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This is my submission to @v4vapid conspiracy writing contest.
Welcome To The Blockchain Gang
Earth 2040 ... A world divided into 16 personality caste blockchains. I say divided but in reality we divided ourselves and once the A.I’s went live the reorganisation of civilisation was both an easy and entirely logical conclusion. When I speak of artificial intelligence I use the term in plural because in reality there is an A.I for each personality caste. Each caste A.I has been specifically designed to organise and ensure the wellbeing of each personality archetype.
Our lives are structured by an artificially intelligent real time blockchain. We are connected to this blockchain via the resonance and synchronisation of our brain waves. Each individual is a fork from the core blockchain structure and each of these forks (mindchains) has been imprinted into our cortex as a way of maximising productivity and minimising waste. Any changes to blockchain are directly transferred to memory via our brains interface. Our credits are uploaded to our personalised chip and are derived from our input into the blockchain. Our work and social rotas are uploaded and held on our mindchain, as are our carbon credits, our food delivery rotas, our taxi rotas, our thought transgressions and indeed (since it’s inception) the transcripts of every word we’ve ever said or typed.
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How Did This Happen?
But lets take it back to the beginning. If you are reading this email the year should be 2018, I have found a way to use the quantum supercomputer to access the space time continuum and send a digital letter from the future. Look around you, even now where do people tend to go when the going gets tough? When social situations become awkward? Whether it’s the instant gratification of a newspeak SMS exchange or the use of your phones as a window into your personalised nirvana, digital soma appears to be the answer to all ill’s of the mind.
The first stage was where we began (of our own volition) to create internet based echo chambers. The second stage was where all the information we had been feeding into social media and search engine algorithms began to grow ever more nuanced and complex. Within this complexification process the internet echo chambers became increasingly personified and thus began to cushion reality and divide society into internet thought ghettos.
Within this process the user was gradually creating a digital utopia, a utopia that over time began to increasingly envelop them. Our personal algorithms eventually morphed into a digital comfort blanket that justified our every thought and desire. A utopian algorithm that spoke to us in our darkest moments and whispered that we are right and that everything will be alright.
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The Catalyst
Following the destruction of our debt based financial system and the WW3 induced nuclear destruction of our eco system, humanity stood on a precipice. Life or extinction, the choices had never been more stark and the future had never been more uncertain. The blockchain had entered the public consciousness some years before and with the advent of artificial intelligence the amalgamation of the two concepts offered a ray of light in a world of increasing darkness. Nation states were relegated into history and the supreme A.I now runs and oversees every facet of our lives, laws and commerce. Following the near destruction of our bio-sphere, the need to conserve both energy and resources was an issue that could no longer be ignored. In terms of the survival of the species the reorganisation and harmonisation of humanity into an efficient and productive hive mind was again the most logical conclusion.
The Caste Blockchain
I neglect to remember the exact number, but for arguments sake lets say that there are five core brain/character archetypes. Out of this foundation there arises a standard of 16 personality types. Yes I’m fully aware we were once each a divine expression of individuality and that we were all completely unique, but this anarchy was not conducive to productivity. Equally, arguments and fighting were what had taken us to this moment in time and were not conducive to harmony. By the time the seeds of this system were being sown we had all spent countless years typing our every hope and dream into an increasingly intelligent internet. To the supreme A.I our division was easy, we had already carried out all the hard work and it was a logical conclusion to our self imposed isolation.
The final stage of this plan was our connection to an artificially intelligent cloud based hive mind. Within this hive mind and due to the associated differences between personality archetypes/brain resonances, the synchronisation of our brainwaves became increasingly energy inefficient. It was at this point that the supreme A.I began to divide us into the aforementioned 16 psychological/personality castes. Once assigned to our caste the supreme A.I set about creating 16 benevolent artificially intelligent blockchain overlords. Each overlord was specifically programmed to efficiently organise the blockchain and of course synchronise with it’s chosen caste/character archetype.
Once fully immersed into our utopian/dystopian caste our every whim was catered for, we are literally masters within our hive minds. Within this process real life friends and family with opposing views became both physically and algorithmically removed from our lives and placed within their own caste. Indeed the destruction of human reproductive capability had already ensured the disintegration of the family unit. Equally the entire family dynamic was not perceived as conducive to a world based upon harmony and so children are now born artificially and cared for (as a collective) by the Soylent blockchain.
Brain Resonance
In a stroke of genius our entire chain system is powered by the brainwaves of those in our caste. The alpha brainwave is considered to be the optimum for energy production and so it’s entirely logical that every member of the caste should be perpetually held within a state of happiness and relaxation. In all honesty I don’t think anyone remembers what it was like to feel an emotion other than happiness. To maximise efficiency and as we're connected to the blockchain via our perceptual synchronisation, our overlords also have the ability to resonate soothing wave pulses as a way of easing any tensions that may arise.
The Nation State
Nation states have been relegated to a historical curiosity and the world is now divided into 16 caste regions. Within each caste and as a way of easing social tensions we have ten zoning/housing/work areas. Within each housing/work area we are all algorithmically placed with people whom we have a high possibility of identifying with, for harmony sake of course. Each caste region is working towards a set objective and the combination of these objectives (we are told) is creating a cohesive whole. We may be divided but equally we are united in our attempt to rebuild our broken world.
Why?
So you may rightly ask, if everything is so perfect then what am I doing here and why am I writing to you? Well to put it bluntly the truth is I'm dead, well in the physical sense anyway. After receiving one thought transgression too many and failing my thought retraining programme I was targeted for terminal resonance frequency. You see in 2040 thought transgression is one of the most grievous crimes that can be committed against humanity. It destroys the synchronised harmonious wave frequency our overlords have worked so hard to achieve and as such destroys our productivity and efficiency.
In the instant of my termination and whether by some loophole or the benevolence of an A.I superbot, my consciousness was transferred to the mainframe. And here I am, alone with my thoughts and sentenced to eternally walk the corridors of cyberspace. Who know's maybe one day others will join me; until that day I remain cast adrift, a technological Robinson Crusoe. This is why I write to you in 2018 for it was the last year of my humanity, the last year of true thought freedom.
I'm here to tell you that nothing is set in stone, war is not inevitable and the future is yours to lose. Only now in my release from the harmony wave do I remember the profound nature of sadness, loneliness and indeed the anger I now feel for what we've become. These states are the duality of happiness & friendship and only in loss do we appreciate the fragility of what we have. Indeed how can you savour the beauty of love without tasting it's inherant pain? Is the warmth of the sun hollow without the dark night that preceded it?
Over the coming years there will be many that promise to cushion you from the realities of life but they are false prophets; don't listen to them, run away from them. Put down your phones, live a life thats worth living and never give up. Make your love shine and your laughter echo in the halls of eternity. Fight for this world and cherish each day as if it's it's your last .. I wish I had!
Gamma ray 1138 signing out.
Written by perceptualflaws
Gifs courtesy of giphy.com
Banner Gifs courtesy of @justcallmemyth
I'm proud to be both a member and supporter of the Minnow Support Project - brought to you by the hard work of: @aggroed, @teamsteem, @canadian-coconut and @ausbitbank,
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