Fuck yeah! I’d love to see a short story written with this premise. The Mohists sound really cool, and probably would have been receptive to EA ideas, and it’s awesome to imagine what the world would have been like if they had survived and thrived. Make sure you bring back lots of stories about why and how communism can go wrong, since one failure mode I anticipate for this plan is that the government becomes totalitarian, starts saying the ends justify the means, etc. Maybe bring an econ textbook.
I’m also generally excited of many different stories involving Mohism and alternative history. I’d also like to see somebody exploring the following premises (for different stories):
1) a young Mohist disciple thought about things for a long time, discovered longtermism, and realized (after some calculations with simplified assumptions) that the most important Mohist thing to do is guarantee a good future hundreds or thousands of years in the future. He slowly convinces the others. The Mohists try to execute on thousand-year plans (like Asimov’s Foundation minus the availability of computers and advanced math).
2) An emperor converts to Mohism.
3) The Mohists go underground after the establishment of Qin dynasty and alleged extreme suppression of dissenting thought. They develop into a secret society (akin to Freemasons) dedicated to safeguarding the longterm trajectory of the empire while secretly spreading consequentialist ideas.
4) Near-schism within the now-Mohist China due to the introduction of a compelling religion. Dissent about whether to believe in the supernatural, burden of proof, concerns with infinite ethics, etc
Fuck yeah! I’d love to see a short story written with this premise. The Mohists sound really cool, and probably would have been receptive to EA ideas, and it’s awesome to imagine what the world would have been like if they had survived and thrived. Make sure you bring back lots of stories about why and how communism can go wrong, since one failure mode I anticipate for this plan is that the government becomes totalitarian, starts saying the ends justify the means, etc. Maybe bring an econ textbook.
I’d love to see this. I’ve considered doing it myself but decided that I’m not good enough of a fiction writer (yet).
I’m also generally excited of many different stories involving Mohism and alternative history. I’d also like to see somebody exploring the following premises (for different stories):
1) a young Mohist disciple thought about things for a long time, discovered longtermism, and realized (after some calculations with simplified assumptions) that the most important Mohist thing to do is guarantee a good future hundreds or thousands of years in the future. He slowly convinces the others. The Mohists try to execute on thousand-year plans (like Asimov’s Foundation minus the availability of computers and advanced math).
2) An emperor converts to Mohism.
3) The Mohists go underground after the establishment of Qin dynasty and alleged extreme suppression of dissenting thought. They develop into a secret society (akin to Freemasons) dedicated to safeguarding the longterm trajectory of the empire while secretly spreading consequentialist ideas.
4) Near-schism within the now-Mohist China due to the introduction of a compelling religion. Dissent about whether to believe in the supernatural, burden of proof, concerns with infinite ethics, etc