eSOM
The Road to D, or the Story of Singularity High School (SHS) and Cowa
2025.06.09
eSOM: The Road to D (30) Constructing SHS by Watching Audrey Tang’s “Good Enough Ancestor” (Part 9)
1
The journey in eSOM (read as “Izo-m, the boundary between “the other side” and “this side,” or the entrance to “the other side (elsewhere)”), which began with eSOM (25), has finally reached a pause, and we have returned to Good Enough Ancestor, the starting point of the journey.
Through Zen meditation in eSOM (the mountain), Tang immersed herself in the betweenness/margin/crack, and there, she received “spiritual power” as “light” coming from “elsewhere (the cosmos)” in the form of plurality/non-binary/parallax.
She then thought:
“Around the turn of the century, in Taiwan, the internet and democracy are not two things. Instead of some people practicing tech and some people practicing politics, it’s the same generation of people.” (From Good Enough Ancestor)
This can truly be understood as plurality/non-binary/parallax, a concept/idea/power/light coming from the other side in the betweenness/margin.
Abstracting and then decomposing the two binaries which are the internet and democracy, extracting what is useful for achieving a preset goal (D=DD) from each decomposed term, and arranging the extracted elements to achieve the goal most efficiently.
(D = a society based on the mode of exchange D, DD = digital democracy)
This computational thinking-based collage (remix, or deconstruction of justice) would be the construction of D=DD through the concept/idea/power/light, which is plurality/non-binary/parallax.
The same can be said for “Benesse Art Site Naoshima” (a mix of contemporary art and local culture), which was discussed in eSOM (29).
2
After returning to “this side” of the world from eSOM, Tang immediately began to act according to the ideas that came from “the other side (elsewhere)” via eSOM:
“My friend CL Kao and I started organizing weekly gatherings. With CL Kao, with Freddy Lim, with many civic hackers of the world, we’re envisioning a society that is more transparent, more inclusive, more fair. The initial project was GovZero (g0v).”
g0v (gov-zero) is “a Taiwanese private organization that pursues open government and demands thorough information disclosure and transparency from the government.” (Audrey Tang: Talking about the Future of Digital and AI, hereafter Audrey Tang, p. 108)
It goes without saying that “a more transparent, more inclusive, more fair society,” as Tang describes it, is D=DD.
And Tang teaches us that “demanding thorough information disclosure and transparency from the government” to build such D=DD is “the Road to D.”
At the same time, through our own inquiry-based learning, rejecting disinformation and obtaining information necessary for the construction and sustainment of D=DD will also be a crucial part of “the Road to D.”
For SHS, whose ultimate goal is the construction and sustainment of D=DD, “the Road to D” related to information must be one of the highest priorities in our learning content.
3
Tang’s participation in the “Sunflower Student Movement” in March 2014 as g0v was her first direct involvement in politics:
“…my fellow g0v members and I live-streamed the situation inside the Legislative Yuan, which was occupied by students, to support their movement. We connected the inside and outside of the Legislative Yuan with live cameras, allowing twenty civil organizations to discuss human rights, labor, environmental issues, and more. And in three weeks, we summarized four demands and proposed them to the Speaker of the Legislative Yuan. The Speaker at the time acknowledged that these four demands were reasonable and responded to all of them.
Through this experience, the people of Taiwan realized that ‘demonstrations are not acts of pressure or destruction, but rather acts of showing that many people have various opinions,’ and this led to an increase in dialogue between the government and the people. Everyone came to feel that ‘politics can only move forward when the citizens participate.’
I myself did not choose one particular claim, but rather clarified the gaps between different claims, vitalized discussions, and encouraged the finding of common values from there. This can be said to be my current stance in politics.” (Audrey Tang, pp. 108-109)
Indeed, participation in the “Sunflower Student Movement” demonstration was the moment when DD based on plurality/non-binary/parallax, that is, D, was born.
At the same time, it seems it was an opportunity to realize that Taiwan’s democratization could be lost overnight with just a few missiles, by a hair’s breadth:
“Looking back now, I think occupying the Legislative Yuan during the Sunflower Student Movement was a historic ‘choice.’ The communication environment at the time was still 4G, but the issue was whether to install Chinese-made chips in Taiwan’s main computers. Or, to put it more broadly, the issue also included whether to completely open Taiwan’s service trade to China. The insufficient deliberation on these matters led to distrust of the government.
If the occupation of the Legislative Yuan had not occurred then, and the service trade agreement had been concluded, Taiwan’s internet environment would have been built with Chinese cooperation. If that had happened, I don’t think the United States would have changed its attitude towards Taiwan as it has now. From the perspective of the United States, Taiwan is merely part of the Greater China region. It was precisely because the people occupied the Legislative Yuan at that time that they were able to make a clear statement of their intention not to allow China into Taiwan’s infrastructure. Based on that political foundation, dialogue between Taiwan and the United States began.
In that sense, the Taiwanese people’s decision in 2014 was a very significant turning point. In the local elections held at the end of that year, candidates who made undemocratic statements, candidates who did not discuss with the public, and candidates who did not advocate democracy were all defeated. In subsequent elections, all candidates cannot be elected unless they advocate democracy.
Including the emergence of such a trend, the Sunflower Student Movement became the catalyst for democracy to take root in Taiwan.” (Audrey Tang, pp. 109-110)
4
Amidst this wave of evolving democratization in Taiwan, on January 16, 2016, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won an overwhelming victory in the general election, becoming the first female president.
And Tsai appointed Tang as the Digital Minister (at the time, her official title was “Minister without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan,” promoting the digitalization of administration).
The narration in this part of the movie Good Enough Ancestor is extremely important for SHS/Cowa:
“The Ministry of Digital Affairs, helmed by Audrey Tang, has been focused on fighting cyber warfare, and this year, Taiwan is at a record low of election polarization.”
First, this narration tells us that Tang’s top priority as the Digital Minister, tasked with rooting and evolving DD in Taiwan, is to protect Taiwan’s democracy from cyberattacks, specifically China’s election interference through cyberspace.
Understood in this way, it becomes clear why the lowest-ever level of election polarization, which is not necessarily considered undesirable, is cited as Tang’s achievement as Digital Minister.
From this, it can be understood that plurality (multi-polarization = non-binary = parallax), a concept opposite to polarization (bipolarization), carries the urgent mission of defending the democracy of Taiwan, which is the sprout of D=DD, from the war between China and Taiwan that has long since begun as cyber warfare.
Moreover, Tang, in her haste to spread D=DD based on plurality/non-binary/parallax worldwide, seems to believe that the world has already entered a world war in the form of election interference (cyberattacks) sweeping the globe, the manifestation of which is global polarization.
This is evident in the narration at the beginning of the film:
“In 2024, nearly half the world’s population, around 4 billion people across more than 50 countries, participated in national elections. Polarization and cyber interference disrupted many of these elections, testing the resilience of democracies worldwide. This is the story of Taiwan’s democratic transformation as seen through Audrey Tang’s eyes, amid a global crisis for democracy.”
5
The film then concludes with the narration below following Tang’s father’s remarks about the fragility of Taiwan’s democracy, which is discussed by Tang in the very opening of the film:
(Father) “It is possible that we wake up tomorrow and our freedom is taken away from us. We must realize how fragile our democracy is.”
(Narration) “The stakes for 2024 democratic contests will be enormous. Not just for the countries going to the polls, but for the world as a whole. Around half the world’s population, four billion people are holding elections this year. These polls will decide who governs over 70 countries. How is the 2024 democracy test going? The short answer: not particularly well. Bangladesh’s democracy is at a perilous moment. Senegal President Macky Sall abruptly canceled the national election vote, alleging corruption. The elections in Russia took place without a single influential competitor to Putin. Almost everyone agrees that democracy is declining in the 11 countries of Southeast Asia. There are over 161 million people registered to vote in the United States. Americans will go to the polls on November 5th, 2024.”
And the film’s last scene is graced by the familiar image and sound of Zen meditation in the mountain hut.
This is overlaid with Tang’s words:
“If I do not practice this calmness, then maybe I’ll die. This coexistence of a strong and resilient body, and a mind that is acutely aware of the extinction risk reminds me of Taiwanese democracy. We can lose our democracy. But we have the ability to be resilient. Every time the sun sets, I feel this urgency that I may just disappear in the night, into the night. There is a coin flip in me somewhere that you must publish before you go to sleep. I insist on relinquishing copyright because to me, if I disappear tomorrow, the future generations can make use of the materials that I have. I want to be a good enough ancestor for future generations.”
These very words are the “voice = spiritual power” that came from “the other side (the cosmos)” during Tang’s Zen meditation in eSOM (a mountain hut in Taiwan), enabling the construction of D=DD.
Just like Tang, we too will follow this “voice = spiritual power” to construct D=DD.
The most crucial part of this “voice = spiritual power” is: “I want to be a good enough ancestor for future generations.”
This resonates with the following words from former Uruguayan President José Mujica, who, like Tan, respects Kojin Karatani:
“A true leader is not someone who accomplishes many things, but someone who cultivates people who far surpass themselves.”
(As for the relation between Mujica and Karatani, see eSOM (19))
With these words from Tan and Mujica in mind, SHS/Cowa will strive to become a “good enough ancestor,” constructing D=DD through nurturing “people who far surpass ourselves.”
In order to do so, first, we will recognize that the Eastern Mediterranean Cultural Sphere (EMCS), including Taiwan, is an extension of each SHS/Cowa member’s body.
Based on this premise, starting with health and physical education and home economics classes, we will undertake learning for the well-being of the body/EMCS.
The highlight of this will be a cross-disciplinary inquiry-based learning program for building a strong resilient brain, body, AI, and D=DD, given that AI is indispensable for the construction of EMCS as D=DD.
This program is based on the premise that the brain ≈ (Deleuze & Guattari’s) rhizome ≈ AI ≈ D ≈ DD (see eSOM (11)), using Anders Hansen’s The Real Happy Pill, which is Karatani’s favorite book.
More specifically, mainly in SHS’ classes on information-related subjects, the entire school will investigate the reality of World War III as cyber warfare prioritizing actions to stop it.
At the same time, based on computational thinking, we will strive to maintain peace in EMCS, where the possibility of cyber warfare escalating into real war is said to be highest, starting with a Taiwan contingency.
In this respect, we will focus on establishing a system to save as many lives as possible if a real war occurs.
And most importantly, we will build D=DD through these actions.
The most important thing Tang teaches us in Good Enough Ancestor is that “people truly begin to build D=DD when they realize the crisis,” which is also something Karatani, whom Tang respects, constantly states.
6
After the film temporarily concludes, a scene is inserted with a voice-only questioner and Tang exchanging the following:
(Questioner) “And what happens Audrey if you go to sleep tonight, you don’t wake up tomorrow morning?”
(Tang, laughing) “Well then, I will be very satisfied if you can just upload all this to the cloud so that future creators can remix from this story as part of the materials and free the future together.”
(Questioner) “And where will you be? You die. Where are you going?”
(Tang, laughing) “Well, in the cloud. Right? You agreed to upload it to the cloud.”
From now on, we would like to call “the other side (elsewhere=the cosmos)” from which “spiritual power” comes, the “cloud.”
(To be continued)
