Worlds in communities

We extend consideration of karma to the realms of digital twins, and then to networks of simulators and surveillance sensors. We show how traditional concepts such as authenticity, provenance, and credibility of information and reliability of sources can all be undermined, leading to interactions that we call “World 4 war”, with humans being out of the loop.

The first paper builds on the other three papers to extend Popper’s Worlds 1, 2 & 3 with the concept of a World 4, where autonomous simulations (such as those using machine learning), combine with sensing, for example to generate patterns of life models of individuals. 

World 4 actuation can influence individuals in scalable and pervasive networks that support replication and feedback, with human control being at best ‘on-the-loop’. This approach can undermine the credibility of information and sources, and the interplay between IT-simulations can give rise to what we call “World 4 war”.

The second paper builds context by briefly reviewing the developments of concepts of ‘reality’ and drawing on Popper’s classification of World 1 (physical), World 2 (mental), and World 3 (shared artefacts and beliefs). To demonstrate the approach, we consider examples of biological organisms (World 1); Camus’ viewpoint on human creativity (World 2); and digital processes (World 3).

The third paper considers the Buddhist tradition of the Middle Way, which can be seen as bridging Worlds 1 & 2, and which complements Grayings observations of modern thinking on ‘well-supported beliefs’, bridging Worlds 2 & 3 as the basis for shared truths.

The MIddle Way requires distinguishing World 1 from World 2, and emphasises the dependent origination of phenomena in both worlds, which necessarily leads to emergence.  

In this worldview, karma corresponds to humans being in-the-loop, directly influencing origination. Considering high quality data models (HQDM) in this worldview, we note that World 1 admits spatial-temporal extents (STEs), but not abstract entities (such as classifications and relationships). Similarly, DNA-based reproduction exists in World 1, but classification of organisms is clearly in World 2.

To bridge Worlds 2 & 3, we draw on Gosden’s  triple helix model that gives rise to a spectrum of human participations in the world, bridging the three historical domains of religion, magic and science. 

The fourth paper explores Worlds in the context of simulations, and formulates a model for digital twins, which are adaptive models in World 3 based on sensing World 1.

We observe that stimuli from physical and simulated sources may be indistinguishable and, by considering authenticity and provenance, also that distinguishing stimuli from sentient actors from those from automatons may not be possible. These properties give rise to the new World 4 conception and the possibility of ‘World 4 wars’, with humans being out of the loop.