ethics – ᵀᴴᴱ ORBIS

(Animated by Pi-Slices)

“Compartmentalize your mind. Doubt what you know, know what you doubt. But the very moment you’re truly certain of anything, they’ll have you.”

—The Agitator, Deviation, C. M. Johnson

You finish buying an assortment of products online. Hours later you open up a different browser, an advertisement appears listing products similar to those you just purchased. Even though you might have opted out of data collection services, it isn’t a stretch of the imagination to understand what might be going on. So you go about your business.

You finish a conversation about a certain topic. Later on, recommendations, feeds, advertisements display the content of the topic of that very conversation. You’re very much aware that you possess (possibly many) devices that have the potential to monitor speech and correlate the recognized terms and phrases with what is virtually presented to you. But surely such a feature would only function if it were activated. You’ve grown awfully attached to said device(s), far too attached to want to entertain the thought that there are seemingly invasive agendas working behind the services they provide. So you put it out of your mind and you go about your business.

But every so often, you might find yourself wondering, in lieu of any restrictions, what WOULD an unscrupulous agency do, IF it had the means?

If you are of the inclination that this is already a reality, you are far from alone. In fact, the number of people harboring such a suspicion has been steadily growing across numerous countries as the value of data continues to rise (previously mentioned in ᵀᴴᴱ SYSTEM).

“According to a new survey by Nixplay, 60% of millennials think their phones are listening to them and then tailoring ads precisely to those conversations. Overall, 55% of Americans think that smartphones are spying on them, collecting data to customize ads.”

—John Koetsier, Forbes.com, 2019

But for some, their suspicions about the algorithm do not end there.

You have a spoken conversation, (to your knowledge) far from any technological device(s). Two (or more) organic lifeforms verbally exchanging information. Yet when you return to your device(s), again, there are indications, that the private conversation, far from the microphones, far from the cameras was seemingly heard all the same. In some instances, both (multiple) parties discovering that the topic of their “private” conversation, far from prying eyes and ears is somehow intrinsically linked with each their data-flow algorithms, on a number of digital services.

Finally, you think your private thoughts, as you often do. The mutterings of the inner-mind, utterly disconnected from the physical world beyond the cranium. Or so you would have thought, only you begin to notice that the same algorithm which once manipulated results from keystrokes and physical inputs, seems to now show indications that the private thoughts in your mind, are somehow being read. But that’s nonsensical. Absolutely impossible, isn’t it?

Surely it’s coincidental, or the correlations are misinterpreted, bouts of apophenia? Is this the evolution of ᵀᴴᴱ NOÖSPHERE?

“Facebook has assembled a team of 60 people, including machine learning and neural prosthetics experts, to enable such a system. Facebook is currently hiring a brain-computer interface engineer and a neural imaging engineer. Its goal? To create a system capable of typing one hundred words per minute – five times faster than you can type on a smartphone – straight from your brain.”

—Olivia Solon, The Guardian.com, 2017

Where there’s a will, there’s a way?

Such a brain-to-device concept would require localized hardware and technology, years of advancement from the currently available methods?

Not according to some.

Over the last few years, the belief in the (apparent and evident) invasions of privacy has begun to spread and increase so severely, that it has given rise to a concept known among some circles as, REMOTE NEURAL MONITORING (a means of electronic harassment/privacy invasion). There is a publicly available .pdf of the U.S. SUPREME COURT PETITION OF CERTORARI, Nov 10, 2018 (court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency) pertaining to the governmental use of such “mind reading technologies”.

NEWS HEADING: MICROWAVE WEAPON BLAMED FOR APPARENT ATTACK ON US EMBASSY IN CUBA

“Why did dozens of U.S. Embassy workers in Cuba hear loud sounds and suffer neurological symptoms in 2016? There’s a new, Cold War-era microwave explanation for the mystery.

The Havana-based diplomats reported hearing loud, strange sounds and feeling movement in the air around them. Those affected went on to experience months of concussion-like symptoms, including cognitive impairment, balance issues and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). And as recently as February, researchers reported that they couldn’t tell what caused the problems, but they ruled out the most common early explanation: sonic attacks.

‘Sound in the audible range (20 Hz to 20,000 Hz) is not known to cause persistent injury to the central nervous system,’ they wrote in the journal JAMA.

Now, those same researchers have told The New York Times that microwave weapons may have been the cause.

Allan Frey, an American biologist, showed in the early 1960s that microwave beams can create the sensation of hearing noises when they hit the brain’s temporal lobe. The Times reported that Soviet researchers took a keen interest in the discovery after it was announced, going so far as to invite Frey to speak and then bring him to a military laboratory.”

—Rafi Letzter, LiveScience.com, September 04, 2018

On October 17th, 2017:

TRUMP SAYS CUBA ‘RESPONSIBLE’ FOR ALLEGED SONIC ATTACKS, BUT OFFERS NO EVIDENCE

“The state department has still not identified a culprit or even what weapon mysteriously injured 22 American government workers on Cuban soil.”

—The Guardian.com

December 7th, 2017:

MYSTERY ATTACKS CAUSED BRAIN DAMAGE IN US EMBASSY WORKERS IN CUBA.

—Tia Ghose, LiveScience.com

As suspicions and speculations have grown, so too have the numbers of individuals believing to be victims of various forms of electronic harassment.

“Electronic harassment, electromagnetic torture, or psychotronic torture is a conspiracy theory that government agents make use of electromagnetic radiation (such as the microwave auditory effect), radar, and surveillance techniques to transmit sounds and thoughts into people’s heads, affect people’s bodies, and harass people.Individuals who claim to experience this call themselves “targeted individuals“. They claim they are victims of gang stalking and many have joined support and advocacy groups.”

—Wikipedia

Sadly, as the gap between technology and imagination narrows, individuals afflicted with various forms of paranoia (often undiagnosed) can become consumed by this very idea, that minds are being invaded. Where once such a claim could be easily dismissed as impossible, with technological warfare the likes of the (alleged) voice of god (long range audio producing non-lethal weapon, developed by the U.S. military) and sonic warfare, dispelling fears as impossible is becoming increasingly difficult.

Unfortunately, as ways of life change and as new technologies are developed (or refined), once inconceivable dangers WILL emerge. Systems of control/surveillance that we might currently consider dystopian, immoral or terrifying may very well become a reality.

Could our global future be a new world, fighting one of the oldest battles to be fought, time and time again, throughout the ages. The struggle for freedom from tyranny. Sometimes it can take people quite awhile to realize their freedom is under attack, but when they do, they start to understand how valuable it truly is.

Until then, perhaps the invasion of minds has only just begun?

What is ‘GOOD‘? What is ‘EVIL’?

Most of us assume we have a relatively proficient (or “good”) grasp on what actions and intentions deserve to fall into either category. Generally, if it serves the betterment of the individual, family, community, nation, mankind, life on this planet, then we will likely call it “good”. If it lessens the performance of the individual, offends, annoys, impairs us in any negative way, makes us die, lessens the value of human life, or all life, then it must surely be “bad/evil”. But unfortunately, like most things in life, it’s somewhat more complicated than that.

The Japanese Red Bug is said to be one of the most attentive parents in the insect world. Tirelessly retrieving sustenance for its young. In some instances, when exhausting her own energy reserves the mother is incapable of leaving the burrow to retrieve food anymore. At that stage, it’s not uncommon for the Red Bug young to cannibalize the mother before finally leaving the burrow to face adulthood. Possibly, some of them might face the same gruesome fate at the mouths of their own offspring. The murder and cannibalization of one’s own mother, is the Japanese Red Bug innately evil?

When Praying Mantises mate, during intercourse the female Mantis has an overwhelming instinct to decapitate the male and will begin to consume him, as copulation continues (the male Mantis is capable of continuing the sex act without a head). It’s been found in some studies that when the female Mantis does not cannibalize her sexual partner, she produces far less offspring as a result. The murder and cannibalization of a lover, is the female Praying Mantis evil?

It isn’t uncommon for some Duck species to bully their own offspring, testing for weakness. The parents cannot afford to spend time, food and energy on a lame duck. So they give the stragglers a peck to the head, knock them about a bit, pick up the speed and see if they can lose them. In many instances, a poorly developed duckling cannot keep up with the brood, and they successfully cull the group. Is that evil?

Well, who’s to say? It’s unpleasant, but most of us assume that insects/animals run on instinct. Merely going through the motions that have led to their species sustaining itself throughout the ages.

To be brutally honest, most of us don’t really care what animals do, as long as it doesn’t implicate or annoy us. If it’s natural, it’s their business. Much of what goes on in the natural world can seem cutthroat, cruel and ruthless through the human lens. But life, in it’s truest, purest form, is an ugly, chaotic, fleeting struggle. But somehow, the natural world finds order, among the haze of chaos. There’s always a calm before and after the storm.

Human consciousness brings us to an entirely different level of accountability, among our species. But it’s also linked to societal and cultural development, how the governing group feel about one another. Equity and the available resources play a part also. It’s interesting how in a time of panic as mass hysteria sets in, people are capable of doing things they otherwise could not justify, even to themselves. People can get swept up into a frenzy and become a ruthless and destructive force.

So in that sense, good is order and self-control, evil is chaos and the loss of self-control.

Murder as a blanket statement, is bad/evil. Less evil if you’re defending your own life or the life of someone weak/innocent. The act of murder somehow almost transforms into a good deed depending on how “evil” your victim was perceived to be. The warrior that kills a tyrant warlord is seen as a hero, but he may be just as much a murderer as the warlord himself.

Someone may think the butchering of animals for meat is evil, but they still eat the meat. They grow fat while their conscience remains clear. In many instances in life, a clear conscience is a luxury most cannot afford. In the same sense, that the billionaire that donates .1% of his weekly wage gets a ball thrown in honor for his generosity. While someone struggling on minimum wage feels bad for only being able to spare 5 dollars to the homeless pregnant teen on the side of the road.

Why do we even give money to most homeless people or charities? Sure, we want the bad problems in the world to go away, but it also feels good to do good. While that is a nice sentiment, it’s also literally self serving (even if not consciously intended that way). You want to do “good”, so you can lay your head down on your pillow at night and smile and think about how you’ve made a difference. Strangely when people do good, they often love to be seen doing it. Anonymous acts of kindness do occur, but wouldn’t that make you feel special? Secretly giving someone in need one million dollars. I personally would love to be able to do that, can’t afford it, but it’d be a nice thought to drag out to pick yourself up every now and then. “I’m a terrible person, well, I did once secretly give someone one million dollars, so I can’t be all bad”.

Somehow I convince myself I’m helping stabilize the very fabric of society by using “please” and “thank you”, when interacting with anyone. Primarily because I was brought up with the notion that it was perfectly fine if you were any kind of deranged maniac, just as long as you were cordial and held yourself with a modicum of decorum. We’re all conditioned, like dogs, “You got me the newspaper, that’s convenient to me, you’re a Good boy!” “Oh, you’ve done a shit on the living room floor, that’s inconvenient! Bad Dog!”

In the end, what I consider to be good and evil, may be completely different to what you do. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so too is consensus on moral alignment. It’s strange, when I watch a documentary about a serial killer, I often look at the person and think “You must be completely insane. Why would you do something so stupid?” In the same way I would look at someone if they sold their house so they could give all their money to some charity, they can’t afford to be so generous. It’s deviating from the productive standard human behavior. And that is what good and evil is all about, performing to the generalized standard set by the masses. Reward the desirable behavior, punish the undesirable. Leading the herd in the desired direction. Which is in our best interest, if we don’t want mayhem and general pandemonium to ensue.

ᵀᴴᴱ ORBIS

ᴀ ᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴇʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪɴᴅ ʙᴇɢɪɴs ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ sɪɴɢʟᴇ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ.

ᵀᴴᴱ ORBIS

Tag: ethics

ᴛʜᴇ INTRICATE DICHOTOMY ᴏғ GOOD ᴀɴᴅ EVIL