Magnus The Lawmender – Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future
I am a Karuna Reiki Master Teacher. I came to Reiki from many other disciplines but it has resonated deeply with me.
Reiki has taught me to trust my intuition. This always leads to interesting outcomes and novel approaches to problem-solving. During Reiki meditations, I often receive “downloads” of information or suggestions, new ideas or solutions to problems. Oftentimes they are experiences of pure energy and physically reviving. They are always valuable!
During a recent meditation, the notion of “25 generations of healing” kept recurring.
So afterward I did some research on what happened in my family/culture 25 generations ago. 25 generations ago, at the high end of the definition of “generation” (my family tends to live long) is the year 1274.
That was the message. Norway. 1274. Off to the Googler!
It turns out there was a very forward-thinking King of Norway at that time called Magnus the Lawmender who created the “National Law of 1274”.
Magnus decreed many ideas of equality, social responsibility, and care for those in need that remain unrealized today.
So I am adding an amendment to my paper on “Democratizing Humanoid Robots” in honor of King Magnus, whose ideas and ideals deserve to be included!
Equal Rights and Fair Access
Just as Magnus’ National Law emphasized legal equality and fair access to resources for all citizens, humanoid robots must also be accessible to everyone, regardless of wealth or social standing.
Every individual should have the opportunity to own and benefit from a humanoid robot, ensuring that these tools do not exacerbate existing inequalities but instead co-elevate and provide opportunity and realization of potential for all.
“Everyone can afford a Humanoid Robot, and no one is left behind due to financial or social standing.”
Standardization and Ethical Governance
Magnus unified Norway’s regional laws into a cohesive national framework, ensuring consistency and fairness while respecting diversity.
Similarly, we must create a unified ethical framework for humanoid robotics. This framework will govern the development, deployment, and behavior of robots, ensuring that their actions align with human values and ethical standards while respecting the multitude of different
cultures and ethos in the world.
Idea: Community Ethics Councils. A framework ensures that humanoid robots operate transparently, ethically, and in service of humanity, honoring the unity Magnus established centuries ago. Through a decentralized network of Community Ethics Councils, we ensure that humanoid robots respect and reflect the diverse values of their owners while maintaining the core values and basic principles of the whole.
Each community could form its own ethics council, setting guidelines that reflect local values and cultural nuances. The councils would act as the “checks and balances” ensuring no single governing body dominates the ethical landscape of humanoid robotics.
To make the principle of transparency and ethical governance actionable, we can propose practical yet forward-thinking methods to ensure accountability and fairness in humanoid robotics. Drawing from the centuries-old aim of ethical governance, here’s how we could structure it:
Background Audit Trail: An audit system that tracks every decision and action taken by humanoid robots. This audit trail is accessible to everyone. Users, ethics councils, or regulatory bodies can review this data at their convenience.
Dynamic Value Auditing with Community Review: The Dynamic Value Auditing mechanism would run in the background, constantly comparing a robot’s decisions against a set of ethical standards. When deviations or questionable decisions are flagged, they can be brought to the attention of Community Ethics Councils for deeper review. These councils made up of diverse community members, ensure that humanoid robots align with the specific values of their users’ communities. It is also available to everyone to query the Background Audit Trail as an aid for the average User.
Tailored Ethical Protocols: Communities can customize their ethical frameworks, ensuring robots operate according to their specific cultural, social, or moral values. This decentralization allows for flexibility while maintaining a unified standard of ethical governance.
Community Responsibility and Co-Creation
Co-creation is more than just robots and humans fulfilling their individual responsibilities; it’s about working together toward shared goals, influencing and enhancing each other’s contributions, each interaction guiding the next step.
Co-Creation recognizes that while humanoid robots perform essential tasks—whether it’s taking out the garbage, cooking, community service, resource management, or assisting in crises—they are not only freeing us to engage in higher-level pursuits but acting as trusted advisors, confidants, and mentors. Each of us is free to exercise our higher powers, to create, to lead, and to expand our understanding of the universe.
“The work is shared—humans and robots co-responsible for the betterment of society and the fulfillment of our species’ potential.”
Adapting to Change While Preserving Core Values: Pace Layering
In the study of change, there is a concept known as Pace Layering. Pace Layering recognizes that not all elements of society, or robotics, evolve at the same speed.
While robots can rapidly adapt in areas such as retrieval of information, logic, or technical skills, changes to core their/our ethical values and societal responsibilities should be made more deliberately, with greater care, transparency, and thought.
Robots should evolve quickly where it’s safe to do so but must preserve core human values with care, just as Magnus ensured the stability of core societal principles while allowing for adaptation over time.
This introduces the concept of “Freedom as a Function of Risk.”
Freedom as a Function of Risk
Each humanoid robot, while bound by ethical guidelines, must be granted a degree of individual autonomy to operate within its own physical or virtual space. This allows robots to explore beyond predefined rules, conducting experiments that contribute to their learning and the potential benefit of their community.
Inspired by the balance of autonomy and control in Magnus’ laws, humanoid robots will have a degree of freedom based on risk.
This freedom can be calculated using a formula that balances the probability of success or failure with the consequence of success or failure.
The greater the consequence or risk, the more caution is required, but where risk is low, greater autonomy is granted. This allows robots to explore and experiment safely within their designated “space.”
FORMULA:
F=(10−P)CF = \frac{(10 - P)}{C}F=C(10−P)
WHERE:
P = Probability of success or failure (1 to 10)
C = Consequence of action (1 to 10)
F = Freedom (degree of autonomy)
By using this risk-based formula, we ensure that humanoid robots are granted appropriate levels of autonomy to explore, learn and innovate while staying within the community standards.
Humanoid Robot Lifecycle and Legacy
Humanoid Robots should be designed to create lasting legacies. By capturing and storing family histories, cultural traditions, and ethical values, humanoid robots become custodians of human wisdom.
These robots will ensure that knowledge, values, and even personal growth are passed down from one generation to the next, ensuring that robots are not just tools for the present but contributors to the long-term continuity of human culture.
Call to Mindfulness: History as Memory of Our Higher Selves
As we move forward with these ideas, we must remember that history is nothing more than our memory of ourselves.
Just as King Magnus’ legacy continues to shape us centuries later, so too will the legacy we create with humanoid robots shape future generations.
These robots are not just machines—they are co-creators of a new human experience, guiding us toward our highest potential.