While i rarely remember my dreams, every now and then I have one that’s a doozy. A few nights back, I had a dream that I took over the world.
Not in a military sense, though, and not in a James Bond “siezing control of all the natural resources” or “building a flying orbital fortress sense.” It was a lot more…transhumanist than that.
It started out with me on a group of islands somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I had developed gap generators–anyone who plays the game Command & Conquer Red Alert will know what I mean. Towers that blank out the area around my island to air and satellite photography.
I also had a lock on tech that is to current high tech what an M-16 is to a flint knife. We’re talking general nanoscale assemblers, instantaneous global real-time intelligence, near-instant suborbital travel to any point on the globe, force fields, force manipulators, the works.
So I did what anyone would do in that position, if they were me: started issuing edicts. I developed a very simple system for it, in fact. I’d send out a mass-media, all-channels broadcast to some place, telling their government what to do. If they failed to comply, then the folks responsible for the failure would get zapped by lightning, or find their homes and offices crumbling to dust under a flying swarm of microscopic robots, or stuff like that, and then I’d repeat the broadcast. Rinse and repeat until compliance.
A lot of governments took strong objection to this, and tried all sorts of things to get me to stop. They’d send navies after me, which would find themselves blocked by invisible walls hundreds of miles out. They’d launch missiles at me, which I would snatch out of the air and add to my collection. In one particularly vivid and detailed part of the dream, the American government sent a nuclear attack sub after me, reasoning that I wouldn’t see it coming; I snatched it out of the water, and sent the crew back to Washington on a suborbital ballistic transport with a note reading “Here’s your guys back, thanks for the sub!”
I don’t remember all the edicts that I issued, but I do remember that some of them included:
– An immediate end to laws mandating sexual segregation and sexual oppression in the Middle East;
– An immediate laying down of weapons by all armed, militant religious and paramilitary groups, with a 24-hour deadline (after which armed militants found themselves being taken apart, along with their weapons, by swarms of nanobots);
– Immediate closing of prison camps all over the world, including the prison at Guantanamo;
– Patent reform in the UK and the US;
– Immediate, unconditional, and unrestricted civil rights for gays and lesbians everywhere in the world;
and so on.
You know, looking back, I think I’d probably make a pretty good dictator of the world.
Wow. usually I find dream logic to be kind of annoying once I’ve woken up. But there’s a case where dream logic makes something like that enjoyable instead of a nightmare.
(Imagine weilding the One Ring to Rule Them All only to find yourself enslaved like a ringwraith, by a heirarchy you hadn’t suspected…)
But the Lex Luthor dream of weapons that outclass the current version, that seems pretty plausible. Just because *I* don’t have a jetpack or a hover-car, doesn’t mean there’s not those who do. And they would be reluctant to show off these toys to anyone likely to survive the encounter.
Wow. usually I find dream logic to be kind of annoying once I’ve woken up. But there’s a case where dream logic makes something like that enjoyable instead of a nightmare.
(Imagine weilding the One Ring to Rule Them All only to find yourself enslaved like a ringwraith, by a heirarchy you hadn’t suspected…)
But the Lex Luthor dream of weapons that outclass the current version, that seems pretty plausible. Just because *I* don’t have a jetpack or a hover-car, doesn’t mean there’s not those who do. And they would be reluctant to show off these toys to anyone likely to survive the encounter.
What makes for a good dictator?
A short lifespan.
Heh!
Hmm. A good dictator would likely be much like a good leader of any sort–respect for the basic liberties of his citizens, respect for the rule of law, that sort of thing.
Of course, examples of dictators with those qualities are pretty thin on the ground. Though the cynic in me suggests that the last eight years in the US are a pointed example that representational governments don’t necessarily lead to those qualities, either…
What makes for a good dictator?
How did you get the nanobots to follow your will, after they’d disassembled folks. . .
My dream was pretty thin on technical details, which is the only reason Im not currently dictator of the world.
And besides, trade secret!
How did you get the nanobots to follow your will, after they’d disassembled folks. . .
You would be assasinated. Which would suck.
You would be assasinated. Which would suck.
I’ve never had such a nighttime dream, but I have daydreams like that on a regular basis.
Heh! That’s amusing.
I’ve never had such a nighttime dream, but I have daydreams like that on a regular basis.
LoL I’d vote for you. ^_^
Well, I like it, anyway. 😀
LoL I’d vote for you. ^_^
Well, I like it, anyway. 😀
Gap generators. This alone gets a big thumbs up from me.
Gap generators. This alone gets a big thumbs up from me.
You know what they say about absolute power.
“Power corrupts; absolute power is totally awesome”?
It’s really fun?
You know what they say about absolute power.
“Power corrupts; absolute power is totally awesome”?
I don’t know… evil genius blackmailing the world from his secret island sounds a lot like a James Bond movie to me. 🙂
OK, your demands weren’t exactly evil, but you get the idea.
Good geniuses don’t get the respect they’re accorded, I think.
I don’t know… evil genius blackmailing the world from his secret island sounds a lot like a James Bond movie to me. 🙂
OK, your demands weren’t exactly evil, but you get the idea.
I think I’d probably make a pretty good dictator of the world.
I’d vote for you. Oh, wait…
I think I’d probably make a pretty good dictator of the world.
I’d vote for you. Oh, wait…
There is nothing wrong with a good tyrant. It’s what to do with a bad tyrant that causes problems.
There is nothing wrong with a good tyrant. It’s what to do with a bad tyrant that causes problems.
See, this is my argument against people who say that the singularity and transhumanism are are mostly for rich white males. If I had godlike powers, I’d use them to be a superhero. This is probably a consequence of reading a lot of comics as a child. The assumption that I wouldn’t seems roughly equivalent to the assumption that I’m currently evil, and just don’t have the power to express it.
The assumption that I wouldn’t seems roughly equivalent to the assumption that I’m currently evil, and just don’t have the power to express it.
Splendidly and succinctly put! May I steal that quote for potential future use?
Go for it.
I really, really like that. “The assumption that I wouldn’t seems roughly equivalent to the assumption that I’m currently evil, and just don’t have the power to express it.”
See, this is my argument against people who say that the singularity and transhumanism are are mostly for rich white males. If I had godlike powers, I’d use them to be a superhero. This is probably a consequence of reading a lot of comics as a child. The assumption that I wouldn’t seems roughly equivalent to the assumption that I’m currently evil, and just don’t have the power to express it.
You have the most awesomest dreams
You have the most awesomest dreams
Yay Franklin! You have my vote, too 🙂
You’d have to have a lot of information somehow, though. How would you find those militant groups, for example?
Your dream really reminded me of “Report on the Barnhouse Effect”…
– Ola
Yep, in typical dream-logic fashion, I just knew that I’d know if anyone were violating my edicts, without exactly knowing how I’d know.
Any sufficiently advanced technology, and all that.
Yay Franklin! You have my vote, too 🙂
You’d have to have a lot of information somehow, though. How would you find those militant groups, for example?
Your dream really reminded me of “Report on the Barnhouse Effect”…
– Ola
While I personally happen to love your edicts to pieces, the problem with any benevolent tyrant is that some people will hate it. And edicts backed by force? Not so much with that.
I’m sure that the dream was a lot of fun though, hehe.
While I personally happen to love your edicts to pieces, the problem with any benevolent tyrant is that some people will hate it. And edicts backed by force? Not so much with that.
I’m sure that the dream was a lot of fun though, hehe.
A short lifespan.
You know, looking back, I think I’d probably make a pretty good dictator of the world.
Yes, I think you would. In fact, in this situation I would have no problems whatsoever with nominating you “Dictator For Life”. The changes that you advocate are a wonderful way to start your legacy.
They’d also be a wonderful end it, which is why in the time it took you to compose your post my own nanoswarms permanently blocked the mechanisms for cellular mitosis in every cell of your body. It’ll begin with the inability to heal from any injury, accompanied by rapidly worsening anemia and system-wide organ failure. However, you will live to implement your first (and last) round of edicts.
I commend you for your efforts, and thank you for your sacrifice. May you be the only tyrant ever remembered fondly by history.
🙂
P.S.- Gap generators FTW!
Heh. You forget backups. And one other thing, which i will leave as an exercise to the reader.
You know, looking back, I think I’d probably make a pretty good dictator of the world.
Yes, I think you would. In fact, in this situation I would have no problems whatsoever with nominating you “Dictator For Life”. The changes that you advocate are a wonderful way to start your legacy.
They’d also be a wonderful end it, which is why in the time it took you to compose your post my own nanoswarms permanently blocked the mechanisms for cellular mitosis in every cell of your body. It’ll begin with the inability to heal from any injury, accompanied by rapidly worsening anemia and system-wide organ failure. However, you will live to implement your first (and last) round of edicts.
I commend you for your efforts, and thank you for your sacrifice. May you be the only tyrant ever remembered fondly by history.
🙂
P.S.- Gap generators FTW!
The assumption that I wouldn’t seems roughly equivalent to the assumption that I’m currently evil, and just don’t have the power to express it.
Splendidly and succinctly put! May I steal that quote for potential future use?
Heh!
I’m not fond of dictators, but if you really ran things like that… hell, I might vote for you!
What, aren’t you the sort of dictator who holds democratic elections…?
🙂
I’m not fond of dictators, but if you really ran things like that… hell, I might vote for you!
What, aren’t you the sort of dictator who holds democratic elections…?
🙂
Go for it.
Re: OMG NOSTALGIA!!!
That rocks! I want to work in an Allied tech center!
Re: OMG NOSTALGIA!!!
That rocks! I want to work in an Allied tech center!
Hmm. A good dictator would likely be much like a good leader of any sort–respect for the basic liberties of his citizens, respect for the rule of law, that sort of thing.
Of course, examples of dictators with those qualities are pretty thin on the ground. Though the cynic in me suggests that the last eight years in the US are a pointed example that representational governments don’t necessarily lead to those qualities, either…
My dream was pretty thin on technical details, which is the only reason Im not currently dictator of the world.
And besides, trade secret!
Heh! That’s amusing.
It’s really fun?
Good geniuses don’t get the respect they’re accorded, I think.
I really, really like that. “The assumption that I wouldn’t seems roughly equivalent to the assumption that I’m currently evil, and just don’t have the power to express it.”
Yep, in typical dream-logic fashion, I just knew that I’d know if anyone were violating my edicts, without exactly knowing how I’d know.
Any sufficiently advanced technology, and all that.
Heh. You forget backups. And one other thing, which i will leave as an exercise to the reader.
“I don’t remember all the edicts that I issued, but I do remember that some of them included:
– An immediate end to laws mandating sexual segregation and sexual oppression in the Middle East;
– An immediate laying down of weapons by all armed, militant religious and paramilitary groups, with a 24-hour deadline (after which armed militants found themselves being taken apart, along with their weapons, by swarms of nanobots);
– Immediate closing of prison camps all over the world, including the prison at Guantanamo;
– Patent reform in the UK and the US;
– Immediate, unconditional, and unrestricted civil rights for gays and lesbians everywhere in the world;”
Ugh.
Absolute power corrupts. Absolutely. Hey, while you’re at it, why don’t you just outlaw religion? Why stop at reforming it?
In fact, just have your nanobots re-wire human beings altogether, and when you’re done, you could have a colony of ants. Turtle-clones, where everything Turtle thinks must be right.
Dude, this is the scariest thing you’ve ever posted.
“I don’t remember all the edicts that I issued, but I do remember that some of them included:
– An immediate end to laws mandating sexual segregation and sexual oppression in the Middle East;
– An immediate laying down of weapons by all armed, militant religious and paramilitary groups, with a 24-hour deadline (after which armed militants found themselves being taken apart, along with their weapons, by swarms of nanobots);
– Immediate closing of prison camps all over the world, including the prison at Guantanamo;
– Patent reform in the UK and the US;
– Immediate, unconditional, and unrestricted civil rights for gays and lesbians everywhere in the world;”
Ugh.
Absolute power corrupts. Absolutely. Hey, while you’re at it, why don’t you just outlaw religion? Why stop at reforming it?
In fact, just have your nanobots re-wire human beings altogether, and when you’re done, you could have a colony of ants. Turtle-clones, where everything Turtle thinks must be right.
Dude, this is the scariest thing you’ve ever posted.