Decentralization and Governance
Lincoln treats decentralization as essential to governance as power grows during contemporary science and technological trends. His articles address singleton risk, blockchain defenses, currency, compassion above technofascism, and models inspired by Christian theosis. He warns that compassion must scale with capability as centralized consolidation of power approaches singleton risk, especially amid artificial intelligence. The topic lists articles relevant to politics, reputation systems, and cooperative governance rather than domination.
This is a list of articles that Lincoln Cannon has written about decentralization and governance. A full archive of all articles that Lincoln has published since 2005 is also available. You may also search for articles and other content that's available on any of Lincoln's websites.
-
Peter Thiel Recognizes the Antichrist
In an interview with the New York Times, Peter Thiel discussed his perspective that Western society has exhibited decades of technological and cultural stagnation, with only digital technologies like blockchain and AI providing any substantial progress. Thiel attributed this stagnation to cultural anxiety about growth, leading to increased risk aversion ... -
Blockchain Defenses Against the Singleton
Singletons – centralized powers – are the greatest threat to the future of humanity. You think hacking of U.S. telecommunications by China is bad now? Next time it may be a superintelligent A.I. And it will use everything it knows to manipulate, control, and enslave you. Think the U.S. Government ... -
The Second War in Heaven
I’m happy to be here with you, at the 2024 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, in the morning of a day that promises to illuminate our imagination, perhaps even to spark action. Eighteen years ago, fourteen of us began to share words, words powerful enough to change people, words ... -
Beware Centralized Control of Currency
Imagine if the government were to make it illegal to possess wallets for holding paper and coin currency privately. That’s essentially what some US politicians want to do with cryptocurrency. It’s a massive invasion of privacy. And it merits loud universal opposition. Giving up decentralized agency in the name of ... -
Decentralization of God
In the Apocalypse, we read that Christ offers us a crown, and invites us to sit together on the throne of God. We read that Christ would make us kings to God. These iron age signs and tokens of governance, Christ would decentralize. If we’re able to imagine that, we’re ... -
Why Decentralization Is Essential to Human Thriving
Decentralization of power, whether we characterize that power as technological or otherwise, is essential to increasing the probability of a thriving human (or superhuman) future. There’s a line of reasoning that persuaded me of this conclusion. It consists of three steps. Before I share the three steps, I should explain ... -
Transhumanists Should Disavow Zoltan Istvan Candidacy
Zoltan Istvan is running for President of the United States as the candidate for the party he founded, Transhumanist Party USA. As a concerned individual Transhumanist, and not in affiliation with any organization, Transhumanist or otherwise, I have authored and circulated a petition among Transhumanists, urging disavowal of Zoltan’s candidacy ... -
The Reputation Web
Technological change is accelerating and transforming our world. Assuming trends persist, we will soon experience an evolutionary shift in the mechanisms of reputation, a fundamental on which relationships are based. Cascading effects of the shift will revolutionize the way we relate with each other and our machines, incentivizing unprecedented degrees ... -
Compassion Above and Beyond Technofascism
We should take seriously the risks of technofascism, an elitist “libertarianism” empowered by accelerating technological change and concentrated at high tech corporations. While many decry the governance challenges of our day, some give corporate governance a pass. And yet it’s not hard to find oppression wherever power is concentrated. That ... -
Progressive Revelation Among the Mormons
A friend, who considers me a progressive Mormon, shared with me an article by BYU political science professor Ralph Hancock on “Progressivism Among the Mormons.” In the article, Ralph observes that progressive Mormons appear to interpret the doctrine of continuing revelation as a politically progressive mandate. And he expresses his ... -
Jesus Doesn't Like Our Religious Arrogance
Christians purportedly look to Jesus as the principal example of the kind of person we should be. In some cases, however, we’ve clearly failed to read, understand, or internalize the descriptions of Jesus in the New Testament. So, instead of comforting those who mourn, some of us heckle those who ... -
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama on Reconciling Faith
I recently watched videos of speeches given by United States presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama on the subject of reconciling faith and politics. Each speech, for a different reason, reminded me of the challenging (and rewarding) situation faced by the Mormon Transhumanist Association. Like Romney, we are Mormons. ...