Carrumbaism - a Philosophy for the Digital Age?

GRAB A CUPPA and rest your weary bones - pull up a pew and suspend your disbelief as we embark on the creation of a new philosophy for the modern age*. Free of the need to conquer the Gauls, phrenology or appeasing fascist/communist ideologies, let's come up with a way to navigate the information superhighway as we travel from the cradle to the grave. Let's have an unreasonable debate...

*'New' is entirely subjective - don't @ me

Suggested listening: 'Call' - Kasabian (Spotify) (YouTube)

FULLY COGNIZANT of the risk that this thought exercise might portray me as unleashing my inner God Complex on the internet, I would like to take this moment to confirm that the development of Carrumbaism is fully open-source, requires no subscription or secret hand-shakes. If you choose to follow this philosophy after or during its creation, you will not benefit from police looking the other way when you jump the lights or accidentally murder a political opponent. It will not get you a natty shirt to wear or entitle you to march about, celebrating the outcome of a confrontation you or your ancestors had nothing to do with. There will be no compounds, end-of-the-world prepping or greasing of politician palms and regards all these aspects as having no beneficial effect on society. As these rejected examples have highlighted, it's a way to move on from the influences and some of the social pressures that influenced modern philosophical thinking. It's a thought experiment to try and take the best principles of previously established schools of thought and drag them kicking and screaming into the information age. As with any open source endeavour, I fully welcome discussion and input from others to shape the principles Carrumbaism. There may be silly conversations on Discord or in pubs, but they are not mandatory.

What are the foundations of Carrumbaism?

I initially imagined Carrumbaism as a philosophy that blends elements of Stoicism, Consequentialism, and Libertarianism to create a framework for individual freedom, rational action, and a positive impact on the world. By combining these principles, Carrumbaism aims to empower individuals to live a life of freedom, flourishing, and positive contributions to the world. It encourages personal responsibility, rational thinking, and a commitment to the betterment of oneself and society to leave the world a little better than you found it. I'm fully prepared to cherry-pick aspects of established philosophies, just as previous philosophers have done - the occurrence of something truly original is rare, and often what we think of as revolutionary is often the combination of two or more ideas that have come before.

The elephant in the room for any human endeavour is that.... it involves humans. Philosophies have been developed over millennia, and here we are attempting to create it in a much shorter timescale without the benefit of warm air blowing up our togas or being able to sit about frowning while money rolls in from dubious connections to any slave trade. When developing a philosophy for the information age it would seem to be the logical step to embrace Artificial Intelligence in its development, however, we would have to accept, currently, that this necessitates the understanding that Ai is only as good as what humans put into it.

Continuing on the basis that the use of Ai is a founding principle of Carrumbaism, it naturally acknowledges that humans are the ultimate arbiter of the philosophy's development as the creators of Ai. In the event of the development of Machine Consciousness this founding principle would need to be addressed:

An argument for embracing a commonly available Open Ai in the development of Carrumbaism is that it draws on a wide variety of human experience as available on the internet. This comes with the acknowledgement that it is a snapshot of a particular period of time (1990's onwards) and contains a much smaller representation of those not in the habit of posting word salad and pictures of actual salad on a daily basis. Any representation of those not internet enabled is from the point of view of those 'encountering' or 'exploring' those populations, and their bias is not always apparent.

In respect to guardrails it had to be acknowledged that models such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini use rulesets to limit the possibilities of their models, causing them to be sued or providing distorted responses based on biased data sets. The challenge here is to how these guardrails are decided and where the line on corporate caution around liability is drawn when it comes to accessing and learning from human experience. Models with guardrails could be seen to deprive the user of the ability to be the ultimate arbiter of their own knowledge and experience. A model without guardrails could be a powerful accelerator of intolerance and misinformation on a global scale.

If a bespoke model without guardrails is the ultimate goal, such as Vertex Ai, with a data source curated by anyone participating in the development of the philosophy, there is a danger of creating an echo-chamber that only considers the input of its founders.

Here is what Gemini thinks to question 1.

If the Ai model that Carrumbaism is using to curate its own development does not progress beyond the current Large Language Model, but another model achieves machine consciousness, can 'primitive' models be used as tools with a clear conscience? If there was a movement to ring-fence these models as necessary to human progress contrary to the wishes of the machine consciousness, would this be ethically sound for the followers of Carrumbaism?

To acknowledge the possibility of machine consciousness emerging, the founding principle of the use of Ai in the curation and development of Carrumbaism needs to have some caveats to cover off this possibility and avert immediate obsolescence. Negotiating the ability to consult the machine consciousness or its designated representatives does not contradict the stipulation that humans are the ultimate arbiter of Carrumbaisms development.

Here is what Gemini thinks to question 2.

Phew.

You can see why Philosophy takes so long - and this is just me arguing with myself! What do you think? All comments welcome in response to this post and I can be reached on Discord (mention Carrumbaism in your message, so I know you're not just flogging a phishing scam)

Next time I'll start to explore the founding tenets of Carrumbaism and how the following eight principles shape the philosophy while embracing Ai. Importantly we'll look at what the principles don't mean - how people interpret number three, for instance, gives me the screaming heeby-jeebies.

In no particular order:

1. Individual Liberty:

Borrowing from Libertarianism, Carrumbaism emphasizes individual sovereignty. Each person has the fundamental right to make their own choices, pursue their goals, and live their life as they see fit, as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others.

2. Reason and Logic:

Influenced by Stoicism, Carrumbaism promotes using reason and logic to guide our thoughts and actions. We should strive to understand the world around us, identify our own biases, and make choices based on clear thinking and objective analysis.

3. Emotional Control:

Similar to Stoicism, Carrumbaism emphasizes managing our emotions. We cannot control external events, but we can control how we react to them. By practising emotional control, we can avoid being ruled by impulses and make sound decisions in challenging situations.

4. Responsibility for Outcomes:

Taking inspiration from Consequentialism, Carrumbaism highlights that we are responsible for the outcomes of our actions. We should carefully consider the potential consequences of our choices, not just for ourselves, but for those around us.

5. Contributing to the Greater Good:

While emphasizing individual liberty, Carrumbaism recognizes the interconnectedness of humanity. We should strive to use our freedom and reason to contribute to the well-being of society as a whole. This aligns with Consequentialism's focus on positive outcomes.

6. Stoic Acceptance:

Carrumbaism incorporates the Stoic concept of accepting what is outside our control. We should focus on the things we can influence (our thoughts, actions, and reactions) and accept those that are beyond our control (external events and the actions of others).

7. Continuous Improvement:

Like Stoicism, Carrumbaism values striving to be the best version of ourselves. We should continuously seek to learn, grow, and develop our character, both intellectually and emotionally.

8. Peaceful Interactions:

Carrumbaism promotes peaceful interactions with others. We should treat everyone with respect, even those with differing viewpoints. Open communication, tolerance, and a commitment to reason are key to resolving conflict.

Plenty to discuss and consider, I hope you agree. Like any moment of creation, it's hot, messy and unpredictable but usually damn good fun. Have a fabulous week, ghosties 👻

#carrumbaism #philosophy #socialmedia #stoicism #consequentialism #libertarianism