Tablets of Silicon

Description

The world waits with baited breath: they have watched Moses rise from precocious orphan to coding superstar to reluctant leader of a new techno-political movement - and now, election time has come. His foster-brother, Aaron, is his spokesman. He’s worked with Moses from the get-go, masterminded a public campaign that made it the go-to political party for global youth, with its promise to use technology for the people. But time is running out. With days until the election, they don’t even have a manifesto. Moses is developing the most complex piece of code ever written, one which will enable technology to create its own laws. Public pressure is high - and when Aaron chases Moses up, Moses refuses to update him. Aaron announces a press conference and releases a manifesto anyway. The response is euphoric: it ticks all the boxes. There’s only one problem - it’’s fake. Aaron has lost faith in Moses, and concoted a mashup of old political ideas. When Moses reappears with the successful software’s ten radical rules for human civilisation - but they don’t deserve to know. He raises his tablet - and smashes it to the ground.

Biblical Connection

The Golden Calf (Exodus 32). Moses has been on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights, in order to receive the 10 commandments, the basis of a new religious / political order. It's been so long that the people of Israel fear he won't return. His brother, Aaron, responds by melting the Israelite gold and moulding a calf, an idol for the people of Israel to worship instead. When Moses re-appears with the actual tablets and sees what has happened, he smashes them in anger. The story also builds in the biblical backstory too Moses, left by his mother, is adopted by the Egyptian nobility, growing up to free his people and liberate the oppressed. It also, however, draws upon the entire notion of "god" in monotheist religions. God sees all, knows all, is all powerful. God has all the data. God is rational, like a cosmic algorithm. In this way, God starts to sound a little like Google, or the potential of technology more generally. It's not hard to imagine a techno-utopian political party arise and revolutionise the world. [Plus, a cheeky little pun on Tablets, like the two Tablets of stone, and iPads!]