Ex CIA Spook Robert Steele on Open Source Everything: Ethics is an Operating System

Socrates /

Posted on: February 5, 2016 / Last Modified: November 17, 2018

Open Source Everything ManifestoRobert Steele is a very interesting person indeed: in the 1980s Robert was a clandestine CIA agent who believed not only in secrecy but also in Reagan’s right-wing politics and trickle down economics. Today Steele is the author of The Open Source Everything Manifesto: Transparency, Truth, and Trust.

So how does a former spy and CIA intelligence professional, and Marine Corps infantry officer, become an honorary hacker, open source evangelist and the top Amazon reviewer devoted to non-fiction?

Well, I invited Steele on my Singularity 1on1 podcast to ask him about that, as well as a few other things.

During our 82 min discussion with Robert Steele we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: whether humanity is making progress or not; failed states, regime change and ISIS; The Open-Source Everything Manifesto; smart cities and nature; shifting from secrecy to open source; producing more actionable intelligence than the entire US intelligence complex; collecting systems versus sharing and processing systems; capitalism, the singularity and true cost economics; industrialization, education and being a sheep; open source everything as a way to unleash our entrepreneurial capabilities; polarization and the preconditions for revolution; panarchy as extreme democracy and informed self-governance; ethics and integrity…

My three favorite quotes that I will take away from this conversation with Robert Steele are:

“The chasm, the gap between people with power and people with knowledge is now catastrophic.”

“Open source intelligence is the application of the craft of intelligence, legally and ethically, to create smart cities, smart nations, smart companies and smart citizens. It’s about not being a sheep.”

“Ethics is about the truth. And transparency. And trust. Ethics is how a civilization hands on the lessons of history, from one generation to the next. Ethics is the cultural code for getting the most out of any group and any situation with the least amount of damage and the least amount of waste. So ethics is an operating system.”

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunesmake a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

 

Who is Robert Steele?

Robert SteeleRobert David Steele Vivas is a former spy, Marine Corps infantry officer, honorary hacker, past presidential candidate, and the top Amazon reviewer devoted to non-fiction, reading in 98 categories. He pioneered Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), teaching over 7,500 professionals from across 66 countries how to achieve decision-support (intelligence) with legal ethical methods. Author of many books and articles on intelligence and electoral reform, over time he morphed into a proponent for Open Source Everything Engineering (OSEE), publishing The Open-Source Everything Manifesto: Transparency, Truth, and Trust (Manifesto Series) in 2012. A 2014 profile of him in The Guardian by Nafeez Ahmed earned 33,000 “likes” in three days and now stands at 68,000 “likes.” Learn more about him at http://robertdavidsteele.com.

 

Related Articles:

Human Intelligence and Open Source Technologies

Browse More

Why I went Vegan

Our Future, AI and Veganism: 6 Reasons Why I Went Vegan

Socrates

It’s Ethics. Not Tech Ethics.

Dr. Martin Shaw

Modern Bard Dr. Martin Shaw: Be a Story-maker for Your Times

Kevin-Kelly-by-Christopher-Michel-7

Kevin Kelly on Wisdom and Excellent Advice for Living

Émile Torres Preview

Émile Torres on Transhumanism, Longtermism and Existential Risks

Nikolas Badminton on Facing Our Futures

Nikolas Badminton on Facing Our Futures: Futurism is Activism

Greatest Leadership Opportunity Preview

My NBF Contest Pitch: The Greatest Leadership Opportunity of the 21st Century

Massimo Pigliucci on Character and Virtue

Massimo Pigliucci on Story, Virtue, Character and AI