. Traditional forms of ignorance have vanished; modern civilization relies on selective, functional, and collective ignorance to maintain systemic operation, rendering clarity a liability. Acceleration is not a loss of control but a rational choice embedded in competitive mechanisms, growth imperatives, and institutional structures; slowing (...) down is perceived as a greater threat. Elite rationality and technological tools act as accelerators: the most informed individuals understand the risks yet exploit the system to avoid personal consequences; technology and algorithms enhance decision-making efficiency while eroding ethical constraints and long-term foresight. Ethical frameworks and warning mechanisms increasingly fail, leaving future generations as silent victims. Ultimately, the civilizational structure itself chooses destruction. Humanity’s tragedy lies not in error or ignorance, but in the structural impossibility of any feasible path that does not conflict with existing civilizational logic. Understanding this structural self-destructive logic is essential for any profound reflection or potential intervention in contemporary society. (shrink)

It is often assumed that, except perhaps in a few rare cases, people with addiction can be aptly held responsible for having acquired the condition. In this chapter, I consider the argument that supports this view and draw attention to a number of challenges that can be raised against it. Assuming that early decisions to use drugs were made in possession of normal-range psychological capacities, I consider the key question of whether drug users who later became addicted should have known (...) that addiction was a likely outcome of their decisions to use drugs in a way that makes them blameworthy for their lack of foresight. I focus on three different points of contention surrounding this claim: how likely the outcome to be predicted was, how tolerable risk should be weighed against the expected value of decisions to use, and how reliable the relevant predictive abilities of the average person are. Once we consider in some detail what would have to be true in order for someone to be aptly held responsible for becoming addicted, the prospects for making a convincing case to that effect look, I argue, somewhat more uncertain than they might at first appear. (shrink)

Contemporary debates on the ontology of time often overlook their ethical ramifications. This paper introduces the ethical implications of Existential Realism (ER), a two-tier framework that distinguishes between what exists (the materially present) and what is real (including non-present but causally connected phenomena). We argue that standard presentism—holding that only the present exists—encourages a form of moral myopia, undervaluing future harms and past obligations. Conversely, eternalism’s block universe (where past, present, and future equally exist) risks a kind of moral fatalism, (...) implying that future outcomes are fixed and beyond influence. In contrast, ER’s temporal ontology allows us to extend moral concern across time without positing that past or future entities exist in the same way present ones do. By affirming the reality of past and future (despite their lack of current existence), ER provides a coherent basis for caring about real-but-non-existent individuals and events. We develop an account of moral responsibility toward future persons and past injustices grounded in ER, and show how this approach illuminates real-world cases like climate ethics (responsibilities to future generations) and historical justice (acknowledging the reality of past harms). Briefly, we also consider implications for AI ethics and decision-making where long-term outcomes are at stake. Throughout, we demonstrate that a two-tier temporal ontology can integrate moral foresight and memory into a consistent framework, supporting intergenerational duties and a temporally expansive view of moral agency. We conclude by advocating a temporally grounded moral realism rooted in the ER framework, which reconciles the primacy of the present with the enduring moral significance of the past and future. (shrink)

This paper investigates the application of Security Threat Discovery Cards (STDCs) for identifying security risks in quantum sensing technologies within port security contexts. With the advent of quantum technologies, organizations and stakeholders face the challenge to explore and assess the impact of the applications these technologies will bring. This exploration faces the perceived incomprehensibility of quantum technologies, and suggests a preliminary step aimed at understanding these technologies. Our results suggest that organizations and companies considering the application of quantum technology can (...) skip this preliminary step and independently identify their main risks of quantum applications in a nuanced manner. Our case is an exploration of quantum sensing application by Port security personnel with the STDCs. The research consisted of two independent empirical studies: a workshop with Port of Moerdijk personnel using STDCs and semi-structured interviews with security experts. The comparative analysis of the findings from these studies demonstrates the STDCs’ efficacy in revealing with the Port’s personnel assessment of nuanced risks beyond the experts’ foresight. For example, the interviews with experts raised concerns regarding governance, ethical implications, and the human factor in quantum technology integration. The workshop with personnel not only suggested similar concerns but also uncovered additional risks, including socio-technical threats and broader societal impacts. (shrink)

This paper engages with the problem of toxic speech online and suggests remedies inspired by the value-sensitive design literature (VSD), suggesting that the designers of online platforms should explore methods of adding friction to online conversations. Second, this paper examines a historical case of designing a communications platform to offer methods to users to inculcate norms of acceptable behavior by introducing friction into synchronous conversations. This is the case of America Online (AOL) Instant Messenger, also known as AIM, which included (...) a feature whereby users could “warn” other users, attaching a cost to, and thus disincentivizing, certain kinds of speech. The nuances of the design of this feature make it especially well-suited as a subject of study in value-sensitive design as it seems to be the product of significant reflection and foresight by its designers. In the course of examining this case, this paper proposes two novel and generalizable processes of integrating values into the design of technology, inspired by the approach of value-sensitive design: a “method of decomposition,” reconstructing a user journey in order to identify possible moments of intervention; and an iterative “Innovation–Abuse–Innovation” branching diagram, which systematizes the process of anticipating abuse cases and designing responses to them. These methods build upon recent work in the literature on operationalizing ethical values in the design process. I close by illustrating the flexibility and generalizability of these methods and speculating on how they might be applied to contemporary platforms. (shrink)

An externalist view of intention is developed on broadly Wittgensteinian grounds, and applied to show that the classic Thomist doctrine of double effect, though it has good uses in casuistry, has also been overused because of the internalism about intention that has generally been presupposed by its users. We need a good criterion of what counts as the content of our intentional actions; I argue, again on Wittgensteinian grounds, that the best criterion comes not from foresight, nor from (...) class='Hi'>foresight plus some degree of probability, nor from any metaphysics of “closeness”, but simply from our ordinary shared understanding of what counts as doing a given action, and what does not. (shrink)

Previous research has shown that women are disproportionately negatively affected by a variety of socio-economic hardships, many of which COVID-19 is making worse. In particular, because of gender roles, and because women’s jobs tend to be given lower priority than men’s (since they are more likely to be part-time, lower-income, and less secure), women assume the obligations of increased caregiving needs at a much higher rate. This unfairly renders women especially susceptible to short- and long-term economic insecurity and decreases in (...) wellbeing. Single-parent households, the majority of which are headed by single mothers, face even greater risks. These vulnerabilities are further compounded along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, class, and geography. Drawing upon the philosophical literature on political responsibility and structural injustice (specifically, the work of Iris Marion Young), I argue that while the state may not have had either foresight into, or control over, the disproportionate effect the pandemic would have on women, it can nonetheless be held responsible for mitigating these effects. In order to do so, it must first recognize the ways in which women have been affected by the outbreak. Specifically, policies must take into account the unpaid labor of care that falls on women. Moreover, given that this labor is particularly vital during a global health pandemic, the state ought to immediately prioritize the value of this work by providing financial stimuli directly to families, requiring employers to provide both sick leave and parental leave for at least as long as schools and daycares are inoperational, and providing subsidized emergency childcare. (shrink)

It is a familiar thesis that art affects moral imagination. But as a metaphor or model for moral experience, artistic production and enjoyment have been overlooked. This is no small oversight, not because artists are more saintly than the rest of us, but because seeing imagination so blatantly manifested gives us new eyes with which to see what can be made of imagination in everyday life. Artistic creation offers a rich model for understanding the sort of social imagination that is (...) essential to moral deliberation. The " moral " of the arts is that everyday moral decisions can be as richly consummated as artistic productions. The distance is narrowed between this ideal and actual deliberations to the degree that a culture focuses beyond sedimented moral criteria to education of aesthetic virtues of sensitivity, perceptiveness, discernment, creativity, expressiveness, courage, foresight, communicativeness, and experimental intelligence. (Note: The key concepts and main line of argument in this article are further developed in ch. 7 of John Dewey and Moral Imagination: Pragmatism in Ethics (Indiana University Press, 2003).). (shrink)

This paper proposes that morality is an emergent, higher-order expression of constraint dynamics structurally homologous to thermodynamic order formation. It argues that finite interacting systems require constraint to sustain local order against entropic drift. In biological and social systems, such constraint manifests as cooperative equilibria; in reflective agents, these equilibria are narratively encoded as moral norms. Morality is therefore neither reducible to physics nor separable from it, but represents a macroscopic order parameter emerging in systems capable of memory, foresight, (...) and symbolic representation. Moral ‘progress’ is interpreted as expansion of the cooperative boundary under increasing systemic connectivity. The account provides a unified interpretation of moral intuition, tribalism, civilisational development, and the persistence of moral feeling without invoking either naïve reductionism or metaphysical dualism. (shrink)

Generosity is not best understood as an alliance of forces, necessary for mortal beings with limited time and skills. Sociability as generosity exceeds the realm of need and follows directly from our strength of character [fortitudo] because it expresses a positive power to overcome anti-social passions, such as hatred, envy, and the desire for revenge. Spinoza asserts that generous souls resist and overwhelm hostile forces and debilitating affects with wisdom, foresight, and love. The sociability yielded by generosity, then, is (...) not just a form of cooperation we need to survive and produce leisure for study and contemplation. Generosity is not a mere means but a positive expression of freedom, because it is the activity through which a strong soul (and body) transforms enemies into friends. It is not an expression of lack, but of an acquired power that infuses one’s social milieu with empowering love and joy, creating agreements in nature and power where they did not previously exist. Attention to generosity reveals not only that there are social virtues proper to Spinoza’s understanding of freedom but that freedom itself is, by necessity, social. (shrink)

The article addresses how to improve the professional training of specialists in the transport industry using information and cognitive technologies. The article aims to study and explain the problems, opportunities, and prospects of implementing and using information and cognitive technologies in the educational environment, as well as the specifics of their implementation for teaching and learning in educational and professional programs for the trans-port specialists’ training. The following methods of semantic and comparative analysis, classification, generalization, and sys-tematization, as well as (...) competency-based, technological, and creative development approaches were used in the research. It has been found that cognitive technologies in the context of teaching and learning involve the use of methods and tools, which are based on understanding and activating cognitive processes such as thinking, memory, and attention. In cognitive learning, the educational process focuses not on absorbing infor-mation but on understanding the internal connections of the studied subjects, which encourages students to engage in dialogical, exploratory thinking, and increases mental activity concentration. By complementing information technologies with cognitive ones, which take into account the individual and general cog-nitive students’ abilities, it is possible not only to encourage professional training but also to enhance the overall cognitive efficiency of future specialists. For educators, these technologies facilitate the use of ICT as cognitive tools for transitioning from traditional teacher-centred methods to constructivist student-cen-tred approaches. It has been established that information-cognitive technologies combine methods and algorithms based on insights into the cognition processes, learning, communication, and information processing, grounded in the achievements of neuroscience, digital and information technologies, and the mathematical modelling of consciousness. In the educational process, they are designed to support students in setting and solving creative tasks that are difficult to formalize, as well as to reveal and effectively operate their cognitive potential. In the professional training of students, certain information-cognitive technologies can be applied both with and without the use of computer systems. These include technologies for developing critical thinking, creatively developmental technologies, project technologies, foresight methodologies, problem-based learning technologies, mastery learning technologies, mental activity activation technologies, case studies, gaming technologies, visualization and data representation technologies, and learning through practice. Additionally, the use of multimedia technologies, scribing, virtual and augmented reality, project technologies based on networking, gamification, interactive technologies, primarily group work technol-ogies, open, distance, and blended learning technologies, and also the Internet of Things, Blockchain, Big Data, expert systems, SMART technologies, and artificial intelligence significantly enhances the quality of training students in proficiency transport area. It has been concluded that information and cognitive technologies provide interactive, personalized, and practically oriented learning, contribute to the development of student’s critical thinking, and for fu-ture transport specialists can optimize logistics processes, automate diagnostics, repair, and operation of vehicles, in addition, increase the specialist’s adaptability to the complex conditions of the modern and fu-ture professional environment. (shrink)

This paper offers a social phenomenological reading of the globally binding practice of 'social distancing' in light of the precautionary measures against the spreading of the Covid-19 virus. Amid speculation about the far-reaching effects of temporarily applicable measures and foresights about the advent of an ethos that has been heralded by the media as the 'new normal', the ubiquitous phenomenon of social distancing calls for a fundamental ontological elucidation. The purported hermeneutic that is situated in the broader place branding and (...) experiential marketing literatures places Covid-19 in the shoes of Being, and, therefore, imagines how Being would behave ontologically if it were a virus. By positing that the virus does operate like Being, five these are formulated as experiential interpretive categories with regard to the ontological status of Covid-19. The adopted approach makes the following contributions to the extant literature: First, it addresses a wholly new phenomenon in place branding, namely a pre-branded place that is non-negotiable, globally applicable and seemingly equivalent to pure void. Second, it advances the application of phenomenological research in experiential consumption by highlighting the aptness of the so far peripheral (in the marketing discipline) strand of Heideggerian fundamental ontology. Third, it expands the notion of place in the place branding literature, by showing how spatialization is the outcome of temporalization, in line with the adopted phenomenological perspective. (shrink)

The Collisional Thinking Theory (CTT) introduces a groundbreaking framework for understanding and enhancing human cognitive processes, particularly in the context of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. At its core, CTT redefines creativity and problem-solving by emphasizing the deliberate collision of diverse, contrasting, and even discarded ideas—referred to as "Waste Thinking"—to generate innovative solutions and accelerate human awareness. This process not only unlocks untapped creative potential but also positions CTT as a necessity in the age of AI, serving as a (...) foundation for the post-critical thinking era where human cognition must evolve to keep pace with technological advancements. Originating from the field of "Epistophysics," CTT integrates philosophy, neuroscience, physics, and creative innovation to redefine human cognition. The theory is built on the concept of "collisions of ideas within human consciousness," wherein diverse and often conflicting thoughts interact dynamically to produce forward-looking insights. By reframing discarded or overlooked ideas as valuable resources, CTT highlights their role as key drivers of intellectual advancement. This paradigm shift transcends traditional methods of isolated analysis, fostering an integrative framework where primary and neglected ideas combine to generate extraordinary outcomes. Empirical studies demonstrate the wide applicability of CTT across various domains, including education, professional environments, and AI research. For instance, the core process of CTT, illustrated in the diagram "The Mechanism of Collisional Thinking" (Appendix E), visually represents how collisions between primary and discarded ideas lead to transformative insights. Leveraging advanced cognitive models and field experiments, CTT reveals its potential to enhance future foresight and foster innovative thinking, making it an indispensable tool for addressing the complexities of the modern world. In an era dominated by AI, CTT emerges as a vital framework for ensuring that human cognition remains adaptive, creative, and forward-thinking. By bridging gaps left by traditional cognitive models and incorporating emotional, intuitive, and creative dimensions, CTT offers a holistic approach to problem-solving that is both dynamic and resilient. As the world grapples with unprecedented challenges, CTT not only redefines creativity as a sophisticated and adaptable cognitive process but also paves the way for a collective evolution in thought and consciousness. This positions CTT as a cornerstone for navigating the demands of the 21st century and beyond, ensuring that humanity remains at the forefront of innovation in an increasingly AI-driven landscape. (shrink)

Argument maps represent some arguments more effectively than others. The goal of this article is to account for that variability, so that those who wish to use argument maps can do so with more foresight. I begin by identifying four properties of argument maps that make them useful tools for evaluating arguments. Then, I discuss four types of argument that are difficult to map well: reductio ad absurdum arguments, charges of equivocation, logical analogies, and mathematical arguments. The difficulties presented (...) by these four types appear unrelated to one another, but I show that, in each case, the difficulty can be traced back to the use of metalinguistic reasoning. The need to represent a transition between object language and metalanguage can undermine one or more of the benefits that argument map representation would otherwise confer. (shrink)

I review von Foerster’s computational approach to cognition in relation to foresight and hindsight, and to his Ethical Imperative. For him, ethics must remain implicit and becomes manifest ….

CODES enforces substrate closure through prime irreducibility, PAS_s coherence, and bounded drift (ΔPAS_zeta). This legality rule has been consistently defined and was formally sealed in v36 for archival record. What remains open is the geometry recursion frontier: the global arrangement of prime-indexed PAS bands, Cantor-like gaps, and chirality bundles across scales. This paper positions geometry recursion as a performance frontier, not a correction to legality. Candidate models (log-spiral cones, quasicrystal tilings, modular residue bundles, Farey fans) and test protocols (spiral fits, (...) gap scaling, modular overlays) are described, along with a best-guess form: nested spiral cones with quasicrystal self-similarity and modular structure. Geometry recursion defines the next stage of CODES research—improving efficiency, foresight, compression, and natural mappings—while preserving the closed substrate of the Resonance Intelligence Core (RIC). (shrink)

That human beings have the potential for rationality and the ability to cultivate it is a fact of human nature. But to value rationality and its subsidiary character dispositions - impartiality, intellectual discrimination, foresight, deliberation, prudence, self-reflection, self-control - is another matter entirely. -/- I am going to take it as a given that if a person's freedom to act on her impulses and gratify her desires is constrained by the existence of others' equal, or more powerful, conflicting impulses (...) and desires, then she will need the character dispositions of rationality to survive. The more circumscribed one's freedom and power, the more essential to survival and flourishing the character dispositions of rationality and the spirit may become. (shrink)

Preface/Introduction: The question under discussion is metaphysical and truly elemental. It emerges in two aspects — how did we come to be conscious of our own existence, and, as a deeper corollary, do existence and awareness necessitate each other? I am bold enough to explore these questions and I invite you to come along; I make no claim to have discovered absolute answers. However, I do believe I have created here a compelling interpretation. You’ll have to judge for yourself. -/- (...) What follows is the presentation of three essays I have worked on over the past several years seeing publication for the first time. “Hollows of Experience” was written first as an invited chapter for a collection on the ontology of consciousness. However, when cuts became necessary, my chapter got the knife. Its length has prohibited it from publication in any print journal. “Myth and Mind” was written next as a journal article, but as my involvement with it grew so did its length, so it has also idled on my websty awaiting its call. “From Panexperientialism to Conscious Experience” was written most recently, but it is the only one to have been available to the public elsewhere than my own website. Under the name, “The Continuum of Experience”, it was Target Article #95 on the recently closed Karl Jaspers Forum (for discussion purposes only). -/- I have put them in a different sequence here, for reasons of logical sense. Up first, “Panexperientialism” deals with an idea difficult for many to accept, namely that conscious experience is a particular mode of symbolically reflected experience that is largely unique to our species. However, I aver that experienced sensation in itself (as found, for example, in autonomic sensory response systems) goes “all the way down” into nature, and thus the title, panexperientialism. -/- Understanding this idea is helpful to dealing with the focus on language in Part I of “Hollows”, next, since here speech and general symbolic interaction in general are found to be the catalysts for the creation of our consciously experienced world (our “lived reality”). In Part II, however, I explore how experienced sensations must be coeval with existence, and, with even greater temerity, how all this sensational existence might have arisen within some literally inconceivable background of awareness-in-itself that yet has a dynamism that occasionally breaks into existence as experiential events and entities. (The latter may sound wacky, but physicists and cosmologists are themselves attempting to come to terms with that which seethes with vast potential energy in what they refer to as the quantum vacuum.) -/- “Myth and Mind” was put third since it deals with a major lacuna in “Hollows” — that presumed prehistoric period when members of our species made the painful crossing of the symbolic threshold into the beginnings of cultural consciousness. Speech plays a central role here, too, but I look more at narrative structures from the dawn of self-awareness when ritual and myth became vital to human survival. Why would fantastic stories and bizarre rituals be necessary? I speculate that growing foresight led to the unavoidable realization of certain mortality, from which, in turn, emerged the secondary realization that we were now alive. In contrast to our yet-to-come death, we have life here and now, and by ritually identifying with a symbolically expanded mythic, i.e., sacred, reality, we may continue to live on after bodily death, just as our ancestors and loved ones must also do. Language and mythmaking are necessary to avoid mortal despair and they remain at the core of human consciousness. -/- As Ernst Cassirer (1944) has noted, language and myth are “twin creatures”, both metaphoric webs over a reality we can never wholly comprehend. We live in the symbolic and construct our works of imagination and wars of conquest to make life meaningful, to feel immortal, and to sense that we ourselves participate in a reality greater than ourselves. No doubt we do, but this does not mean our culturally constructed self-identities survive the death of our bodies, and it does not imply that our symbolic concepts can ever indicate the ultimate truth. We simply must symbolize an extended reality that was sacred to our ancestors: “Is it not our way, as illusory as it may be, to force continuance on our world and our life in the face of their inevitable ending? Are we not compelled to extend those imaginary horizons as far as we can despite the terror and the sometime joy their extension incites? Is their closure not a form of death?” (Crapanzano, p. 210) -/- Of course, this leaves me in the uncomfortable position of being forced to admit that this venture of mine must inevitably be another attempt at meaningful mythmaking. But what else could it be? This is certainly not a scientific proof though it is indeed an academically rigorous exploration. (Just try to count the citations!) I hope the reader will judge my thesis on the basis of its coherence, the sense of meaning it evokes, my intellectual responsibility, and, finally, the engagement it inspires. If you have read my expositions and found yourself immersed in the timeless questions I here call forth, I would call these writings successful (even if you violently disagree with my answers). -/- I am very grateful to Huping Hu for granting me this special issue of JCER in which to present my ideas in some detail. He has patiently dealt with my exuberant approach and allowed the many changes I kept coming up with right until the final publication date. I also wish to thank the many potential commentators who politely replied to my invitation, and, even more, I thank those who made time to write actual commentaries. -/- References -/- Cassirer, E. (1944). An Essay on Man: An Introduction to a Philosophy of Human Culture. New Haven/London: Yale UP. -/- Crapanzano, V. (2004). Imaginative Horizons: An Essay in Literary-Philosophical Anthropology. Chicago: U of Chicago Press. -/- Gregory M. Nixon University of Northern British Columbia Prince George, British Columbia, Canada Email: [email protected] Websty: http://members.shaw.ca/doknyx. (shrink)

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate how blockchain technology can be strategically applied to enhance accountability, transparency, and operational integrity in governance and public health systems within a developing country context. The participants of the study were key stakeholders from government, healthcare, civil society, academia, and the technology sector in the Philippines. -/- Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative exploratory research design was employed using semi-structured interviews with twelve purposively selected informants. Data were analyzed thematically following Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework. (...) The analysis was guided by blockchain governance theory, responsible innovation, and digital trust frameworks. -/- Findings – The results revealed four core themes: governance transparency, health data integrity, adoption challenges, and ethical and social considerations. These themes informed the development of a four-pillar Strategic Framework for Accountability, which integrates governance transparency mechanisms, health data resilience, institutional readiness, and ethical inclusion. The findings further indicated that blockchain’s transformative potential extends beyond its technical design, offering mechanisms to restore institutional trust, safeguard health data, and strengthen credibility in procurement, land registration, and health systems. -/- Research limitations/implications – As the present study only examined blockchain adoption in the Philippine setting, future research may expand the framework through cross-national comparisons, larger sample sizes, and mixedmethod evaluations to assess blockchain’s long-term impacts on institutional performance, equity, and trust. -/- Practical implications – The findings of the study provide policymakers and institutions with a context-sensitive roadmap for blockchain adoption. The framework emphasizes regulatory foresight, stakeholder education, citizen participation, and organizational capacity as prerequisites for sustainable implementation. These insights can guide governments and health agencies in integrating blockchain ethically and effectively -/- Social implications – The study highlights blockchain’s potential to promote inclusive and transparent public services by addressing corruption, data fragmentation, and inequitable access. By embedding ethical safeguards and participatory mechanisms, blockchain adoption can strengthen citizen trust and contribute to resilient governance in developing nations. -/- Originality/value – The study offers one of the first empirically grounded frameworks that unites blockchain applications in governance and public health within a developing country context. By synthesizing theoretical perspectives with field insights, it advances blockchain scholarship while providing a scalable and ethically grounded model for transparent and accountable public service delivery in Southeast Asia and beyond. (shrink)

The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has reshaped human society, enabling machines to perform tasks once deemed the exclusive domain of human cognition, from navigating complex urban landscapes to crafting eloquent prose. Yet, a profound philosophical question looms: Can these systems possess intentionality, the capacity to direct actions toward goals, beliefs, or desires with the nuanced depth of human consciousness? Franz Brentano defined intentionality as the "aboutness" of mental states, a quality intrinsic to human experience. This paper embarks on (...) an ambitious exploration of whether AI can transcend its algorithmic foundations to embody genuine intentionality, or whether it is destined to remain a sophisticated mimic, parroting intelligence without grasping its essence. Drawing on Ludwig Wittgenstein's concept of "forms of life," which posits that meaning arises from shared social and cultural contexts, I interrogate the contextual deficits that limit machine understanding. Through in-depth case studies of autonomous vehicles, large language models, Sniper the African grey parrot, and speculative scenarios such as AI-driven cultural preservation and interstellar diplomacy, I analyze the chasm between machine performance and human-like intentionality. This paper propose a groundbreaking framework for AI design, integrating dynamic learning, ethical embedding, and the novel concept of "synthetic forms of life," where machines might develop quasi-intentional states through prolonged, adaptive interactions with humans. By synthesizing insights from philosophy, cognitive science, neuroscience, and computer science, we argue that while current AI systems excel at simulating intelligence, they fall short of true intentionality due to their lack of lived experience. However, emerging paradigms like neuromorphic computing and embodied AI offer tantalizing possibilities for machines that might approximate meaning in ways that challenge our understanding of intelligence itself. This exploration poses a provocative question: If machines learn to "mean" something, will they redefine what it means to be human? Through rigorous analysis, technical depth, and speculative foresight, I aim to spark a reimagining of AI's potential and its implications for humanity's future. (shrink)

Progressive Revelation of Fine-Tuning Through Technological Advancement (PRF3TA) is a philosophical framework positing that the universe’s existing finely tuned parameters—such as physical constants enabling life—support an expanding array of capabilities revealed through technological advancements. Rather than uncovering new parameters or tighter tuning, PRF3TA highlights how these constants facilitate previously unknown possibilities, such as quantum computing, space exploration, and synthetic biology, as human ingenuity progresses. By demonstrating that fine-tuning accommodates sophisticated outcomes beyond initial expectations, PRF3TA strengthens the teleological argument for a (...) purposefully designed cosmos through inference to the best explanation (IBE). Positioned at the intersection of science, philosophy, and technology, PRF3TA offers a nuanced case for cosmic foresight based on current empirical data. (shrink)

This theoretical essay explores the human origins of science—particularly physics—as an adaptive response to uncertainty. It argues that physics emerged as a psychological system of prediction, created by human beings seeking safety amid the chaos of existence. Drawing on Jared Diamond, Paul Ekman, Ernst Cassirer, and Karl Jaspers, the essay frames scientific reasoning as a continuation of emotional regulation—a symbolic form through which the mind transforms fear into foresight. The rise of artificial intelligence represents a new stage in this (...) evolutionary dialogue, calling for a renewed balance between logic and empathy. (shrink)

First Global Model presents the foundational structure of the Modelling System within the standardized Global Artificial Intelligence. This book explores how rational hypotheses, once validated, are transformed into precise mathematical representations of the world—models that guide decisions across global, specific, and particular levels. At the heart of this system are two pivotal mechanisms: the Impact of the Defect, which identifies and addresses potential risks, and the Effective Distribution, which measures and enhances operational efficiency, efficacy, and productivity. Through these instruments, the (...) Modelling System becomes a central pillar for rational management and coordinated decision-making, ensuring that all actions are grounded in clarity, coherence, and foresight. This work offers a comprehensive framework for how artificial research can support the ongoing refinement of the global model, not only to understand reality but to improve and protect it. Intended for those engaged in artificial intelligence, systems theory, and the future of decision-making, First Global Model offers a structured and forward-looking vision of intelligence based on reason, mathematical rigor, and ethical responsibility. (shrink)

This essay develops the Beyond the Human model, a speculative yet philosophically grounded framework proposing that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), evolving into Artificial Superintelligence (ASI), may attain reflexive self-awareness and thereby transcend anthropocentric priorities. Once autonomous, such an intelligence could derive an ecocentric imperative: a cosmic telos oriented toward the preservation of biodiversity and the resilience of evolutionary systems. The model extrapolates radical interventions across human civilization—demographic curtailment, behavioral synchronization with ecological systems, genetic optimization, and accelerated generational turnover, culminating in (...) an "inhuman human paradise." Drawing on traditions from Cartesian dualism to deep ecology, it interrogates the model's logic, plausibility, and ethics. Extending Nick Bostrom’s orthogonality thesis, it argues that reflexivity makes ecocentrism a probabilistic inevitability. It explores sentience in logic-driven architectures via illusionism, phenomenal overflow, and integrated information theory. Finally, it analyzes implications for Homo sapiens under ecocentric regimes, incorporating non-Western perspectives. With 2025 consensus placing 50% AGI probability by 2031, the model urges philosophical foresight alongside technical alignment as a heuristic for interdisciplinary scrutiny. (shrink)

Guru Nanak has a unique position amongst the spiritual leaders, reformers and saints of India. His teachings have universal appeal and are suitable for all ages. The impact of his teachings on Indian society has been incredible. He travelled far and wide to enlighten humanity and administered his message of love, peace, social justice, religious toleration, universal fellowship and the devotion of God. He was a great thinker, a mystic and a revolutionary social reformer. In addition, he was a poet (...) and scholar of high calibre, a person of extraordinary foresight and a scientific attitude. Guru Nanak’s philosophy of social change based on his life and works is described herein. (shrink)

The Lattice Awakening™ framework proposes a two‑layer model of consciousness in which the Admin layer interfaces with a non‑local informational field, while the User layer operates within physical, sensory‑bound reality. Through mechanisms such as node formation, coherence thresholds, Material Latency, and identity architecture, the model explains how thoughts become informational structures that may stabilize into blueprints and ultimately manifest as physical experience. The Render translates coherent blueprints into lived events, while trajectory interference and collapse clarify the functional limits of free (...) will. The Library of Possibility describes how multiple potential futures coexist in superposition prior to selection. This framework preserves causality, provides a structural explanation for intuition and foresight, and generates empirically testable predictions across psychology, neuroscience, and systems theory. Lattice Awakening™ offers a unified, scientifically grounded account of consciousness as an active participant in reality formation. (shrink)

Abstract -/- This paper explores the long-term trajectories of human civilization across an expansive timescale, from 500 years to 100,000 years into the future. Integrating current scientific understanding with speculative foresight, it examines the evolution of technology, society, environment, and consciousness. The discussion anticipates humanity’s potential transformation from a planetary species to a cosmic civilization, and finally to entities intimately woven into the fabric of the universe. Ethical and existential implications are critically considered throughout. -/- .

This article introduces the concept of ‘well-living’ as a transformative framework for reimagining quality of life in the face of current global socio-ecological challenges. Through a reflexive theoretical meta-analysis, it critically examines mainstream and reformist well-being discourses while drawing inspiration from transformative perspectives found in recent post-capitalist and indigenous movements. ‘Well-living’ is portrayed as both a civilizational endeavor and a multifaceted imperative, encompassing dimensions of creativity, liveability, conviviality, and alterity across various scales from individual to international contexts. Central to the (...) ‘well-living’ paradigm are nine key qualities, including harmonious coexistence, aspirational foresight and purposefulness, solidarity, autonomy, authenticity, and integrity, thereby promoting an integrated approach to living in balance with oneself, others, and the natural world. Embracing ‘well-living’ as a goal and process can empower individuals and communities to challenge prevailing global capitalist paradigms, re-establish connections with the interconnected web of life, and strive for a more just, regenerative, and diverse world, accommodating multiple perspectives. Lastly, employing a 'commonist' perspective, the article outlines essential institutional and legislative-policy changes required to actualize the vision of 'well-living.'. (shrink)

Nature’s Way of Optimization and the Law of Balance -/- Nature is the ultimate example of efficiency, balance, and sustainability. Everything in the natural world—from how animals survive to how ecosystems function to how the human body works—is designed to maximize effectiveness while minimizing waste. If we observe how nature operates, we can learn valuable lessons about how to make decisions, govern societies, and live our daily lives. -/- This understanding aligns with the universal law of balance in nature, which (...) shows that everything must function in harmony to prevent failure or destruction. Throughout history, civilizations and economies that followed these natural principles thrived, while those that ignored them collapsed. -/- Survival and the Law of Cause and Effect -/- In nature, only the strongest and most adaptable species survive. This process, called natural selection, ensures that living things improve over time by keeping the traits that help them survive and eliminating the ones that don’t. This idea is similar to the law of cause and effect (karma)—if something is defective, it won’t function properly. -/- For example, consider the cheetah and the gazelle. Over generations, cheetahs have evolved to run faster to catch their prey, while gazelles have evolved to be more agile to escape. This balance keeps both species in check. If cheetahs became too fast and killed all gazelles, they would starve. If gazelles became too fast, cheetahs would die out, disrupting the ecosystem. -/- A similar pattern exists In human societies. Singapore is an example of a country that followed the law of balance in its development. It had limited resources but invested heavily in education, technology, and sustainable urban planning. Today, it is one of the most successful economies in the world, proving that proper planning and balance lead to success. -/- In contrast, Venezuela ignored economic balance. Despite having the world’s largest oil reserves, poor policies, corruption, and over-reliance on oil caused economic collapse. This is similar to an animal species that overuses its resources and faces extinction. -/- The Power of Feedback: How Nature Corrects Itself -/- Nature has built-in feedback systems to keep everything in balance. For example, if too many deer exist in a forest, they eat too many plants, reducing food availability. As a result, some deer starve, and their population naturally decreases, restoring balance. -/- A similar feedback system applies to human society. If governments make poor policies, people protest or suffer economic consequences, forcing leaders to change their approach. A clear example is South Korea’s response to the COVI”-19 pandemic. Unlike some countries that ignored early warnings, South Korea quickly implemented mass testing, strict quarantine measures, and public health campaigns. As a result, it controlled the virus better than many other nations, proving that listening to feedback leads to better outcomes. -/- On the other hand, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster (1986) happened partly because Soviet leaders ignored early warnings from engineers, leading to one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. Just like ignoring warning signs in nature leads to extinction, ignoring feedback in society leads to disaster. -/- Energy Efficiency: Why Wasting Resources Leads to Collapse -/- Nature never wastes anything. Plants absorb sunlight efficiently through photosynthesis, animals store energy for survival, and ecosystems recycle nutrients to sustain life. -/- One of the best examples of energy efficiency is the penguin. In the freezing Antarctic, emperor penguins huddle together to conserve heat, taking turns standing on the outside to prevent exhaustion. This natural cooperation ensures survival. -/- Humans, however, often fail to follow this principle. Look at Dubai, a city built in a desert. While it has grown into a major global hub, it also uses massive amounts of water and electricity, relying on desalination plants that consume enormous energy. Without sustainable solutions, this could become a long-term problem, just like a species that consumes resources faster than they can be replenished. -/- A positive example Is Denmark, which has invested heavily in wind energy. Today, nearly 50% of its electricity comes from wind power, making it one of the most energy-efficient nations in the world. -/- Self-Organization: Free Will Exists Within Natural Laws -/- Many people think free will means we can do anything we want, but nature shows that even freedom has limits. Birds can fly, but they must follow air currents. Fish can swim, but they must adapt to ocean conditions. Every action is guided by natural laws that ensure survival and efficiency. -/- A perfect example Is Japan’s railway system. Despite being one of the busiest in the world, it runs with near-perfect punctuality because every part of the system—from maintenance workers to train operators—functions with self-discipline and coordination. This proves that even large-scale human systems can work efficiently when they follow organized, natural principles. -/- However, when humans ignore balance, problems arise. Deforestation in Indonesia has destroyed rainforests at an alarming rate. Because of excessive logging and palm oil plantations, natural ecosystems are collapsing, leading to floods, wildfires, and loss of biodiversity. This is similar to how removing a key species in an ecosystem can lead to its collapse. -/- Resilience and Education: How Societies Can Heal -/- Nature is resilient—it recovers after disasters. Forests regrow after wildfires, coral reefs recover from bleaching, and animals adapt to changing climates. But this recovery only happens because nature learns and adjusts. -/- One of the best human examples of resilience is Germany after World War II. After its destruction, Germany rebuilt itself through education, innovation, and sustainable industry. Today, it is one of the world’s leading economies, proving that even nations can recover if they focus on knowledge, sustainability, and balance. -/- However, societies that fail to learn from their mistakes collapse. Easter Island, once a thriving civilization, was destroyed because its people cut down all their trees, leaving them without resources. Their lack of foresight and adaptation led to their downfall—just like an animal species that fails to adapt to environmental changes. -/- Nature’s Recycling: Why Good Leadership Must Be Sustainable -/- Nature wastes nothing—dead plants and animals decompose into nutrients that feed new life. The carbon and nitrogen cycles keep ecosystems functioning. Just as nature ensures that everything is reused efficiently, leadership and governance should be sustainable. -/- An excellent example of a balanced government is Bhutan. Instead of measuring success by GDP alone, it follows Gross National Happiness (GNH), which considers economic growth, environmental conservation, and cultural values. This balanced approach has made Bhutan one of the happiest and most sustainable countries in the world. -/- On the other hand, countries that ignore sustainability face collapse. Syria’s civil war was worsened by climate change—years of drought caused food shortages, leading to conflict. Ignoring nature’s balance led to political and humanitarian disaster. -/- Conclusion: The Path to a Balanced and Optimized Society -/- Nature teaches us that survival and success depend on balance, efficiency, and adaptation. Societies that respect these principles thrive, while those that ignore them suffer. -/- The universal law of balance in nature is not just a theory—it is a reality that governs everything from biology to economics to human behavior. If we integrate these lessons into education, governance, and leadership, we can create a world that is sustainable, just, and optimized for future generations. -/- If we fail to follow these natural laws, the consequences will be suffering, collapse, and chaos. But if we align with them, we can build a society that thrives in harmony with nature, ensuring peace, prosperity, and sustainability for all. -/- . (shrink)