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| − | [[Image:Eastern hemisphere.jpg|thumb|right|200px|'''''AdCiv.org'''''<br>This website is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki wiki], meaning the content is editable collaboratively through the browser]]
| + | {{portalpage}} |
| − | <p style="text-align: left; font-size: 125%; line-height: 1.3"> | + | {{main banner}} |
| − | '''''Welcome to the AdCiv.org - the Advanced Civilization Wiki'''''</p>
| + | <!-- ****** TOP FRAME ****** --> |
| | + | <div style="float:right; width:100%;"> |
| | + | {{frame1|Introduction}} |
| | + | </div> |
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| − | This website is a collaborative space for developing ideas and practical solutions to help bring forward the anticipated [[post-scarcity age]]. Concepts that could take us to the next level of civilization, allowing the develpment of solutions to whole classes of contemporary problems and enabling us to achieve things that are not currently feasible, but are necessary to our future peace and survival. | + | <!-- ******* START OF LEFT COLUMN ******* --> |
| | + | <div style="float:left; width:50%;"> <!-- This width add to the the margin below to equal 100%--> |
| | + | {{frame more1|Open collaborative design}} |
| | + | {{frame more1|Fundamental resources}} |
| | + | {{frame more1|Survival of our species}} |
| | + | {{frame more1|Human requirements}} |
| | + | <!-- {{frame1|Take a tour}} --> |
| | + | </div> |
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| − | The hope is that forward thinking engineers, designers and others who are interested in the core ideas shown below can use this website as a place to work together and evolve them into workable solutions for the benefit of everyone. This website is set up to enable people to add their own text, upload images and other files straight through the browser. For information on how to do this please see the [[brief editing overview]].
| + | <!-- ******* START OF RIGHT COLUMN ******* --> |
| | + | <div style="float:right; width:49%"> <!-- This margin should be right of the above --> |
| | + | {{frame more1|Advanced automation}} |
| | + | {{frame more1|Post-scarcity}} |
| | + | <small><center> |
| | + | This website is very much a work in progress so if you come across<br>a page or section that looks half-finished, it probably is... |
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| − | Nothing coming from this project will be proprietary - all knowledge and developments will be openly available to all. Those who feel they have skills or time to contribute to this project please see the [[organizational efforts]] page.
| + | <font color='#C4D8F2'>Keywords: advanced civilisation, advanced civilization, adciv.org</font> |
| | + | </center></small> |
| | + | </div> |
| | + | {{portalpageend}} |
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| − | == Core concepts ==
| + | <div style="text-align:right;"><small> |
| − | Below are two central concepts that together with our [[fundamental resources]] have the potential to give the global population everything it requires for its own needs while reducing our impact on the environment: <br style="clear:right;" />
| + | Quick tour: [[Open collaborative design|next page]] {{clickpic|Open collaborative design|3/36/Right_arrow.png}}<br> |
| − | | + | </small></div> |
| − | === Open design ===
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| − | |<div class="plainlinks">[{{SERVER}}{{localurl:Open design}} {{SERVER}}/upload/thumb/1/1a/CAD_powerbook.jpg/200px-CAD_powerbook.jpg]</div>
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| − | |}
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| − | '''Open design''' involves applying the highly successful [[open source software]] methodologies to the design of artifacts and systems in the physical world. The designs are freely available for anyone to use and help evolve. From the simplest things that can be made by individuals and groups, all the way up to large-scale systems of national and global infrastructure.
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| − | Design problems get ironed out due to the involvement of enough interested people, among whom are individuals who are able to see what to them is an obvious solution; and as it is a non-proprietary system they are willing help improve it for everyone's benefit. This way of working also minimizes the massive duplication of effort that occurs worldwide today in commercial design and engineering - due to the ways companies are forced to behave, operating within the current economic framework.
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| − | See the [[open design]] page for more information.
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| − | | + | |
| − | === Advanced closed-loop automation ===
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| − | {| align="right"
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| − | |<div class="plainlinks">[{{SERVER}}{{localurl:Advanced closed-loop automation}} {{SERVER}}/upload/thumb/d/dd/Robot_arm_and_maintainance_bot.jpg/200px-Robot_arm_and_maintainance_bot.jpg]</div>
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| − | |}
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| − | '''Advanced closed-loop automation''' is a title for sophisticated industrial systems capable of self-repair, maintenance and even self-assembly that need almost no human interaction to operate, apart from top level guidance. These systems will magnify our capability for production creating as much of anything that is needed while making efficient use of natural resources.
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| − | These systems are based on technologies and knowledge that we already possess. No fictional concepts or unattainable artifical intelligence are required. We currently have the ability to create systems that provide for everyone's basic needs and far beyond, with great efficiency and environmental sympathy.
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| − | See the [[Advanced closed-loop automation|advanced automation]] page for more information.
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| − | ----
| + | |
| − | *[[Post-scarcity age]]
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| − | *[[Fundamental resources]]
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| − | *[[Most abundant elements on Earth]]
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| − | *[[Open design]]
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| − | *[[Open source software]]
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| − | *[[Advanced closed-loop automation]]
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Welcome to AdCiv.org :: Advanced Civilisation through 'Post-Scarcity' :: Post-Scarcity through Open Design and Advanced Automation
We are nowhere near the height of human civilisation.
Not even close. Our present culture is conditioned by centuries of scarcity that ought to have disappeared by now, considering our technical capabilities.
However, automation is advancing rapidly, and in parallel, we are developing ever more effective ways of collaborating and openly sharing knowledge. This means it will become increasingly unacceptable to let needless scarcity continue in the face of what is possible. New thinking and tools are emerging that could change everything.
Via the internet a new fluid grouping of minds is evolving that is adhoc, distributed and mutually sharing – a system that is potentially far more effective at problem-solving and creative technical development than anything that has come before. In some areas, notably software development and knowledge gathering, it is well under way – but this is just the beginning. These 'open' peer-to-peer activities are about to burst out into the physical world enabling us to do things both technologically and economically that have not previously been feasible.
AdCiv.org is exploring the emerging possibilities, focusing on developing concepts that could take us to the next logical phase of civilisation – namely an ecologically sympathetic post-scarcity age where abundant resources, tools and knowledge could enable a unparalleled standard of living for the entire growing global population. It may sound far-fetched to the uninitiated but the technologies to enable this are developing rapidly, so you might want to prepare yourself...
Open collaborative design involves applying principles from the remarkable free and open-source software movement that provides a powerful new way to design physical objects, machines and systems. All information involved in creating the object or system is made available on the Internet – such as text, drawings, photographs and 3D computer-aided design (CAD) models – so that other people can freely re-create it, or help contribute to its further evolution. It is essentially the same principle that is used to progress scientific knowledge, however in reality it is much more open and transparent than much of contemporary scientific research.
A core element of this development model is a principle called 'copyleft'  (symbol:  ) which is a way of applying copyright to a creative work in a way that makes sure that anyone can freely use it or build upon it - and also that derivative works inherit the same terms, ensuring anything based on the original is freely available too. This principle means that 'copylefted' items – whether they are designs, text, artwork or computer code – are effectively gifted to humanity, adding to an ever increasing universal 'commons'. Because this principle is to the benefit of everyone, it completely changes the way that many people think about contributing their time and effort to this type of project. It already works very effectively with many high profile, successful software projects, so this is not merely wishful thinking.
Open collaborative design is a nascent field that has huge potential to radically alter the way we create goods, machines and systems – not only for personal items but all the way up to components of national or global infrastructure. 
So what have we got to work with? Mankind's fundamental resources are material, energy, intelligence and information. In reality they are all so enormously abundant that it's incredible to think that there are people in this world who are still going without the basic human necessities.
In the past a lack of technology could be considered a significant cause of scarcity but that is certainly not a reason any more. Despite common perceptions, there is no actual lack of material or energy available to us. Emerging methods of co-operation and advanced automation have the potential to unlock these resources to provide a good standard of living in all parts of the world, while causing minimal harm to the natural environment - a combination that although is hard to imagine today and might appear at first glance to be contradictory, is very much possible.
An important trend in technological progress is the tendency of products and processes to steadily become more effective while using less material and energy – i.e. doing more with less – something that Buckminster Fuller termed ephemeralization . There really couldn't be anything more important to us than the survival of our own species. It means protecting ourselves and future generations. However we currently have all our eggs in one basket which is a precarious situation – we live on this single world while under the shadow of various apocolyptic threats, both man-made and natural, that could destroy our current civilisation and even wipe us out entirely. Ultimately we are extremely vulnerable. Asteroids, virulent disease, global war with advanced weapons – all are possible and we must protect our future.
We've come a long way and gained irreplaceable culture and knowledge in the last hundred thousand years or so, and it would be the most foolish thing in history to lose it at a time when we have the technology to do something about it. Far more likely than total annihilation of our species is the possibility of being knocked back to the Dark Ages. It is not just about surviving but having good prospects, opportunities and a rich environment to live in, and not messing things up for our descendants. It's quite tricky to have an advanced civilisation with no civilisation at all... Section in early stages...
Advanced automation here refers to sophisticated automated systems, ideally with the additional capability for self-maintenance and repair, mostly requiring little or no human interaction to operate, apart from top-level guidance. Not being reliant on human effort to scale, these systems would hugely magnify our capability for production and decouple human time and effort from industrial productivity, allowing us to create as much of anything that is needed, while releasing people from mindless labour. This situation will arise when automated harvesting of raw materials is combined with automated logistics (already commonplace), automated transport systems, robotic manufacturing and self-maintenance and repair, creating fully automated production of useful goods.
In Western countries many industrial process are becoming highly automated already, but human effort is needed for construction and commissioning as well as maintenance and repair. In developing nations, there is not much automation at all due to labour being so cheap; however this is a great waste of human lives.
These self-repairing systems are based on technologies and knowledge that we already possess. No fictional concepts or unattainable artificial intelligence are required to make this happen. We have the ability today to create systems that provide for the global population's basic needs and far beyond, while minimising our impact on the environment – these two aspects are not mutually exclusive.
The post-scarcity age is an anticipated era where advanced automated technology combined with efficient use of natural resources and effective co-operation could create a great abundance of the material items, goods and services required by a global population. As these highly automated processes continue to evolve, the results are likely to be achieved with ever diminishing harm to the environment.
Mankind's ever-increasing technical sophistication, will mean that people should not have to die or suffer unnecessarily due to a lack of basic necessities like food, clean water and medicine which is still the case in many parts of the world; and additionally humanity can undertake projects that were previously impossible or economically unfeasible.
Additionally due to this physical abundance society may lose some of its obsessive preoccupation with material possessions, meaning it could become a post-materialistic era also. This is hard to see while sitting in the middle of the current consumer culture and is a debatable point, but even if people's taste for goods does not subside, old goods will be easily recycled into new.
It has been promised for decades but the technology and culture to enable a true era of abundance could finally free people from working in jobs they have no particular interest to them except for the wage that it gives. People would be free to pursue their interests, learn and have far more time to be with the people who are important to them. Among other things like personal happiness, this is vital in restoring genuine communities and all the richness and support that gives to those living within it.
The bigger picture being painted here may sound rather idealistic, but the enormously powerful enabling technologies and co-operative frameworks that make it possible need to be properly understood in order for this to make any sense...
This website is very much a work in progress so if you come across
a page or section that looks half-finished, it probably is...
Keywords: advanced civilisation, advanced civilization, adciv.org
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