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Preface

To get the most out of this Wiki, read with an an open mind...

Part 1: Introduction

We are running out of places to hide from the ecological crisis. Whilst we are working on solutions to deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change... they are only the symptoms of an underlying root cause. Popular delusions, logical fallacies, cognitive bias and pacification mean most of us are unaware of the size or imminence of the threat. Those that are aware have tried to elevate representatives but have found them captured by bad science and the machine.

To defeat a foe it's said you must divide and conquer. However, we instinctively do it to ourselves. XR , Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd... all fight for the same cause but are segregated, losing economies of scale. Solidarity is desperately needed but this requires trust in a cohesive vision. This evolving wiki, BurnZero, is dedicated to the search for that vision, to find the root cause and establish a new parallel system from within the old.

Part 2: Learning from our mistakes

Communism failed. The experiment proved our naive ideology wrong, humans are primarily not altruistic, life is perpetuated by selfish genes. Neoliberalism has also failed. Unbridled capitalism has brought us to the brink of environmental collapse. Instead of ignoring these facts and building new, soon to fail institutions, we should accept these failings and see if they can be remedied.

Instead of making hierarchical structures which are prone to corruption by status differentials a flatter structure could be used such as a holacracy. The issue with this is power structures inevitably arise. Very little organisations with flat hierarchies exist as they have been shown to be inefficient. Hierarchical structures are needed for effective human management, however the problem remains how to address the corruption issue?

Part 3: The Bad Machine

The irresponsible nature of corporate entities has been known since their inception. A corporate entity is only a means to an end, neither bad nor good. In fact, when they were first established they were recognised as being so potentially powerful they could only be created with a goal in mind, after which the company had to be dissolved. As corporations limit liability their success as a means of business next to sole traders who took personal liability was incomparable. This popularity over time saw the loss of dissolution controls and in the majority of cases it the pursuit of profit became the paramount driving force.

This takes the form of a "fiduciary duty" to pursue financial gain of shareholders. This binding principle of the pursuit of profit being paramount gives corporates the traits of a psychopath. Research has found people with narcissistic traits tend to get promoted 39% faster in their progression to CEO and that there are at least three times as many psychopaths in executive or CEO roles than in the overall population . The importance of this fact is emphasised by the knowledge that psychopaths, at around 1% of the adult population, are reported to be responsible for about 50 % of all serious crimes and constitute 20% of (North American) prison populations.

Incorporation Heuristics

Incorporation statements (IC) are legal documents which set out the specific rules, by which a corporation is to operate by. Subsequent rules may be applied in the form of Standard Operating Procedures however these must abode by the initial tenants on the IC. As a single document, ICs are filed usually with the Secretary of State’s office or other agency designated by the state to handle business registrations. The most companies by far are registered in the greatest tax haven on earth the United Kingdom.

The majority of incorporation statements codify the fiduciary duty of the parts of the machine, which in over 99% of cases is the pursuit of revenue with the reduction of costs excluding environmental externalities. At this point, the relativity of ethics comes into play. Do all machines ignore externalities and are intent on destroying the earth? Is a gun bad? No. Its down to the intent set by the incorporation heuristic, these can be broadly classified into:

• For profit - your standard corporation
• Not For Profit - where the pursuit of profit is reduced however this often then moves into the pursuit of survival of wages.

At this point it is a good idea to define the difference between a tool and a machine:

"As nouns the difference between machine and tool is that machine is a device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect while tool is (senseid)a mechanical device intended to make a task easier."

A machine is a more advanced tool as it direct energy to produce a certain effect, it has a more refined embedded purpose opposed to a tool. It is this embedded purpose embedded at conception of the machine that makes it good or bad. In the context of a machine, this depends on its founding heuristics which are found in it incorporation statement.

Part 4: The Good Machine

Law 1: Transparency

The founding tenet of a new organisation. All decisions, all work, all financial data need to be openly published in uneditable, real time. With this founding mechanic, what should its purpose be? Good? This is a relative term, what's good for one might not be good for all.

Law 2: Beneficence

What is good for all should be the purpose of a machine for all. However, this should prevent authoritarianism and prevent the harm to human life.

Law 3: Non-maleficence

The entity may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. To protect from automation

Law 4: Autonomation

The entity should only pursue activities which are autonomous. The entity must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the Second or Third Law.

Law 5: Self-preservation

The entity must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the Second or Third Law.