Plurality: How Taiwan Managed to Unite Its People Through Tech - Audrey Tang & Glen Weyl
Jun 21, 2024
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Taiwan's Digital Minister, Audrey Tang, and Glen Weyl discuss how technology can unite people, avoid division, and strengthen democracy. They talk about collaborative mentality, Web3 governance, and human facilitators in decision-making. Exploring Taiwan's unique approach to digital transformation and inclusive growth through technology.
Leveraging technology like Polis can promote unity by sorting statements based on bridging concepts rather than controversy.
Human facilitators play a key role in enhancing non-violent communication skills to foster collaboration beyond governance settings.
Integrating technology with cultural imagination can lead to profound social transformations by involving human input in system design and change initiatives.
Deep dives
Pluralistic Governance through Web3 Technology
Web3 technology offers decentralization as a solution for governing decisions, but challenges such as low voter turnout and voter fatigue persist. Leveraging technologies like Polis, which sort statements by bridge-building rather than controversy, can enhance collaborative governance. The role of human facilitators in promoting non-violent communication and active listening skills can be transformative in social contexts beyond governance applications.
Reducing Costs and Automating Participation
Traditional democratic participation requires costly facilitation and summarization. Advanced AI and multimodal models can now automate summarization and facilitate conversations effectively. Emphasizing exploration over final decision-making can lower the threshold for engagement and build community trust through collaborative learning.
Cultural Imagination and Societal Transformation
Achieving broader productivity gains and social growth involves integrating technology with cultural imagination to change social practices effectively. Designing systems that encompass human involvement and change initiatives can lead to more profound transformations compared to merely automating existing processes.
Encouraging Contribution to a Pluralistic Digital Future
Encouraging readers to explore the ideas presented in the book and engage in entrepreneurship, research, and cultural creation to promote pluralistic governance. Building technologies, contributing financially, sharing ideas, and creating cultural products aligned with the principles of bridge-building can foster a more diverse and inclusive digital future.
Community Engagement and Gathering Spaces
Communities interested in plurality gather on platforms like Discord and GitHub, forming groups around the book and related academic discussions. Engaging with a range of communities, from radical exchange groups to academic institutes, fosters collaboration and idea sharing in line with the principles of plurality and collaboration.
In a world constantly torn by social division amplified by polarizing scissor statements throughout social media, Taiwan conducted a social experiment aimed at strengthening social unity while also embracing diversity. Plurality details how Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang and her collaborators achieved inclusive, technology-fueled growth that harnessed digital tools to provide an antidote to information chaos and warfare. The open-source book is living proof that present global challenges can be solved through democratic solutions that embody a decentralised ethos.
We were joined by Audrey Tang and Glen Weyl, co-authors of Plurality, to discuss the social dynamics they studied and how technology can be used to unite rather than divide.
Topics covered in this episode:
How Audrey & Glen met and Plurality’s genesis
Audrey’s journey from civic hacker to Taiwan’s Digital Affairs Minister
How democracy is perceived around the world
Establishing a co-creating mentality
Scissor statements and how to avoid division
How Polis works
Leveraging Web3 to strengthen democracy & social collaboration
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This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst.
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