Join the new Turing Church community on Twitter

Please join me on my new favorite social network.

Greetings to all readers and subscribers, and special greetings to the paid subscribers!

Please scroll down for the main topic of this newsletter. But first, I agree with Ethereum’s creator Vitalik Buterin on why Elon Musk’s ongoing takeover of Twitter is so important:

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

This is probably right, and good. Let all supporters of human expansion to Mars and beyond be emboldened and vigorously support space expansion in this and other public squares.

vitalik.eth @VitalikButerin

The largest consequence of Elon taking over Twitter may well be not any specific policy decision he makes, but rather the morale effect of his supporters feeling emboldened and his detractors feeling like they are arguing on enemy territory. This is happening already.

A writer I have often disagreed with has published a hostile but good analysis:

Phil Torres @xriskology

Share share share. My newest for Salon. This is very important: I explain *why* Musk wants Twitter -- no one in the popular press has so far gotten the answer right.

salon.comElon Musk, Twitter and the future: His long-term vision is even weirder than you thinkMusk wants to save humanity — for a future where we “live” by the trillions inside Matrix-style cosmic simulations

“Musk has explicitly said that buying Twitter is about ‘the future of civilization.’ . . . If you wonder why Musk wants to colonize Mars, this framework offers an answer: Because Mars is a planetary stepping-stone to the rest of the universe. Why does he want to plug our brains into computers via neural chips? Because this could ‘jump-start the next stage of human evolution.’ Why does he want to fix climate change? . . . because Musk doesn't want to risk a ‘runaway’ climate change scenario that could snuff out human life before we've had a chance to colonize Mars, spread to the rest of the universe, and fulfill our ‘vast and glorious’ potential.”

YES. My feelings exactly. This is my reply:

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

@xriskology Well your analysis is good and you did your best I guess, but I like, admire and love❤️ Elon Musk EVEN MORE after reading your piece. I shared it hoping that others have the same reaction.

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

@xriskology Among the stars we'll become God-like, remake the universe, and resurrect the dead. There's nothing more important than this. Elon is supported by universal forces larger than us.

This is what Turing Church is all about.

So, now and until further notice Twitter is my favorite social network.

I said “until further notice” because the new Twitter is an experiment, and all experiments can go wrong. We’ll know more in a few months. In the meantime Elon Musk could withdraw from his agreement with Twitter. Or Twitter could withdraw. Or the regulators could interfere like they usually do or at least try. Or something else.

But I want to participate in this experiment. So I’ll be using Twitter much more, knowing that every single tweet is a small step toward our vast and glorious future among the stars.

Now Twitter Communities is rolling out to more users and I have been included. So I have created a Turing Church community on Twitter. Please join!

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

@HiCommunities Join the Turing Church community. A cosmist community. Hacking religion, enlightening science, awakening technology. Engineering and science fiction, mind and matter. Space expansion. https://t.co/Qyqa1o13aW

Let’s come to the contentious issue: free speech and moderation. My heart is for much more free speech and much less moderation.

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

I firmly support Option A: MUCH MORE free speech on Twitter. Therefore, I support @elonmusk .

But I know that, without systematic moderation, a large social network will very soon and very quickly be colonized not only by spambots, but also by human trolls even worse than spambots.

So perhaps the way forward is not less moderation but more moderation. I would accept that, but only with the non-negotiable condition that all trolls are treated equally without partisan political bias.

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

If however Option A is not viable, I would be willing to accept Option B: MUCH LESS free speech on Twitter.

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

Option B is simple: Twitter could continue to censor one political side, but use exactly the same censorship criteria against the other side.

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

If neither Option A nor Option B is implemented, and soon, I’ll leave Twitter because I don’t want to waste my time in a partisan echo chamber. I have better things to do.

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

@ramez Twitter doesn't enforce its rules *consistently* across its platform. From one side, Twitter censors even calm and respectful arguments against certain dogmas. From the other side, Twitter tolerates even death threats. This must end.

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

@cvpayne I'm not against reasonable moderation of hate speech, but I insist that all hate tweets must be treated exactly the same without partisan preferences. This is not the case at the moment, and change is needed.

In summary, I want a Twitter where all users can speak almost freely and the (probably inevitable) restrictions are enforced without partisan discriminations.

What should the restrictions be? I think we should follow the old adage “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words shall never hurt me.” I also think that, since any opinion can be expressed politely and respectfully, we should not allow personal insults. So this is my Twitter moderation proposal:

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

@ramez When I moderated a large and intense online forum I had: 1 zero tolerance for exhortations to violence and personal attacks; 2 zero intolerance for opinions expressed without falling into 1.

Giulio Prisco @giulioprisco

@ramez Continued: It is important that 1 the rules are crystal clear; 2 the rules are applied equally to everyone without partisan bias.

I have drafted a set of rules for the Turing Church community on Twitter. Of course the rules will be amended as needed, but I think this is a good starting point.

Cover picture from Stefan Becker.