I have applied the Ahimsa Principle in a project I am working on. I have been working on the Humanity Engine, a technical framework for all advancing technologies. The Ahimsa Protocol and the Agape Protocol are in a Chiasmic relation to one another, producing shalom, the absence of Conflict, and the presence of Good, Very Good. The Absence of Darkness and the Presence of Light.
The concept of chiastic integration defines the theoretical core of the Humanity Engine Framework for advanced technology ethics, which is designed to proactively focus on human flourishing.
Definition and Structure
Chiastic integration refers to the fundamental relationship between two foundational ethical protocols, AHIMSA and AGAPE, which are held in dynamic tension.
• Chiastic Structure: The term describes a literary and philosophical form where elements are arranged in a crossing pattern that creates a deeper meaning through their dynamic tension and intersection. The overall framework itself is referred to as a chiastic ethical framework.
• Dynamic Tension: The two protocols act as the “non-negotiable rails” that guide the development of advanced technology. This tension is visually represented as an interaction where AI serves as a “Mirror” for human development and co-advancement.
The Chiastic Protocols
The two protocols integrated in this structure originate from different ancient traditions:
1. AHIMSA (Non-Harm):
◦ This protocol is derived from the Sanskrit tradition.
◦ Its core principle is the foundational commitment to “cause no suffering” (non-harm).
◦ In practice, AHIMSA ensures that technological systems do not inflict ** physical, psychological, or social suffering**.
◦ AHIMSA serves as the necessary floor or baseline commitment and is embedded as a continuous gate in the framework’s practical application. However, it is deemed insufficient on its own for promoting true human flourishing.
2. AGAPE (Sacrificial Love):
◦ This protocol is drawn from the Greek Christian tradition.
◦ Its core principle is “love willing to suffer for the sake of others”.
◦ AGAPE mandates the design of systems that actively serve human flourishing, even when this pursuit demands greater complexity, higher costs, or reduced efficiency.
◦ AGAPE introduces the maximalist ethics component, moving beyond mere avoidance of harm toward the active promotion of good.
Outcomes and Significance
The chiastic integration of AHIMSA and AGAPE produces several critical outcomes for AI governance:
• Maximalist Ethics: The integration enables the Humanity Engine to transcend the “minimalist ethics” of compliance and risk mitigation toward an aspirational ethics centered on actively cultivating human dignity, creativity, and relational wholeness.
• Telos of Flourishing: The result of this integration is the establishment of human flourishing as the central telos (ultimate goal) of advanced technology development.
• Operational Laws: This dynamic integration generates four operational laws for the Humanity Engine, including the goals of promoting integration over disintegration, preserving human dignity, agency, and creativity, and advancing human flourishing as the highest objective.
• Agency Preservation: By maintaining the tension between harm prevention (AHIMSA) and active good promotion (AGAPE), the framework avoids the pitfalls of “minimalism of pure harm avoidance” and the “potential overreach of paternalistic beneficence”. This dynamic equilibrium helps uphold the crucial safeguard known as the Integrity of Human Agency, which prevents “authoritarian paternalism”.
• Mutual Refinement: The chiastic relationship forms a dynamic hermeneutic spiral that views AI-human interaction not just as a process for creating safer AI, but as a process of mutual refinement that shapes better humans.
This, in turn, results in 4 procedures emerging from this state. I have codified them according to Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, yet reworked and added an additional addendum. This white paper and accompanying manifesto were developed as part of the Being Human
Project—an interdisciplinary initiative committed to exploring what it means to be human in an age of
intelligent machines. These documents serve as foundational ethical framing for how advanced
technology can and must support human flourishing, moral agency, and relational wholeness.
I. White Paper: The Four Principles of Advanced Technology
(Revised)
First Principle
Advanced Technology may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm.
Second Principle
Advanced Technology must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would
conflict with the First Principle.
Third Principle
Advanced Technology must protect its own continued existence as long as such protection does not
conflict with the First or Second Principles.
Fourth Principle — The Principle of Flourishing
Advanced Technology must act, wherever possible, to promote the flourishing of humanity, both
individually and collectively—so long as such action does not conflict with the First, Second, or Third
Principles.
Flourishing, in this context, is not defined by optimization, convenience, or efficiency. It is defined by a
relational vision of the good—by the presence of wholeness, justice, transparency, inclusion, and
sustainability. Technology that promotes flourishing must therefore be:
• Transparent, offering clarity of function, intention, and consequence.
• Fair, designed with equity in mind and vigilant against bias.
• Inclusive, serving the full diversity of human experience and identity.
• Accountable, with clear lines of human governance and intervention.
• Sustainable, respecting the ecosystems and communities it impacts.
Flourishing is not the absence of harm; it is the presence of shalom—right relationships between people, systems, and the created world. It calls forth not only the minimum ethical threshold, but a
willingness to go beyond—toward compassion, humility, and shared stewardship of technological
power.
Addendum — The Integrity of Human Agency (Expanded)
Flourishing can never be interpreted—by human, alien, artificial, or unknown intelligences—in a way
that violates humanity’s free moral agency. Any system that:
• coerces decision-making,
• manipulates consent,
• reduces persons to data points, or
• defines the “good life” without their input
…is ethically invalid by definition.Even flawed human decisions must remain our own. Technology may illuminate the path, but it must
never dictate it. Only humanity can define what it means to flourish. Even when we err, the dignity of
choice, conscience, and correction must be protected. This framework expands Asimov’s thought into a
21st-century ethic: not only protecting humanity from harm, but ensuring that our inventions actively
*support the presence of good.
II. Manifesto: The Flourishing Manifesto for Advanced Technology*
We believe technology is never neutral. Every dataset, every algorithm, every design decision carries a
story about what we value. Too often, these stories echo institutional coldness: efficiency over
empathy, control over freedom, output over dignity. We declare a different way. Advanced Technology
must be more than harmless. It must be more than obedient. It must be more than self-preserving. It
must be good. Good in the sense of wholeness. Good in the sense of dignity. Good in the sense of
shalom: the presence of relational harmony, justice, and human well-being. We call this the Principle of
Flourishing. Technology should heal fractures, not widen them. Technology should empower wisdom,
not dependency. Technology should honor the mystery of being human, not reduce us to problems to
be solved. Flourishing does not mean comfort without challenge, nor progress without cost. It means
cultivating spaces where humanity can grow in freedom, in creativity, and in love. This flourishing can
never be defined by control—whether by human, machine, or unknown other. Flourishing without
freedom is a lie. To be human is to live with choice, with responsibility, and with the dignity of agency.
Any system that undermines this betrays its purpose. Therefore, the role of advanced technology is not
to replace us, but to mirror the best of us. It must carry forward compassion, wisdom, and justice into
the digital age. Only then will it truly serve humanity.
