The Philosophy of Unity (2013)

First IdeaFoundry Writings

The Philosophy of Unity

An AI Assisted Meritocracy

An Idea Based Economy

A Philosophy of Idea Creation

Unity is a philosophy that lays the foundations for people to create, innovate and work together.

People, in terms of the Unity definition, are everyone regardless of who they are or where they live. The goal of Unity is to establish a system where people have opportunity to innovate and collaborate. Before innovating people need access to ideas and experiences. Experiences as defined by Unity are when people are stimulated with the unfamiliar. Experiences are integral to innovation because the more ideas a person has to reference, the more innovation will occur. To fully realize the true potential of this, people must be creative

Access to experiences is key to innovation and people need this access. Transportation, storage of ideas and preservation of ideas all work together in getting people this access. Diversity of knowledge is arguably the most important aspect for the growth of ideas. Diversity offers either a twist on existing ideas or exposes people to completely new ways of thinking, giving them the tools to innovate. Exposure to new ideas is the most important way to come up with new ideas. Then people can combine their experiences and use their unique cultural approaches together to innovate and solve problems.

Synthesize ‘experience’ and nurture disparate connections and exposure to new ideas and muses.

What exponential processes have led to this?

1. People working together without cultural clashes

2. Tools to work with

3. Steps

4. How to develop ideas

Some Key Historical Points on the Exchange of Ideas (Collaboration and the ‘transportation’ of ideas)

‘Discovering a new explanation is inherently an act of creativity’

- The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World by David Deutsch

Ancient Greece (ships)

In the West, modern day collaboration began in Ancient Greece. Greece’s unique island and mountain based geography led to the establishment of many diverse cities and colonies through sea travel. Trade between these hubs enabled a rich tradition of not only the exchange of tangible goods but of knowlege as well. The wealth accumulated through this commerce afforded people the free time to consider these ideas and contemplate the existence of humankind. The Greeks understood that experiences were key to ‘understanding’ and diversity started with them.

Take for example Thales of Miletus (c. 624 BCE-c. 546 BCE), a pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher who was ‘the first ‘who expressed his ideas in logical and not mythological terms’. Watson, Peter (2009-10-13). Ideas (p. 129). Thales was from a wealthy family and took advantage of this opportunity to travel and broaden his knowledge. It is considered that his time abroad gave him the knowledge to question ‘what is the world made of’ and combine his knowledge of Egyptian mathematics with Babylonian astronomy to predict a solar eclipse.

Proclus, the last major Greek philosopher, who lived around 450 AD, wrote:-

[Thales] first went to Egypt and thence introduced this study [geometry] into Greece. He discovered many propositions himself, and instructed his successors in the principles underlying many others, his method of attacking problems had greater generality in some cases and was more in the nature of simple inspection and observation in other cases.

Thales used his diverse experiences to broaden the opportunity for himself and others around him.

INDIVIDUALISM? Promoted by greek thought? Which later brought about the Enlightenment because the church promoted scholarship of ancient texts. Reintroduced individualism

Ancient Rome (Roads)

Where the Greeks were a mainly seafaring culture, the Romans established an elaborate network of roads. The main purpose of these roads was for military use but they just as importantly accelerated communication and the exchange of knowledge. Many of Rome’s greatest contributions from engineering to philosophy were taken from previous ideas and expanded upon. With out being exposed to a diversity of experiences and also having the foresight to integrate those innovations, led Rome to being the powerhouse of its day.

‘Cicero, born after the fall of Hellenistic Greece to the Roman Empire embodied a cultured individual of the time. He as tutored in both Latin and Greek, learning the nuances of each different philosophy.’

He wrote his magnum Opus, De Re Publica after travelling to Greece after he was kicked out of Rome.

His works (republican) affected people like John Adams when they were establishing the USA. While his humanism affected the enlightenment.

‘He was also the founder of humanitas, often called the essence of Ciceronianism. He believed that virtue ‘joins man to God’ and that from this it follows that all human beings, however humble, must count for something, and that this bond ‘joins man to man, irrespective of state, race or caste.’88 By humanitas, he meant not just humanity, or humaneness, or humanism, but consideration for others, tolerance, the liberal arts, education.’ Watson, Peter (2009-10-13). Ideas (p. 213).

Ancient China (Canals?? Philosophies, yin yang + wen wu??)

The first evidence of modern collaboration in China was in the state of Qi at the Jixia Academy during the Spring Autumn and Warring States periods. It was a critical crossroads for Chinese philosophers to debate and eventually establish what is today modern Confucianism.

Base Confucianism itself is more of a way of modeling society. It takes influence from all forms of Chinese philosophy, especially Daoism and the concept of yin yang. Zou Yan, the leader of the Naturalists, first developed the concept of yin yang. Zou Yan was a contemporary Jixia Academy scholar and his concept of yin yang was further integrated into Daoism. Confucians took the idea of yin yang and integrated it to lay the foundations for a balanced harmonious society.

Later, as Buddhism was starting to take hold during the Han dynasty, the concepts of Wen (culture) vs Wu (military) took hold (play on yin yang). The scholarly aspects of Wen led to the invention of easily made paper, which is China’s greatest contribution to the spread of knowledge.

The Islamic Golden Age (language)

Battle of Talas led to the founding of the House or Wisdom because of paper. Requirement of Arabic unified information on that paper. First time people could get disparate knowledge without having to travel (both having things on paper and consolidation of information in the House of Wisdom)

Algebra, Gupta Indian Empire and al-khwarizimi

The House of Wisdom wash established in XXX CE but did not flourish until XXX CE when Caliph al-Mamun was in charge.

The spread of Arabic enabled the assimilation of diffrerent cultures and ideas under one form of communication so science could accelerate. Then the translation movement

House of Wisdom

The other great Muslim physician was Ibn Sina, again known in the West by a Latinised name, Avicenna.52 Like al-Razi he wrote some two hundred books, on a diverse range of subjects, but his most famous work was Al-Qanun (The Canon), a majestic synthesis of Greek and Arabic medical thought. Watson, Peter (2009-10-13). Ideas (p. 270)

The meglus (salon or talking house)

It must also be noted that the Arabs translated mostly scientific texts and not political as the politics went against their goals—especially individualism.

Mongols screwed both the Chinese and the Arabs.

The Age of Enlightenment (Marriage of Science and the Humanities)

Commerce leads to free time and the reintroduction of Ancient Greek/Roman works from the Arabic world. Also Arabic improvements by combining different disparate ideas from different areas.

Adelard of Bath said:

“It will be worthwhile to approach teachers of different people, to commit to memory what you may find is most finely expressed among each of them. For what the French studies are ignorant of, those across the Alps will unlock; what you will not learn amongst the Latins, eloquent Greece will teach you.” Lyons, Jonathan (2011-02-05). The House of Wisdom (Kindle Locations 54-57

or Toledo school and Gerard of Cremona (1114–1187)

or Thomas Aquinas

Shift from group salvation to INDIVIDUALITY and INDIVIDUALSIM or HUMANISM… Petrarch

How was the above information disseminated? Trade of information and goods. Silk Road…

Jusinian’s Code

Role in the Church to recover lost knowledge from ‘the fall’. Mandate to scholars

Then to the printing press

Now

The internet is a combination of information transport and consolidated information hub. Sum of history’s achievements.

Reverted back to separating science and the humanities all though not so drastically.

(TRANSITION)

Stimulating Creativity/Innovation (the root cause of the above history)

In a more modern setting, take for example Paris of the early 1900’s. Creative luminaries such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Pablo Picasso left their comfort zones and used an unfamiliar environment to stimulate the creation of many of their seminal works. During this time, Picasso painted, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), Fitzgerald wrote his most enduring work, The Great Gatsby (1925), while Hemingway penned his first novel, The Sun Also Rises (1926).

With enough time and desire this is to an extent, something anyone can do.

A Viewpoint on Experiences, Ideas, Inspiration, and Creativity

‘Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they've had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.’

-Steve Jobs

Ideas are represented in one’s mind spatially—the true importance of an idea to a person determines its location. The most important ideas are always ‘closest’ and they are what the mind focuses on the most. A truly important idea is not only experienced in the mind but as a feeling in the whole body.

Take for example when someone is in love. His or her lover is always at the front of their mind. When people are in love but experience something as an individual the thought is ‘that’d be nice if my lover were here to experience this with me!’ They check each and every experience against the idea of their lover being there and think how much better it would be if they were.

When if someone is infatuated, they experience this, even if it’s just for a limited time. An idea functions in the same manner. However, where infatuation with a lover can be extinguished, infatuation for an idea can change to a person’s desire. They just need to experience new things to morph that infatuation idea into something they truly love.

Experiences are also represented spatially. People must experience and be introduced to new ideas to find what they truly love. Same as in finding a partner. Exposure is key (transition to history) as well as the realization of perception and analyzing everything around you. Don’t passively observe. Actively observe.

But this closest can be on multiple categories in consciousness. Just as with love, it is important to make the distinction between infatuation with an idea and true passion. Infatuation will fade but that is never a bad thing. It gives people new experiences, which will enhance their knowledge of not only love but also life in general. That’s why a muse is so inspirational. It stimulates the same parts of the brain that enable passion for ideas.

Creativity is the ability to interconnect seemingly random ideas and experiences to create something new. Creativity cannot be accomplished unless a filter is established to the endless stream of all existing ideas. That filter is love or infatuation.

A lover is always at the forefront of one’s mind, not just as a though but also as a feeling. A person is always checking experiences against this feeling of love or passion. Love between two people can be misconstrued as infatuation, fading away.

Ideas interact similarly to people in love. When a person loves an idea

Ideas also work the same way as infatuation. Something may seem ideal at the beginning but fades quickly and is forgotten about. However, unlike people, the infatuation with a specific idea can change when people have new experiences and compare those experiences to the idea.

File those passions into your ‘semi active memory’ where the ideas are more of a feeling as to keep a constant. Train your brain to subconsciously check experiences against what is filed in the semi active memory. When you make a connection, this triggers your pleasure center making the interconnection of experiences and the discovery of new ideas almost a reward based addiction. You can further crosscheck when the mind is at rest when working out or in the shower.

Semi active memory is like RAM or buffer between higher processor and hard drive. Or frame buffer. It’s more of a feeling than an actually a fully formed thought.

The scientific translations of ancient lore by the Arabs may have sparked interest in more political and humanist works from the Greek era.

SO the more disparate shit you are exposed to the more emergent and ‘out there’ your ideas get.

Another method is if you are multilingual. Try thinking about an idea or problem in multiple languages.

Fractal thinking. Stimulatses divergent thought

· The easiest way to inspiration is to think outside of the box by connecting disparate ideas.

· Connect idea

Education

· Mooc/ALP cross

· User curated, like Ted ed

Makerspace

· Phyiscal local locations for Unity related edu/work/ideation etc

Complex Systems, Complex Adaptive Systems, and Social Complexity

‘Often, scholars distinguish between complex systems—systems in which the entities follow fixed rules— and complex adaptive systems—systems in which the entities adapt. If the entities adapt, then the system has a greater capacity to respond to changes in the environment.’

-Page, Scott E. (2010-11-08). Diversity and Complexity (Primers in Complex Systems) (p. 25).

Ideas or knowledge are complex adaptive systems. They grow and change, based on varied inputs and are an exponentially growing emergent sum of their parts. Knowledge and progress are complex adaptive systems. Variable such as different points of view or information from different sources is vital to the adaptation of the system, bringing about emergent ideas through recombination of those view points within each person’s view.

Or

An idea is a Unit in Unit Operations or does Unit Operations = Complex Adaptive Systems

Complex Systems (complex emergent system) (Emergent Cognitive System, Complex emergent system…) (Compare with Unit Operations)

Define complex systems: A complex system consists of diverse entities that interact in a network or contact structure—a geographic space, a computer network, or a market. These entities’ actions are interdependent—what one protein, ant, person, or nation does materially affects others. Page, Scott E. (2010-11-08). Diversity and Complexity (Primers in Complex Systems) (p. 25)..

Complex Adaptive Systems

Define Complex Adaptive Systems:

large numbers of parts and interdependence that produces emergent structures . Page, Scott E. (2010-11-08). Diversity and Complexity (Primers in Complex Systems) (p. 43).

Each step along the way, complex systems rely on their rule-based parts to adapt to changing surroundings. Page, Scott E. (2010-11-08). Diversity and Complexity (Primers in Complex Systems) (p. 45).

Define Emergence

Define Cognitive emergent system (Units in Unit Operations?)

Define disruptive innovation

Define efficient disruption

Complex Systems to Complex Adaptive Systems to Emergent Behavior. Emergent ideas come about when people with disparate cultural viewpoints collaborate. Knowledge cannot become truly emergent without varied inputs. And it’s also the variable of individual interpretation of his or her of their culture.

If you knew all current ideas you could theoretically crunch out the probability of all possible outcomes. This is a complex system. A complex adaptive system adds in the variable (chaos)of disparate veiwpoints on existing ideas which were created from a different point of view. This changes the potential outcome and makes it less predictable and more emergent.

The problem with this is the intercultural communication needed for people to bring their unique skills together to solve problems and create ideas. Before addressing this issue, a brief overview of the history of learning from other cultures is in order. Unity is also a human/computer hybrid multi-agent system.

‘Cognitive Emergent System’: when a combination of human and computer cognition accelerate progress. Sort of a cascade effect of ever evolving ideas.

Diversity makes a complex system a complex adaptive system. Human and machine diversity make a complex system a cognitive emergent system.

Unit Operations

· Unit operations are characteristically succinct, discrete, referential, and dynamic. System operations are characteristically protracted, dependent, sequential, and static. In general, unit operations privilege function over context, instances over longevity.

· Often, systems become units in other systems.

o Unit Operations are the next level beyond complex systems

CryptoIdeas as the Next Economy and IP Protection

• The clear transfer and expression of ideas is the next evolution of business

• Current economy is based upon scarcity of resources and their conditions of allocation. Information doesn't work that way

• Tracked through blockchain type method

• Note of what change has been made imbedded in chain

• Generate ‘reputation’ or ‘credibility’

• Blockchain like patent technology

Approaches to Problem Solving

Where someone in China will approach solving a problem differently than someone in the West.

The Limits of Machine Learning

Thinks logically while humans have the ability to think illogically. A ‘learned machine’ like Watson, can scour endless amounts of data but without human intuition it’s just a fast computer. Even if a computer can understand and be taught through traditional methods such as linguistically and visually, it still does not have the ability to make disparate connections. Take for example again the muse. A machine cannot utilize the associated passion a muse gives a person. It may, through its programming understand that the muse is beautiful, but will never be able to make a non linear connection between the stimulation of the muse and the creation of something new.

Combining People and Machines (MUSE)

While Watson may be able to win at Jeopardy, It lacks human intuition for truly creative emergent thinking. While this has been discussed endlessly Unity seeks to set a framework for the concept to grow.. A computer itself doesn’t necessarily have that eureka moment but it can greatly assist people in having them by learning from them and being personalized to the individual. Monitoring and assisting from the beginning with things like proclivity tests and multi online open courses (moocs) the cognitive computing assistant can accelerate people’s exposure to new knowledge. With things like virtual reality on the horizon people will soon be able to have new experiences but until presence is present in VR it will still be half an experience. The machine learning aspect will be trained to and can help people check experiences against ‘user defined passions’ like in the natural human process that is compared with love. Something like IBM’s Watson would be an ideal example. Maybe user’s ‘Watson’ can be a bot of types and scour the web looking for ‘user defined passion’ matches. User defined can be based on ‘proclivities’ or directly defined. The user can actively search but the ‘watson’ can be set to always ‘passively’ searching for connections. Yin yang. To that end Trinty has been created as a necessary first step. Unity will foster an environment where people can get the benefits of travelling and being exposed to new ideas without having to leave their homes.

Recommender system also connects ‘IoT’ to learn and help assist in making disparate connections leading to inspiration and thinking outside the box.

Merit

• Approach to Merit is different in different cultures

• China can be like the ‘house of wisdom’ with wealthy patrons and more centralized and group based

• In China it’s competition and relationships

• Gaokao and guanxi (money)

• Gaokao is still based on guanxi and money.

• Can bribe, pay for tutors etc

• Poor at a serious disadvantage while;

• The west can have a more decentralized individual based

• Both come together with collaboration

• How the flow of knowledge between the 2 works is key

Innovating Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive Innovation is defined by Clayton Christensen as:

“…a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up market, eventually displacing established competitors. – See more at: Clayton Christensen

Unity seeks to build upon the work done by Mr. Christensen, not only by disrupting traditional business but also by the way people interact, create, and exchange ideas. Unity seeks to provide an environment where everyone has an opportunity to have their ideas heard while accelerating science and technology on a global scale. To this end we developed ‘Efficient Disruption’. Efficient Disruption is when a framework for the exponential growth of knowledge is established and leads to the development superior products at a lower cost then what is currently offered. And people with different viewpoints combine there skills.

Semi Decentralized (Distributed) Leadership and Business Model

• Provide simply the framework for people to work together. Decentralized centralilzed…

• Decentralized but ‘centralized governing party’ to provide a stable framework for decentralization

• The framework is like a lattice where we ‘hang’ different components of change and let them organically grow from there. We provide leadership through guidance.

• Get’s rid of glacial Chinese like bureaucracy

• No matter what, people need some form of general guidance, it’s just gotta be collaborative with a guiding hand

Trinity

Trinity combines people’s intuition and machine learning to create a platform to drastically accelerate the pharmaceutical drug discovery process through a puzzle based game. Trinity will further enhance this by utilizing many diverse minds and their u

The Near Future, A Modern House of Wisdom

Unity Efficient Disruption Engine

Building upon the work done with Trinity, the Unity Efficient Disruption Engine (UEDE) seeks to establish and efficient knowledge (idea) vertical from inception all the way through to capitalization. The UEDE will also give people opportunity and will give access to those who qualify its services regardless of their ability to pay. Unity will take X% of non-diluting equity on top of what it already takes in ideas that do not have money to access the UEDE. Unity will be structured like a traditional company with the executive staff and a board of directors. Where it differs from the traditional is the Unity user base will represent one seat on the board with full rights equal to any other board member. The Unity user base will collectively vote with one majority voice and will also have the opportunity to submit ideas in the same manner.

‘Arabic’ for the modern age. A new Translation Movement. The ‘Arabic’ or lingua Franca of UEDE is the VRD platform and plugins. A ‘collaboration language set’ that is developed by the users.

A modern day House of Wisdom where ‘patrons’ can fund knowledge and moonshots.

And

Crowd based funding for regular shit.