Over the years, I have come to believe my life's work to be the interplay of power and care. How can we expect to teach an all powerful AI to treat us with dignity, when we demonstrate complete destruction of every ecosystem we inhabit? When many of the relationships we hold with each other are marked by domination and exploitation?
Some people seem to believe the fault is specific to humans. If we somehow were more bonobo-like, we would be free of wars and strife. Yet, this problem exists across nature, and it will persist with whatever we create moving forward. Those with power seem to use it to exploit those without it.
The exception is care. A mother cares for her children, a teacher for her students. This goes beyond selfish cooperation, which can only succeed when individuals have a moderate degree of co-dependency. Instead, care can exist, and is often exemplified, in cases of unidirectional dependency.
We are not exceptionally caring as a species, but our capacity to care is unmatched. As is our capacity for harm.
The Matriarch