Imagine a legislature part of the government that uses modern technology to the fullest. What would it implement then?
Global Workspace Theory of the mind
GWT analogizes the mind to a theater, with conscious thought being like material illuminated on the main stage. The brain contains many specialized processes or modules that operate in parallel, much of which is unconscious. Attention acts as a spotlight, bringing some of this unconscious activity into conscious awareness on the global workspace. The global workspace is a functional hub of broadcast and integration that allows information to be disseminated across modules. As such it can be classified as a functionalist theory of consciousness.
Taking inspiration from this idea, what if the congress is such a theatre for the collective mind of a country? Certain ideas should get a spotlight there and be selected (e.g. voted upon) from among the ‘unconscious’ drafts made by organizations or the public.
Crowdsourcing
Coherent ideas that are to be candidates for policies are crowdsourced - e.g. via an app and a system for building policies like:
‣
‣
‣
Simulations and predictions
Ideas and policies should be selected on the basis on their ability to predict the future that they can bring. As such, it should be encouraged to use simulations, data-driven approaches and prediction models (e.g. AI-driven or inspired by neuroscience: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_energy_principle).
Presentation
Best ideas should be presented publicly and physically in the congress, helped by slides, videos, simulation results, VR, and other media, perhaps in an shape of a Demo Day in VC circles.
Voting
Voting could be done either in (the most common) representative system, or Liquid Democracy, or in some cases a continuous manner, where the voters can change their vote any time, similar to prediction markets.
Â