“Elections will become an algorithm and politicians will become cats.” —Yūsuke Narita
While this book offers an interesting insight into how we can “update” the main principles of democracy lieu the Athenian spirit via new technological innovations, there remains many unanswered questions and assumptions—such as, “How does one fund the changes proposed in implementing an ‘Unconscious Democracy’?” “What ethical basis do we have for gathering everyday data necessary to implement the changes in the said system?” “If we propose that animals or proxies are better suited to act as our political representatives, does that imply we (i.e. human beings) are no more (or no less) than animals and virtual beings?”
I agree with Narita’s critique of the modern democratic system, especially the so-called “representative democracy” in Japan has ceased to fulfil its main function. At the same time, many question remains—are we better off in a future where algorithmic decisions based on mass populace data rules over us? (Reminded me quite a bit about PsychoPass, tbh.) Who decides what “bent” is necessary to pass these decisions in the algorithm?
So, overall, very fascinating look at what “Unconscious Democracy” could look like, but still left many disturbing questions to be answered—are we no more than a conglomerate of data sets? (Somewhat similar to what Russell seemed to be proposing…) Or are we more than that?