From: jimruttshow8596
The Consilience Project, an information service combining journalism and education, aims to support a “new cultural renaissance or new cultural enlightenment” to address the world’s unique problems in an era of exponential technology and digital globalization [02:27:28]. The project seeks to help people understand contemporary issues, improve their sense-making abilities, and develop new systems of problem-solving and governance [02:45:00].
The Problem: Inadequate Problem-Solving and Evolving Challenges
Current problem-solving processes are often insufficient or even counterproductive, failing to address the complexities and scale of modern issues. They either fail to solve problems, or they cause worse, cumulative problems through unintended consequences [01:11:13].
From Quantity to Quality: New Global Risks
A key insight is that changes in quantity can cross thresholds to become qualitative changes [01:20:20]. For instance, the continuous evolution of military capacity led to nuclear bombs in World War II, marking a fundamental shift because humanity gained the ability to destroy the planet’s habitability [01:11:14]. This marked the beginning of human self-induced existential risk, moving beyond local failures to the potential for global catastrophe [01:11:34]. Similarly, economic globalization, while preventing direct world wars, has led to hitting planetary boundaries due to exponential positive sum dynamics on a finite space, and created fragile global supply chains susceptible to cascading failures [01:12:40].
Previous social theories and systems, such as feudalism, socialism, communism, or capitalism, are inadequate for the current problem landscape. For example, the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers who developed theories of markets did not account for AI drones or Facebook, leading to catastrophic failures in today’s context [01:07:13]. The scale and complexity of modern systems, combined with accelerated change, demand new solutions [00:09:47].
The Erosion of Sense-Making and the Rise of Destructive Narratives
For a democracy or republic to function, citizens must possess the capacity for sense-making, effective communication, and participation in governance [02:45:00]. This requires robust educational systems and a well-informed “fourth estate” (the press) [00:04:34].
The Press and Education
The quality of both the educational system and the press in the U.S. and the West has eroded over decades, while the problem landscape has become more complex. This has resulted in decreased civic discourse and a situation where few genuinely understand the issues government is addressing, leading to a “simulation of a republic” rather than a functioning one [00:05:37].
The Impact of Ad-Driven Platforms and AI
Modern information curation platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Google operate on ad-driven business models that prioritize “time on site” [04:45:03]. Their algorithms optimize for content that triggers limbic hijackings, such as confirmation bias, fear of out-groups, and outrage, leading to increased polarization and extremism, often unintentionally [04:55:00]. This pervasive influence, combined with advanced AI, fundamentally changes the nature of the “epistemic commons” and freedom of speech, far beyond anything the Founding Fathers could have envisioned [04:50:00].
The Dangers of Polarization and Narrative Warfare
This environment fosters extreme polarization, where people often adopt views that align with their emotionally intensified existing beliefs, leading to “runaway confirmation bias” [03:48:00]. Information that reinforces one’s “memeplex” is accepted and propagated, while contradictory information is rejected [03:55:00]. This is exacerbated by deliberate “narrative warfare,” where statistics are cherry-picked, decontextualized, or framed to manipulate public opinion [02:44:05].
This tribalistic dynamic is highly destructive, wasting humanity’s energy on infighting rather than coordinated problem-solving [02:33:00]. It leads to a “cultural arms race” where each side develops more sophisticated tools for narrative manipulation, further hindering collective action on critical issues like climate change [05:27:00]. This internal fighting leads to a “dying system” undergoing institutional decay [05:37:00].
Comparison to Historical Polarization
The current political polarization in the United States is arguably unprecedented, with surveys indicating that more people would disapprove of their child marrying someone from the opposite political party than would discriminate based on race or religion. This marks a significant shift from historical periods where political disagreements, while intense, did not lead to such deep-seated enmity [05:59:00].
The Solution: New Social Capacities and Cultural Renaissance
The central goal is to foster a cultural renaissance that enables new “social capacities” and “social technology” to adequately manage the power of physical technology [00:02:05].
Beyond Game Theory: The Need for New Problem-Solving Processes
Current problem-solving relies on narrow definitions of problems (e.g., specific nations, people vs. environment, single metrics) [01:19:06]. Solutions often externalize harm elsewhere, leading to resistance and further infighting [02:09:00]. This requires new problem-solving processes that define problems by their interconnectedness and avoid externalizing harm, thus ensuring solutions are viable [02:09:00]. The historical reliance on rivalrous dynamics, especially when multiplied by exponential technology, leads to existential risk. A shift is needed to move beyond game theory and towards more cooperative and ethical decision-making [01:08:55].
Holistic Epistemologies
A necessary cultural enlightenment must integrate three types of epistemologies:
- Third-person epistemology (Science): Focuses on repeatable, measurable objective reality through experimentation and measurement [01:09:55]. While powerful for “is” questions, it cannot provide “ought” (ethical) guidance [01:08:03].
- Second-person epistemology: The ability to understand others’ thoughts and feelings, inhabiting their perspectives through dialogue, exemplified by the Hegelian dialectic or Socratic method [01:10:09].
- First-person epistemology: Self-understanding, recognizing one’s own cognitive biases, desire for certainty, and emotional hijackings that affect sense-making. This requires courage and comfort with uncertainty, as seen in stoic traditions [01:10:37].
By integrating these three, society can move beyond deconstruction to reconstruct a shared understanding of reality and values, making coordination possible [01:02:40].
Cultivating a “Memetic Immune System”
To overcome polarization and narrative warfare, people need to develop a “memetic immune system” [02:44:05]. This involves:
- Recognizing statistical cherry-picking, decontextualization, and framing techniques.
- Understanding how biases and vested interests influence narratives.
- Transcending tribalism to engage in good-faith dialogue and intellectual honesty [02:51:00].
- Cultivating comfort with uncertainty rather than clinging to “wrong certainty” [03:41:00].
The Consilience Project’s Approach
The Consilience Project is a non-profit organization with two main branches: publishing and movement catalyzing [02:22:20].
Publishing Branches
The project publishes three types of articles, intended to be deep enough for readers to “decentrally understand the problems well enough to work on solutions” [02:44:00]:
- Foundational Series: Theoretical pieces that explain the unique problem landscape, refine social theories, and identify what new social systems are needed for the future [02:30:00]. An example is “Democracy in the Epistemic Commons,” which explores how participatory governance depends on citizens’ ability to understand issues [02:53:00]. Another is “Challenges to 21st Century Sense-Making,” which details how media fragmentation and perverse incentives make shared understanding difficult today [03:26:00].
- Situational Assessments: Apply social theory to current global issues, such as U.S.-China relations or exponential technology risks. These assessments aim for higher-order insights by factoring in various narratives, perspectives (e.g., finance, culture, tech), and epistemologies [02:49:00]. An example given is China’s activity in East Africa and its geopolitical implications [03:38:00].
- Meta News: Addresses highly polarized topics by forensically examining how various narratives emerged, identifying vested interests, epistemic biases, and how platforms amplify tribalism. The goal is to help readers develop a “memetic immune system” against narrative warfare [02:44:05]. An example analyzed the controversial claims of bricks being planted during the George Floyd protests, demonstrating how biased reporting and confirmation bias distorted public perception [03:55:00].
Prototyping and Catalyzing
The project aims to be a good example for other media organizations by publishing its methods and processes, not just its content. As a non-profit, it commits to being transparent and avoiding perverse incentives such as paywalls, data sales, or ads. It also does not use individual author bylines to encourage focus on content rather than ad hominem attacks [01:17:43].
The Consilience Project intends to “self-terminate” after five years [01:16:05]. This unique approach is designed to:
- Avoid the common organizational incentive to perpetuate its existence, even if it means managing problems indefinitely [01:19:34].
- Demonstrate a commitment to solving problems rather than building a long-term power structure [01:19:51].
- Foster a decentralized “cultural renaissance” by inspiring and “up-regulating” other groups working on similar issues in education, journalism, and social change [01:16:05]. This includes curating resources, providing information, and directing attention to critical projects [01:24:20].