2025-04-25
Martin Geddes isn't happy to solve the immediate problem, he wants to delve deeper to identify and resolve the underlying cause(s) so that the problem or family of problems will not happen again (or if it does it will fail safely - you can tell he cut his teeth in IT!).
That in principle is simple enough in the context of IT, although IT is now infamous for being constructed of many layers of abstraction, with appropriate software to manage the operation of each layer.
When I started in IT it was possible to understand almost every layer and how it worked ... but nowadays nobody understands more than a few - those that are of special significance for the individual. The rest can wait until we are forced to grapple with an unfamiliar error message!
Real-world systems are also multi-layered, even a trip to the shops may involve operating the garage, getting the car out, navigating and driving and operating the car's controls (three or more quite distinct layers, with a possible natter with a companion - if present - forming a third layer), parking, feeding the meter, and we haven't even got to a shop yet! It's all quite complex when you lay it out, and each layer has its own subset of processes and procedures if you really think about it. Happily, we don't need to because much of it is handled by our trained subconscious mind. Phew!
Martin's thesis is that following the collapse of the old world order, where "we" were ruled by "them", we will need to construct societal systems of operation and control that will serve us in the new world, where the old power structures are remodelled and/or replaced by structures that enable us to govern ourselves.
A bit like the world of IT systems where software subsets are created to enable the computer systems to control themselves very largely without any intervention by human masters.
"We no longer have the luxury of patching broken institutions. We are now called to re-architect civilization itself"
But how could it work? What principles would guide us?
Where would we find the necessary "trained subconscious"..?
Are you ready?
