How the new technology is used by the ruling class

A tyrannical government applies the new information technology in a way which is dictated by its own condition. Because it is bound to adopt a centralized and hierarchical organizational structure, and because the goal is to maintain control, the tyrannical government is unable to actualize the full potential of this generative technology.

Tyrannical governments are constantly trying to improve their situation, and they are exploring the potential of the new emerging technology. However, it is important to understand that the way they look at it is profoundly affected by their condition. They are materially obliged to adopt a hierarchical form of organization, and this fundamental constraint creates in turn the paradigm which governs their vision and their interpretation for the new technology. Consequently, the solutions proposed so far, in general, are not generative. They don't posses the multiplication property by which their effect grows exponentially, simply because potential must be contained within a hierarchical structure of power. Overall, governments are interested in rapid and accurate access to personal information, analysis of personal information on a large scale to extract trends and patterns, increased control over individual potential and material possibilities of success, increased communication and coordination capabilities between the instruments of power, better forecasting and planning, increased efficiency in controlling masses by force, etc. Some of these tools are becoming very effective, but more vulnerable, because most of these systems are centralized.

The future will be determined by the race between the tyrants and the multitude, by how much potential each side can actualize from the new technology. My bet is on the multitude. By sheer number and counting on the creative power of the connected multitude, we have the potential to explore all possible applications of the new technology and to extract all the benefits for ourselves. Moreover, the new technology seams to be better suited to connect individuals and to sum their collective efforts then to divide and to control.

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