I just saw a perfect example of how we have declined. I walked down the hall at work and had 3 women, all side to side, walking about as slow as possible. They were not talking to each other and were completely oblivious to their surroundings. Each was staring at their smart phone doing something.
I made a conscious effort last night to ignore my cell phone. When I walked into the house, I took it out of my pocket and put it down in an inconvenient location with the ringer on silent.
I did use the computer a bit, but other than that I avoided technology. The most notable change was that I actually picked up two books and read them a bit. I had a travel book I am using for research that I read through after dinner. Then at night I read 50 pages of a novel.
So far so good.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
My Fears - Where I think Society is Heading
As I have watched the effects of the various items of technology on my life, I have come to some conclusions on where we are headed as a society.
Over the past 10 years technology has gone from being useful, to being invasive. Around the turn of the millennium we were still mostly using desktop computers or laptops that had a poor battery life. WiFi was still relatively uncommon. If you wanted to be on the internet you had to make the active choice to stay home, and sit in your office using it. I do not see this as very different from the old days of using the library for research, or playing games with friends. It required a conscious decision to use the device. When not using the device it was pretty much out of mind.
Fast forward to today and Smart Phones have taken over the role of the Desktop computer for basic tasks. Email, video, gaming, it is all done right from your pocket. We are conditioned from this "convenience" to respond to every vibration or beep from the device. Are we really better off being tied to this device for all communications? Were we really less constructive when you had to take time out of your day to call someone, and might not actually get through?
It is my opinion that this lack of freedom is enslaving us. We do not have any freedom to be alone anymore. This contact communication has evolved out of our obsession over our children I believe. When many of us were children we ran wild, with very little interaction with our parents. Bad things did happen, but more often than not, everyone was fine. The extra control has not stopped child predators from attacking children. It has not prevented kids from getting hit by cars. The fact of life is no one is always safe, no matter the protections.
This control of children was then a logical jump to obsessing about the whereabouts of spouses. Gone are the days when husbands and wives worked as a team, relying on planning to get everything done. Today everything is on demand, with the cell phone being used as a tracking device and scheduler.
All of this paranoia has now evolved into the Social Media marketplace. People now obsess about their friends. When they are not heard of people wonder what happened. Gone are the days when you rarely heard from relatives and would look forward to the occasional hand written letter or even more rare phone call.
The next logical steps are to take technology down the paths it is going. There are three areas of research that will change the world:
1. Cybernetic Research
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had one important, unexpected side effect. So many of our troops are returning maimed that there is a large industry in cybernetic replacements. Replacement limbs are becoming more advanced every month. The research is being done in both miniaturization and usability. The biggest advances will be in the usability field, where brain control will be figured out soon. Once we can replace a limb completely without the user losing any capability, it is a short jump further to the idea of "Brain Jacks." This would be the technology that would allow you to directly input computer information in your brain, bypassing the keyboard, mouse, and screen.
2. Motion Control
Ever since the introduction of the Kinect for XBox, an incredible amount of experimentation is being done in this field. Computers are being taught to recognize faces, expressions, and emotions by watching the body language of users.
3. 3D Printers
3D printing is a huge up and coming field. It seems like a great product. The ability to do small scale manufacturing in your home is great. This could have some great uses. The downside is that this will take away from traditional manufacturing once these devices become more robust.
I see the first two technologies converging into one product ultimately replacing our computer, tablet, and smart phone as we recognize it. Instead our homes and offices will be linked up to our personal WAN which will be connected to our Brain Jack. We will truly be plugged into the computer system, and all of our emotions and movements can be completely recreated digitally. This will make full 3-D online worlds possible. People will grow even more disconnected from reality.
3-D printing will affect this world by eliminating the majority of basic jobs that require a manufacturing plant. Large scale manufacturing will instead continue to move to 3rd world nations where the population cannot afford such technological advances.
Given a generation it is impossible to say what these changes could do to humanity as a species. My guesses would be reduced birth rates and people regressing socially.
Having the knowledge of the human race at our fingertips, intelligence will degrade rapidly. Of course this knowledge can be controlled.
The interesting thing about this scenario is that it may very well give us the answer to one of our big questions - Are we alone in the universe.
Technology is one of the answers to the Fermi Paradox. Basically technology advances to a point in all societies that the people find it more interesting to be absorbed into virtual worlds, than to do the hard work of exploring the universe.
I will discuss in a later post why I think this is the key and that only an ambitious space colonization program can prevent my predictions from occuring.
As I have watched the effects of the various items of technology on my life, I have come to some conclusions on where we are headed as a society.
Over the past 10 years technology has gone from being useful, to being invasive. Around the turn of the millennium we were still mostly using desktop computers or laptops that had a poor battery life. WiFi was still relatively uncommon. If you wanted to be on the internet you had to make the active choice to stay home, and sit in your office using it. I do not see this as very different from the old days of using the library for research, or playing games with friends. It required a conscious decision to use the device. When not using the device it was pretty much out of mind.
Fast forward to today and Smart Phones have taken over the role of the Desktop computer for basic tasks. Email, video, gaming, it is all done right from your pocket. We are conditioned from this "convenience" to respond to every vibration or beep from the device. Are we really better off being tied to this device for all communications? Were we really less constructive when you had to take time out of your day to call someone, and might not actually get through?
It is my opinion that this lack of freedom is enslaving us. We do not have any freedom to be alone anymore. This contact communication has evolved out of our obsession over our children I believe. When many of us were children we ran wild, with very little interaction with our parents. Bad things did happen, but more often than not, everyone was fine. The extra control has not stopped child predators from attacking children. It has not prevented kids from getting hit by cars. The fact of life is no one is always safe, no matter the protections.
This control of children was then a logical jump to obsessing about the whereabouts of spouses. Gone are the days when husbands and wives worked as a team, relying on planning to get everything done. Today everything is on demand, with the cell phone being used as a tracking device and scheduler.
All of this paranoia has now evolved into the Social Media marketplace. People now obsess about their friends. When they are not heard of people wonder what happened. Gone are the days when you rarely heard from relatives and would look forward to the occasional hand written letter or even more rare phone call.
The next logical steps are to take technology down the paths it is going. There are three areas of research that will change the world:
1. Cybernetic Research
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had one important, unexpected side effect. So many of our troops are returning maimed that there is a large industry in cybernetic replacements. Replacement limbs are becoming more advanced every month. The research is being done in both miniaturization and usability. The biggest advances will be in the usability field, where brain control will be figured out soon. Once we can replace a limb completely without the user losing any capability, it is a short jump further to the idea of "Brain Jacks." This would be the technology that would allow you to directly input computer information in your brain, bypassing the keyboard, mouse, and screen.
2. Motion Control
Ever since the introduction of the Kinect for XBox, an incredible amount of experimentation is being done in this field. Computers are being taught to recognize faces, expressions, and emotions by watching the body language of users.
3. 3D Printers
3D printing is a huge up and coming field. It seems like a great product. The ability to do small scale manufacturing in your home is great. This could have some great uses. The downside is that this will take away from traditional manufacturing once these devices become more robust.
I see the first two technologies converging into one product ultimately replacing our computer, tablet, and smart phone as we recognize it. Instead our homes and offices will be linked up to our personal WAN which will be connected to our Brain Jack. We will truly be plugged into the computer system, and all of our emotions and movements can be completely recreated digitally. This will make full 3-D online worlds possible. People will grow even more disconnected from reality.
3-D printing will affect this world by eliminating the majority of basic jobs that require a manufacturing plant. Large scale manufacturing will instead continue to move to 3rd world nations where the population cannot afford such technological advances.
Given a generation it is impossible to say what these changes could do to humanity as a species. My guesses would be reduced birth rates and people regressing socially.
Having the knowledge of the human race at our fingertips, intelligence will degrade rapidly. Of course this knowledge can be controlled.
The interesting thing about this scenario is that it may very well give us the answer to one of our big questions - Are we alone in the universe.
Technology is one of the answers to the Fermi Paradox. Basically technology advances to a point in all societies that the people find it more interesting to be absorbed into virtual worlds, than to do the hard work of exploring the universe.
I will discuss in a later post why I think this is the key and that only an ambitious space colonization program can prevent my predictions from occuring.
Technological Disconnect - Trying to save my soul for Technology
I am a technology addict, like much of society. I have my smart phone, my tablet, and multiple computers. I use them all daily, often obsessively. As time has gone by and technology has become more and more a part of our lives, I have been left wondering exactly what the true cost of all of this has been to us personally and as a society. I intend this blog to be a discussion on technology, and how to get back your life.
When I was younger I liked many things. I played sports a lot. Today it is a chore to get enough people together for an activity. I used to read books all the time. Today I would rather mindlessly read internet articles. I had ambitions of being an author. Now I cannot keep my attention on writing long enough to accomplish anything.
I feel I have lost my intelligence, creativity, and ability to relax. Its time to take some of that back.
I am a technology addict, like much of society. I have my smart phone, my tablet, and multiple computers. I use them all daily, often obsessively. As time has gone by and technology has become more and more a part of our lives, I have been left wondering exactly what the true cost of all of this has been to us personally and as a society. I intend this blog to be a discussion on technology, and how to get back your life.
When I was younger I liked many things. I played sports a lot. Today it is a chore to get enough people together for an activity. I used to read books all the time. Today I would rather mindlessly read internet articles. I had ambitions of being an author. Now I cannot keep my attention on writing long enough to accomplish anything.
I feel I have lost my intelligence, creativity, and ability to relax. Its time to take some of that back.
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