hope/acc

The world is changing. Fast.

Technology creates leverage, which creates inequality, which creates demoralisation, resentment, and violence. hope/acc is a set of ideas that are designed to prepare us for this inevitability (so humanity can keep building towards an infinite horizon).

The ideas are as follows:

1. Tomorrow can (and should) be better than today

This requires a definition of "better" (and therefore "best"), plus a willingness to sacrifice toward this ideal.

2. Moral > material

We define "better" and "worse" by mapping stories onto reality. These stories must be prioritised (and renewed) above all else, or humanity will tear itself apart.

3. Civilization is positive-sum

Throughout history, knowledge creation has made all of us richer. There are inequalities (sometimes extreme ones), but this doesn't give us permission to tear everything down. One person's win is not necessarily another's loss.

4. There's no limit to how good things can get

Our ancestors could never have imagined transistors, or combustion engines, or antivirals. When technology is used in service of morality, it has no upper limit.

5. Cynicism is not strength

It's a cheap way of gaining status in zero-sum games. We're all-in, whether we like it or not. Might as well act like it.

6. Die forward

Maybe our plans will fail. Maybe we'll go extinct. But if we're working in service of our stories, nothing is wasted. Our lives speak for themselves. Better to die in the arena than live in stasis.

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It's not enough to make new technology. We also need to know why.

We can posit an ideal. We can pursue it, even as it recedes.

We can build a future worth feeling hopeful about.

- Will Bradley