YANSS 292 – How one organization is attempting to end analysis paralysis by creating a library of our collective arguing
Our guest in this episode is Jamie Joyce who is the president and executive director of The Society Library, an organization that extracts arguments, claims, and evidence from various forms of media to compile databases that map all the bickering and debating taking place across our species. They take our collective conversations about all the major issues facing society and restructure them into something a single person, or a committee, or someone whose job affects millions can understand and then use to make better decisions.
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Jamie JoyceJamie Joyce is a career nonprofit executive who has dedicated her work towards maximizing the access and utilization of mass amounts of knowledge to find optimal outcomes and policy solutions on complex issues.
Her work spans launching a new department at the Internet Archive, called Democracy’s Library; founding the Society Library, a 501(c)3 collective intelligence organization focused on truth-seeking by modelling the logic of debates about policy issues; and her background in international sustainable development, where she allocated capital towards solving complex issues by working with communities on the ground in places the U.N. deemed furthest from sustainable development.
Currently, her work at the Society Library includes mapping debates about AI, in part by creating AI models which collect and model arguments from different points of view.
The Virtues of The Society Library
The Truth is the Truth Regardless of Who Says It
We recognize that the truth may come from any source: a conspiratorial website, a harsh rant online, a weaponized piece of content, or even a meme. While the context of the information is important to consider in examination of it, it is never discounted as the possible outlet through which a truth may become known. All pieces of information must be given fair and in-depth examination, as any other.
Be Not In Possession of Ideas That Possess You
We strive to be free from the possession and oppression of opinions and ideas which may cloud or corrupt our judgement, inspire us to anger, upset, frustration, or despair, or move us to dismiss or discount the contribution of another in our work. The desired intellectual context of our work is that of complete open-mindedness and sincere inquiry after truth. Detach yourself from opinions – if you have one, it has you.
Let no intellectual stone be left unturned
Beyond being open to the truth coming from any potential source, we have a commitment to actively seek out fringe, isolated, or distant ideas and opinions and include them in our work. Diversity and inclusion are important, so we must also ensure that marginalized communities’ ideas are represented. The Society Library is completely committed to representing all points of view, this commitment is expressed through the actions we take.
We do not exist to change what people think, we exist to change the context in which people think
As it has been said, the truth may never win, however it will outlive its opponents. We do not work to change the people around us and force them to recognize a truth, we exist to provide a context in which people may discover possible truths on their own, given the tools we have provided and information we present: created in earnest service. Detached from outcomes, we can work humbly in service of generations yet born.
Love of Information and Individuals
Nec Timeo Nec Sperno
We strive to not fear, nor despise any idea, opinion, or argument or the person who holds it. Information is never good or bad, information has the meaning we ascribe to it based on our definitions, classifications, and characteristics. We are never frustrated by nonsensical, grammatically incorrect, or illogical ideas, we see them as ways by which a human expresses a need, even if under many layers of abstraction, distractions, or deceptions. We see our work as an opportunity to connect people with a means of communicating and articulating their world-view; potentially through the expressions of others, which is preserved in our work. We work out of love for this, and out of love for what information can do for others.
Links and SourcesApple – RSS – Simplecast – Spotify – Amazon Music – Audible
The NYT’s Coverage of Plandemic
The Society Library’s Analysis of Plandemic
The Society Library’s Analysis of AI Debates
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