The Visitor

Our Favorite Article of All Time? An Interview with a Super-intelligent (but Friendly) Alien Being That Taught Us How To Fix Our Corrupted World

(NOTE: This might be our favorite article we have published in over five years. The Socratic method of questions and dialogue between two people allows for such a rich exploration of these topics.

Imagine if this really happened. Imagine if a super intelligent (but friendly) being came to Earth and gave us the knowledge of how to fix all of this.

What would be our next steps for success? Would we listen before it is too late?

Please enjoy reading this article as much as we enjoyed writing it!)

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THE VISITOR:

Maybe you heard? We had a Visitor.

A super intelligent celestial life form took over our office in Buffalo, NY, and requested an interview. The Visitor would not let us use recording devices, and used its advanced technology to disable every digital device within our location. Afterward, we were provided a printed out script and audio file of our conversation and were told we could publish them.

Here they are:
AUDIO VERSION:

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THE INTERVIEW:

Society of Problem Solvers: So you are.... an alien?

The Visitor: If you mean not from this planet, then yes...

Society of Problem Solvers: Where are you from?

The Visitor: That’s not important right now. I have limited time. And so does your civilization if you don’t pay attention. What’s important is that you ask the right questions.

Society of Problem Solvers: Oh. Okay. How about we start with your name?

Alien: You can call me Aion. It roughly translates into human language as:

“One who remembers what civilizations forget.”

Society of Problem Solvers: That’s an odd name.

Aion: Thank you. That’s a compliment in our culture. We’re named after our unique purpose, and this is mine. Helping civilizations like yours from going extinct. I am here to help you fix the crisis your planet faces before it is too late.

Society of Problem Solvers: Extinct? What crisis do you mean? There seem to be many right now.

Aion: There are many. But they nearly all hinge on one in particular. The main crisis your planet faces is that the most important systems for humanity have become corrupted by other bad humans.

Society of Problem Solvers: Who are these bad humans?

Aion: It isn’t just one group, it is several groups working together. We call these bad humans “The Corruptors,” and The Corruptors do not have the best intentions of the rest of humanity in mind. In fact, they act as a network with the goal of wanting to harm and control the rest of you. They are plotting against you as we speak.

Society of Problem Solvers: Well can you give us some new technology to help us fight these “Corruptors?”

Aion: Unfortunately, no. It’s against our code of ethics and conduct to give technology to less evolved civilizations. But we can give you some knowledge. It’s really all you need. And in fact you already have it, you just need it highlighted. Once you have the knowledge it will be your decision to fix the problem or not to. Truthfully, that will be the hardest part - trying to convince other people to be on board.

Society of Problem Solvers: Okay, well what knowledge could you give us that could help us then?

Aion: First, know this: you as humans have the ability to fix all of this yourselves - wars, famine, disease, environmental problems, poverty, and most importantly - the corruption…. all of it. You can fix it with applied knowledge. Through innovation, technology, better systems, and by changing your own culture, code of ethics, and conduct. But you are running out of time. And you are facing a powerful adversary.

Society of Problem Solvers: So how can we beat the clock?

Aion: The best way is rather simple - find as many good people as possible - people willing to adhere to a new code of ethics and conduct - and then connect your light together into one cohesive unit.

Society of Problem Solvers: Connect our light?

Aion: You know, that part inside of each of you that let’s you create, use imagination, and solve problems. All intelligent life has it, and it is universal. We know you as humans have it, based on all of the things you have created so far. Sure, you are using artificial intelligence to aid you now, but “creative intelligence” is different; it is special. In fact, it is what created the AI models you use. And - as far as we know - creative intelligence is best amplified one way, and that is by connecting it to other people. Connecting your light, to their light.

Society of Problem Solvers: You mean… like working with others?

Aion: Sounds simple enough, right? Group problem-solving. Collaboration. Coordination. Yet in practice, you humans are surprisingly bad at getting it right. Especially at scale. You allow authorities to tell you how to work, and take your creativity away, instead of forming groups on your own. You also allow your egos to get in the way. Then, you fail to build high trust with each other and build on top of that trust. And your understanding of how group problem solving works is just beginning to scratch the surface. So far humans have discovered some rudimentary ways to do this - by voting, in academic settings, by volunteering, by using money, or other incentives. But connecting that light together requires better systems to maximize the outcomes. Like I said, right now the systems you currently use have all become corrupted, and they are getting bad results.

Society of Problem Solvers: If our systems are all corrupted, then how can we begin to fix this? Voting doesn’t work anymore, and without our main institutions, what are we supposed to do?

Aion: Think of it like this, your mainframe computer for humanity is corrupted, therefore all the programs that run on that computer are also corrupted. Your systems of government, media, academia, food, and even science - The Corruptors own these now. Voting is one of these systems. But more importantly, voting is not a great way to solve problems in groups to begin with. It is better than nothing, yes. But there are much much better ways - ways that humans have already discovered, such as collective intelligence systems.

Society of Problem Solvers: Wait…What’s wrong with voting?

Aion: Voting for a representative was always a flawed system. Why? Because humans are flawed. In fact all life forms are. Even the most noble and honorable of us has flaws. Therefore voting for a representative who is easy-to-corrupt is not a good system. Individually we can all be corrupted with the right pressure, pain, or reward. But a large group of people working together - using the right knowledge and system - is much harder to corrupt.

Society of Problem Solvers: Shouldn’t we be worried that most people are bad people?

Aion: That is a misconception. Most people are not bad people. In fact, most people on your planet genuinely want to do good. They want to cooperate. They want to collaborate. They want to belong to trustworthy communities and work together toward shared goals. Only a very small percentage of people consistently seek to harm, manipulate, or exploit others, likely far less than 5 percent. The Corruptors are part of that minority.

Society of Problem Solvers: Really? I would have assumed it was much higher. The way the corporate media makes it seem, our species hates each other.

Aion: That is mostly lies. Your own species has repeatedly demonstrated this through experiments such as the Ultimatum Game and the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma. When systems are transparent, fair, and trustworthy, human beings overwhelmingly prefer cooperation over exploitation. Most people would rather build together than rip one another off.

Society of Problem Solvers: So what should we do?

Aion: For starters, you cannot use corrupted systems to fix corrupted systems. Let me ask you, how would you fix a corrupted or hacked computer?

Society of Problem Solvers: Well, if a computer is seriously corrupted, you do not trust the compromised system to diagnose itself accurately. You bring in an external, trusted system. In many cases you’d effectively “plug in” a healthier system to evaluate, repair, or replace the damaged one.

Aion: Exactly. You would use a new system. A healthy system. One that works.

Society of Problem Solvers: Where do we find one of those?

Aion: You don’t find it. You build it. Together. Under a new code of conduct for humanity. Sort of like a new Constitution, or agreement, on how to use your new systems as you build them. All of this should exist outside of government, and be directly controlled by the people.

Society of Problem Solvers: Let’s say that was possible-

Aion: It is possible…

Society of Problem Solvers: Okay, well we can’t just abandon the old system, people are trapped inside of it.

Aion: Correct. That’s why you don’t attack the system directly. You build something healthier beside it… next to it…. for people to migrate to.

Society of Problem Solvers: A parallel operating system for civilization?

Aion: One. Or many. But yes, that’s exactly right. You build something new and antifragile. Something that makes the old system obsolete. Get people to migrate to it, and use it to fix the old system. Then, eventually, just install the new one completely.

Society of Problem Solvers: Interesting. What kind of systems would you recommend we build?

Aion: As I alluded to earlier, I would suggest starting simple - build a collective “swarm” intelligence platform where humans can solve problems better in groups. Make it radically transparent so all of the people can see what is happening at all times. And make it decentralized so the power is spread over the people making it very hard to corrupt. Humanity already knows about these types of systems, but they are using them for gambling and prediction markets instead of using them to run systems. That’s the big pivot here.

Society of Problem Solvers: So we make decisions as one group? Instead of having centralized leaders or representatives do it for us?

Aion: Exactly. The power of these systems is coordination. A swarming system asks groups, “What should we do?” It allows for real intelligence to emerge - creativity and constructive criticisms. You can still have top-down hierarchies that work for the group. But the decentralized people have the last say - as long as it adheres to your code of conduct.

Society of Problem Solvers: And you think groups of humans can answer together, like individual nodes of one big brain?

Aion: Not automatically. A crowd can be wise, or it can be insane. The difference is the system, and the knowledge of how to use it.

Society of Problem Solvers: What makes the system wise?

Aion: Humans already discovered much of the answer you seek. Again, you call it “collective intelligence.” Sometimes “The Wisdom of Crowds.” Sometimes “Human Swarm Intelligence.” Different names for the same phenomenon. The emergence of shared intelligence through collaboration. Many minds connecting together to solve problems as one larger cognitive organism. It is real, measurable and testable. And it is one of the most important discoveries your species has ever made - yet largely remains ignored.

Society of Problem Solvers: These systems are a way to connect our light together?

Aion: Now you are getting it.

Society of Problem Solvers: Then why aren’t we already using this phenomena to run civilizations?

Aion: Because your species discovered the force before it understood the conditions required to stabilize it. Sometimes human crowds are dangerous. Without the right systems and training, they can be emotional, reactive, manipulated, or fragmented. They can also be tricked, or captured by corrupted hierarchies. Witch hunts, wars, Nazis, echo chambers, mob rule, groupthink…. are all examples.

Society of Problem Solvers: So we discovered this powerful force already, but were spooked by the dangers of it and failed to explore it more?

Aion: That’s right. Instead of asking: “Why do humans sometimes do amazing things in groups, and other times hurt each other?” You abandoned the idea. That would be like giving up on flight after the first plane crash, instead of evolving the planes.

Society of Problem Solvers: Well I was taught that groups without leaders always turn into mob rule.

Aion: Who wrote your history books? The Corruptors. To be fair, groups can turn into mob rule. But it is rare, and easy to prevent once you understand how. The Corruptors know Collective Intelligence is a powerful force that can be used against them. In fact it is their number one commandment - to keep humanity separated into smaller groups, and fighting. Mob rule only exists when there is more than one group. If you act as one humanity, without smaller group labels that divide you, then tyranny cannot exist. Tyranny requires “the others.”
Society of Problem Solvers: So we need to unify?

Aion: Yes… connect your light together. Labeling groups makes you easy to divide and control. But if you decide to label any groups, it should be merit based. For example, you could label those corrupting your systems.

Society of Problem Solvers: Like….”The Corruptors?”

Aion: Exactly. Imagine if you harnessed the power of mob rule against them.

Society of Problem Solvers: Oh wow. I see.

Aion: As tempting as that might be, I do not recommend that. I recommend building better systems and dissolving their power instead. They are too powerful to fight right now, and could likely almost destroy most of Earth if they wanted to. It is much safer to build new systems and then lock them out by requiring a new code of conduct and transparency that their corruption cannot survive in.

Society of Problem Solvers: So what conditions are required to make collective intelligence systems both safe and get good results?

Aion: Human researchers already uncovered the first principles. A human named James Surowiecki documented several of them in his book The Wisdom of Crowds.

Society of Problem Solvers: What were those principles?

Aion: First: decentralization. No single authority controlling the flow of thought. Centralized systems become bottlenecks. Bottlenecks become corruption points.

Society of Problem Solvers: Is that what happened to our institutions?

Aion: Partially, yes. When too much power concentrates into too few hands, places that once nurtured intelligence collapse into places of obedience. Especially when fear is added to the mix.

Society of Problem Solvers: What else?

Aion: Diversity of opinion. Individualism. Different minds seeing the problem from different perspectives. These are required for good collective intelligence to arise. It is why the individual must always be protected with a code or constitution. It is also why it is wise to use groups of people that mix sexes and cultures. As long as you all adhere to the same common code of ethics and mutual respect.

Society of Problem Solvers: But humans seem to spiral into groupthink now all the time.

Aion: Again, that is because your current systems use group labels against you. Anyone solving a problem together should be one group. No other labels should be allowed during the process. Group labels lead to echo chambers, groupthink, and tyranny. All of the perils found in groups. When your system doesn’t allow group labels during the process, or better yet you give everyone anonymity during the process of collective intelligence, it gives the individual freedom to answer without pressure from groups, from loudmouths, from their bosses or peers, like that. True collective intelligence requires cognitive diversity. If everyone thinks the same, you do not have intelligence. You have an echo. Anonymity - during the problem solving process - fixes this. But there still must be ways to make sure everyone in the system is a real person. High trust before swarming, anonymity during the problem solving or deciding process.

Society of Problem Solvers: Interesting. That makes sense. You might have a celebrity, or someone else whose opinion you value. Or maybe a group you are trying to fit in with or impress. and your answer might reflect more about fitting into that group than the real answer you want to project. But if you are anonymous then you’re not judged by your answers, and you are free to be an individual.

Aion: Precisely. You get it…

Society of Problem Solvers: So it seems that disagreement is necessary for collective intelligence to emerge?

Aion: Essential. All evolution comes from non-conformity. But you must have rules and organization for disagreement. Productive disagreement. Not chaos. Problem solving. You start with a clear problem then seek solutions. In fact this is the way all science should be done. You start with a problem and seek a good explanation as a solution.

Society of Problem Solvers: What do you mean by a “good explanation?”

Aion: One that is hard to vary. Your scientists have already described this. Karl Popper. David Deutsch.

Society of Problem Solvers: So the key to creating new knowledge in groups is to make a transparent system where disagreement can take place?

Aion: Not just disagreement. People are good at recognizing good ideas too. They need a place to criticize and converge on ideas. A platform, or system. With human swarms there is often plenty of agreement too. Both are important.

Society of Problem Solvers: How do you organize the group?

Aion: Through coordination and alignment. There are many ways that work.

Society of Problem Solvers: Meaning the group understands the same problem?

Aion: For sure that is part of it. They don’t need to be experts - in fact that is a fallacy in creative problem solving - but they do need to understand the problem, which might take a little time to understand, or a certain level of learning. The individuals must understand what problem they are solving together, how they interact, and what signals matter. Otherwise you do not get intelligence. You get noise.

Society of Problem Solvers: That also makes sense.

Aion: Keep in mind it is usually best to solve problems one at a time. This is another problem with group labels. Look at the political parties and how they silo all the problems together in a stack of problems, and expect people in the party to adhere to them all. That is a groupthink trap, set on purpose. And it works very well.

Society of Problem Solvers: It sounds like The Corruptors are very tricky.

Aion: Oh they are. But only because they also work as a high trust group - a bad swarm, if you will. Their trust is built mostly on fear. They use coercion, blackmail, bribery, and violence to keep that trust. They also are forced to act in secret, not allowing the rest of you to see their collusion. This is actually a huge disadvantage to them. Transparency nurtures collective intelligence far better than fear. And forcing people to collude does not have as good of an outcome as communities openly volunteering to solve problems together. The rest of humanity has this enormous advantage over The Corruptors, but you are all mostly blind to it. The Corruptors know this, and it is why they spend so much resources trying to keep all of you labeled into smaller groups, divided, afraid, and obedient.

Society of Problem Solvers: Why do they want to do this to us?

Aion: That is a good question, but we don’t have time to get into that now. As mentioned I only have limited time here.

Society of Problem Solvers: Ok, let’s get back on topic then. After the group understands the problem, then what?

Aion: Aggregation. A mechanism to combine the answers, ideas, and signals from the group into coherent outputs. Often technological. again, your species already uses primitive versions of this in markets, polling, and prediction systems. While your tools remain crude, there are many others on the horizon - much better ones. Check out both of the systems that Dr. Louis Rosenberg invented. He discusses one of them in a Ted Talk, and demonstrates how those systems outperform language model AI and individuals when it comes to solving problems. By a wide margin.

Society of Problem Solvers: We are actually familiar with his work. His systems are incredible but only good up to a few hundred people, right?

AION: Yes. That’s why your people will need to build new ones. Ones that can run large companies, cities, and then the world. Think of it like a new platform - a new operating system for humanity. One that does not open itself up to corruption the way yours currently does. You must build on the knowledge your people have already discovered. And embrace it and test it.

Society of Problem Solvers: So the big 4 things required in these systems are decentralization, diversity, coordination, and aggregation.

Aion: Those are the four foundationals. But not sufficient.

Society of Problem Solvers: There’s more?

Aion: Much more. But I don’t have time to go over all of them. Some you will have to discover on your own.

Society of Problem Solvers: Can you give us a few more?

Aion: I supposed I have enough time. Another big one is trust in the system itself.

Society of Problem Solvers: Meaning people believe the process is fair?

Aion: Yes. But not just fair. Radically transparent. You are asking the people to help make decisions, but if they cannot see the problems then they cannot solve it together. Without transparency, any form of group decision making will eventually become corrupted by bad actors - as your planet is finding out now. Transparency is the kryptonite of corruption. If participants believe the system is manipulated, intelligence collapses before the swarm even forms.

Society of Problem Solvers: Humans definitely don’t trust our systems anymore.

Aion: Trust in a system is only based on three things: 1) Transparency, 2) Results, and 3) the ability to adapt and be antifragile. Your systems have earned that distrust and deserve to be exited and replaced.

Society of Problem Solvers: What about peer-to-peer trust?

Aion: Also critical. High trust communities are what the most powerful forces can be built on. Your world’s culture is so stuck in diversity and group labels that you will need to approach this carefully. I suggest forming small high trust circles first, then connecting them. Also in order to make sure your digital systems are not being raided by bots or ai, participants should verify one another peer-to-peer ….during in-person meet ups before entering the digital system. Mix IRL with URL. Decentralized trust is the way your digital shops like Amazon and Ebay work. You rate users not top-down, but person-to-person, in a decentralized fashion. Any new platform for humanity should copy this model. This is the best way to lock out bad actors, AI, and bots - without opening yourselves to corruption.

Society of Problem Solvers: Can you give us a few more rules for collective intelligence systems?

Aion: Sure. Skin in the game - if everyone pools a little money or sweat equity into the system, they are more likely to care, participate, and think about creative answers. Also pooled money becomes a force for change on your planet. If one million people pooled $20 a month, that would be $20 million a month. With collective intelligence, you could turn that into billions rather easily by starting swarm owned businesses, and then start to change everything.

Society of Problem Solvers: Wow. Sort of like the way taxes are supposed to work, but we actually get a say?

Aion: Sort of, but the whole thing will have much better results than taxes ever did because you are harnessing the wisdom of the crowd.

Society of Problem Solvers: If that is true, that is amazing. Any other tips for the systems?

Aion: It is true. And yes… make your new systems with incentives, gamification and purpose. People only do what they do because of what happens to them when they do it. If you build systems that incentivize individuals to participate, it will equate to better outcomes. Also if you gamify the process, have levels and goals, honor people who do great things for the swarms, and of course instill purpose, that will attract even more people. People are much more willing to put effort into something when they see a good purpose behind it.

Society of Problem Solvers: Oh yes, gamification can take mundane things like government and suddenly make people want to participate in them. We could turn all of government into a game. Like Sim City but with real consequences.

Aion: See, now you are really starting to get it. But don’t forget education must come first. Take the time to educate people on how to behave in swarms. You wouldn’t fly a plane or operate a nuclear power plant without first training people how. Collective swarm intelligence is the same way. Remember - it can be dangerous. Create learning centers for collective intelligence and make sure that all people involved have gone through the training. This is an area of science where you will want to keep exploring. The knowledge here is vast, deep, and ever evolving. Even my people are still discovering better methods all the time.

Society of Problem Solvers: Once we come up with an idea we like, how do we make decisions? Do we vote?

Aion: No. Binary voting systems are primitive. Fifty-one percent agreement is not intelligence. It is merely division with a winner attached to it. Instead look for confidence scores. Ask the members to rate their confidence in an answer or decision, and set really high bars before taking action. Say 80% or higher to start. Maybe even higher.

Society of Problem Solvers: I know you said you were low on time. How do we avoid the red tape, legal hurdles, and the companies and governments that will try to stop us?

Aion: There are many ways, but start with a tried and true way. If it was me, I would start with a PMA: a Private Membership Association. Consider the model of a Costco or an Amazon - organizations that operate at a scale of efficiency that dwarfs the public sector. Now, imagine stripping away the traditional shareholders, the board of directors beholden to Wall Street, and the profit-extraction mandates. In a Sovereign PMA, the members decide. There are no outside investors to satisfy. Capital is not diverted to dividends for distant stakeholders; it is recycled directly into the system. This is the essence of Membership Capital. When a group of people pools their dues into a PMA, they are not paying a tax; they are engaging in a direct capital infusion into infrastructure they control. Whether it is a farm cooperative and grocery store with clean independently tested foods - to ensure food sovereignty, a housing trust to secure living standards, a credit union, or a health network to provide independent wellness, the PMA converts passive savings into tangible assets. The members decide the rules, the quality standards, the code of conduct, and the goals. Because the association is private and voluntary, it operates outside the regulatory capture that forces public institutions to prioritize corporate profit over human health or efficiency. I would start here.

Society of Problem Solvers: Oh wow. What a great idea. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with humanity today. Is there anything else you would like to say before you go?

Aion: Use your desire to be in groups - your tribalism - to your advantage, and stop letting The Corruptors use it against you. Connect your light. Build systems that are hard to corrupt and migrate there as a place to pool money and decision making. Learn as much as you can about the most powerful force in the known universe - your ability to create new knowledge in groups. Use it wisely. Use it to help others. And once you become wise enough, spread it throughout the universe. Good luck humans.

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Stay optimistic! Why? Because..

”All problems that do not defy the laws of physics are solvable with the right knowledge” - David Deutsch

and….

“Humans solve problems better in high-trust groups.”
and…
…… solving problems is happiness!

#CollectiveIntelligence #SwarmIntelligence
For over 3 billion years on this planet there were only single-celled organisms. Then one day they somehow learned to work together and make complex multi-celled creatures . Right now we are like those single-celled organisms. Our next evolution is finding how to work together, better… (like we wrote about here).

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