Hi Chance,

A Singleton doesn't have to be an autocrat. The single decision-making agency could emerge out of the shared intentions of the world, such as a collective intelligence manifesting on the technium. The Moral Apex is the unified body of knowledge, norms, and purpose or intention, along with the unification of humanity. This could go along with a centralized intelligence mediating everything, but I'm more inclined to think it will simply be the evolution of the technium/web. 

It sure seems that divisive tribalism is the norm right now, but I suspect that it's merely a resistance to a larger trend towards cosmopolitanism and globalization. We aren't fighting any major wars and there aren't any serious conflicts between groups. I suspect that the Technium is slowly gathering us all together to participate in global decision-making. 

Consider how self-driving cars have to decide who to hit if they have to drive through a group of people. Ultimately we have to build absolute values into the technium. This might seem terrible and could be, but I think it's forcing us to think very hard to figure out what constitutes a just society. Moral relativism has nowhere to go. So because we are building this techno-social system that's gradually reprogramming society, I think we're more likely to program a techno-social system that works in the most universal interests. As long as a totalitarian surveillance system doesn't threaten people who resist the system, the system will evolve along the path of least resistance. But in the process, we have to build in absolute values and our collective intentions (the meaning of life).

I don't think we'll ever become totalitarian in a way that loses free speech. That would be the cause of a downfall. Every trend shows exponential growth towards complexity and integration. I think that the technium, and the moral apex, will be made out of shared intentions. There will be a great deal of social engineering by people at the top, and it's a shock to see how fast people can be socially engineered when you think about how so many Republicans like Putin now. I'm just inclined to believe that things will continue to get better as they have so far. At the same time, I am worried about hyper-Orwellianism, but I don't think it will turn out that way. 

Max Tegmark has a great essay on how a company will likely end up taking over the world with an AGI, by controlling the media, in his new book Like 3.0. You can read it here: