Artificial Freedom (by G Sai Siddharth)

G Sai Siddharth

According to Socrates, Politics takes place in imperfection and Conflict. Hannah Arendt also argued along these lines that Democracy as an institution prevents perfectionism and thrives on conflict. A World where all the jobs have become obsolete, humans enjoy infinite leisure and money in an economy that is independent of our contribution. Artificial Intelligence facilitates all our requirements and there is peace everywhere. This is the emergence of Totalitarianism. A world without boundaries that is perfect in every way- there is no conflict, there is no war and there is no dissent.

            Humans classify this kind of a world into a Utopia- Greek for ‘Good Place’. A World where everything is ideal and is the epitome of perfection. If this perfectionism is reflected upon further, there are more qualities that can be identified. This world doesn’t tolerate dissent. A world this perfect is very fragile; as fragile as a wristwatch where if one dial comes off, the entire structure falls apart. This Perfection promotes solidarity. Absolute Solidarity such that individualism and uniqueness are factors which are wiped out so all of the people think the same. In this example, if even one person begins to argue that the imperfection of human mind needs to be employed in the world, the entire system will come crashing down. To ensure this like-mindedness, any or all dissenting opinions will be curbed. This world is so ideal that the system is perfect and there is no actual freedom. Sure, humans can decide to work if they want to, they can travel, produce art, contribute to science, etc. but this freedom of choice only exists because the element of jobs have been removed. The conscious decision of a human deciding to these activities would have been considered free if he/she had to go to a job as a necessity. This world can only guarantee an artificial freedom and not actual choices.

            Through this reflection, the qualities that have been observed in this futuristic, ideal society relates more to a Dystopia- Greek for ‘Bad Place’. This is the inherent problem with Utopias- the system is so perfect that there is nothing humane left in it and it becomes a Totalitarian regime- a world without absolute freedom. All Utopias eventually end up feeling like a Dystopia. But again, the interpretation aspect is up to us. We can consciously decide to not delve into absurd Greek Philosophies and classify this as a free choice as well as define freedom as we want to. We can contribute to that perfect society in any way and make it more perfect for us as well as the others. We can still enjoy our lives instead of believing that our choices cannot have a consequence. Our choices have the most impactful effect on us and making conscious decisions to make our imperfections enjoy themselves still do matter.