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I just read a very interesting article by a man named Demos Helsinki. I believe this is relevant after the long discussion we had about Uber and the way it is disrupting transportation in China. Now imagine a society where integration is absolute, an internet of NO things. We look at our smart phones every 6 minutes but as tech gets cheaper and smaller and faster and cheaper and smaller we may see a time where we don’t have a cell phone “as we know it” any longer. I was speaking with a friend about how the terminator would have never needed to look in the phonebook for Sarah Connor, he would have just known. The information would have been in his database when he arrived. But James Cameron couldn’t have imagined that future in 1984 and neither could the audience.
Here is the article I read. What do you think?
I remember reading that a girl (cant remember who..) had gotten a usb implanted into her body so she can herself store data, ( similar to johnny mnemonic?) maybe the future will see humans bonding with technology like in the 1990s ghost in the shell franchise.
Similarly i remember a similar scene in one of the Alien films where they need to go to the ships bridge/ control room or something to do something plot related, but one of the characters was a cyborg and could do it by just connecting a cable into themself, thing is the film is set 400 years into the future, and wifi seems to have not been predicted
onto another crazy future prediction, I recall Someone talking about cockroaches inheriting the world after us as they can survive anything, and they would evolve into bigger / stronger/ swimming breeds etc. However I believe that rats would be a much better bet for this.
@pikachu RE:
had gotten a usb implanted into her body so she can herself store data
There are people who are “cyborgs” – lots of vids on them on Youtube, but it’s all kinda…hacky fake cyborg stuff, inserting a USB into your arm is stupid for many reasons, she still needs to have an interface or CPU of sorts to read the information and interface with it traditionally. Wearables (like Glass) are far closer to what I think Johnny is describing. Whether tech is inserted under the skin or worn on top doesn’t have any functional difference right now, the tech to advance this concept beyond wearables akin to Glass is still sci-fi, a way to truly interface with the brain directly. 😀
Someone you may want to read about here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Warwick
He’s pretty cutting edge when it comes to interfacing with machines..
Nice topic. I don’t think technology will ever make a dent in the serious problems of humanity. Greed, hate, indulgence, complete disregard for anything on earth that is not “human” and all the rest of our behaviors will never go away. Technology is just there to validate the human psyche. Look what we can do!
It’s funny to talk about how old movies were not able to predict future tech. I think it’s because technology is pretty much arbitrary and meaningless. Maybe it makes life more comfortable, buy hey, is a lizard on a rock in the hot sun not comfortable?
I’m as dependent on tech as anyone else. Into this house we’re born. But it has never surprised me. I think the hoverboard from Back to the Future was the last time I ever got seriously excited about technology. ;D
Technology is just there to validate the human psyche
Can’t disagree more. I think you’re thinking of technology in terms of ‘gadgets’, not the fact that so much tech has had drastic influence on our lives that, for example, extends our lives significantly and healthier during that time.. just as a tiny example. More than just convenience, I’d say that the entire longevity of the human race depends largely, perhaps, on technology – and of course how we use it..it may destroy us (nuclear war) or save us (asteroid incoming! or eventually just expanding off of our little blue sphere). The gadgets that we get along the way to these more grandiose objectives are simply by-product.
Thanks Rick. Yes, even the cavemen had their forms of technology. Some mighty fine examples of bow and arrow, flint stones, teepees, etc. Those were invented to maintain a limited scope of survival. Technology today seems to only ensure human dominance. It’s jumped the shark, so to speak. What is the purpose of going to another planet, because we’ve completely made our own unliveable? I think a lot of modern technology solves problems which were also solved 1,000 years ago in simply a different manner. But anyways, I’m not trying to advocate returning to those times, I just don’t see much difference in humanity from those days to this.
I think a lot of modern technology solves problems which were also solved 1,000 years ago in simply a different manner …… I just don’t see much difference in humanity from those days to this.
*mind blown*
Right, because who needed the printing press, literacy..the communication of knowledge.. and generally communication beyond the tribe you were born into is pretty much pointless! Penicillin, electricity, who needs it – can I ask how good you are at starting a fire with a bow drill by chance? 😀
😀 Before the printing press, things were simply written. The silk road existed somehow despite no consistent language or google translate. I’m not against technology itself, but I’ll draw the line somewhere before the industrial revolution… Or in the 80s will work too, haha.
I read a lot of science fiction. An interesting bit of SF I read was a series called The Void Trilogy. Note the description on the Wikipedia page is seriously lacking). In this series, people had neural implants that essentially integrated technology into their brain. They were always connected, and able to basically use the internet without devices. The ideas expressed were so far out it was impressive, but as someone else mentioned above, we cannot even comprehend of some of the technology that will come, so it’s interesting to think that as far out as the book is, there will likely be even more impressive technology than what was described.
Personally, I’m all for it. I look forward to having implants, and everything accessible all at once. The internet has enabled my lifestyle – I taught myself programming over information I found on the internet, used this knowledge to find work, then later used that knowledge to start my own company. Even now, when we have a problem we don’t know how to solve, we find solutions on the net.
This wasn’t even an idea when I was born, much less a reality. Look at this site for example – I’ve managed to connect with people in a country I don’t live, planning a trip to a place I haven’t been, finding out real information from real people, all from my sofa.
I love technology. I’m about 50% of the way through my life (39 years old – half of 78), and I’m pretty excited to see what the next half brings.
Integration with the brain is the key I was referencing, that’s the biggest/most difficult hurdle to get over and there’s not any real progress that I’ve read about or seen but it’s absolutely “in the works” by many people. In fact, the guy I mentioned above has successfully integrated technology in both him/his wife that allows for nervous system ‘telepathy’ facilitated by technology, where two people’s nervous systems can communicate signals between each other. Integration with the brain in a way that we can interpret meaningful information is the “wtf” step, though. 😀
edit: check 15:30 mark for the details on that experiment itself.
and then someone with ill intentions taps into that neural internet and turns you all into slaves in the blink of an eye.
Does this really need to be spelled out?There is such a subconscious internet you speak of. ESP and the collective conscious are not just fairy tales made up for kicks. Humanity has abandoned those ancient understandings for something far easier and more metallic. Something that goes well with a cooper mini.
Life itself is obviously not enough.
ESP and the collective conscious are not just fairy tales made up for kicks. Humanity has abandoned those ancient understandings
Fair enough. When ESP and collective conscious come back, let me know – I’ll definitely bite on both. Wait, wouldn’t collective conscious also allow ‘mind hackers’ to infiltrate my thoughts and faculties…in the blink of an eye…?
edit: no answer required, it’ll turn into a thread-jacking from the original intention. Start an “esp and collective conscious are not fairy tales” thread and we’ll continue 😉
I’ll start the thread, but can’t promise much contribution. Nice discussion here anyways. Thanks to Johnny5 for bringing it all up.
Fun topic to bring up.
I just read a very interesting article by a man named Demos Helsinki.
If I understand the article correctly – the internet will be baked into everything, but will simultaneously cease to exist. I agree with the first point but don’t really understand the second. To be certain, the internet will be built into more and more things, we’re starting to see that happen now, and it is awesome. These are exciting times.
We look at our smart phones every 6 minutes but as tech gets cheaper and smaller and faster and cheaper and smaller we may see a time where we don’t have a cell phone “as we know it” any longer.
Any guesses as to what the next iteration of the smartphone will be? I really can’t imagine there not being some kind of personal phone-like device without some major leap in technology. Like ocular implants or contact lenses which allow us to read and manipulate information. We are at least a few technical hurdles away from that, but ten years is a long time. Smartphones didn’t really exist in their current iteration (iPhone-inspired) until summer of 2007. A lot has changed in 8 years, and the trend is for the rate of change to accelerate.
I was speaking with a friend about how the terminator would have never needed to look in the phonebook for Sarah Connor, he would have just known. The information would have been in his database when he arrived. But James Cameron couldn’t have imagined that future in 1984 and neither could the audience.
It is hilarious to think about things like that which couldn’t have possibly been predicted at the time. Liquid-metal time-traveling android from the future flipping through a phone book is pretty hilarious now. The idea of standing on a random street corner and hoping that a vacant taxi happens to pass you by will seem like a ridiculous practice pretty soon, as well.
Nice topic. I don’t think technology will ever make a dent in the serious problems of humanity.
I am struggling to understand how you could reach this conclusion. Can you explain what you mean?
Technology is what enables 7 billion people to live on earth. It’s what enables you to sleep in a soft bed, consume food at any time you want, remain in contact with friends and family despite geographic separation, meet and interact with people that you otherwise never would, etc. It’s made a dent in every serious problem that humanity has faced, from defending ourselves from predators with crude weapons as cavemen to making knowledge available to the masses with the printing press.
Maybe it makes life more comfortable, buy hey, is a lizard on a rock in the hot sun not comfortable? I’m as dependent on tech as anyone else. Into this house we’re born. But it has never surprised me. I think the hoverboard from Back to the Future was the last time I ever got seriously excited about technology. ;D
It’s not just your comfort which relies on technology, but your existence and that of the society and global civilization that we live in. In one sentence you say technology is meaningless and in another you say you are dependent on it – I’m not sure how it’s meaningless, but it’s easy to see how we are all dependent on it.
I’m as dependent on tech as anyone else. Into this house we’re born. But it has never surprised me. I think the hoverboard from Back to the Future was the last time I ever got seriously excited about technology. ;D
This strikes me as a bleak and joyless outlook to adopt. Do you not look into the night sky and feel a sense of awe when you see the milky way? Does the world being transformed in our lifetime not exhilarate you, even a little bit? Even the potential destruction of the world is awe-inspiring, whether it’s nuclear war, the singularity, or global climate change.
I love being blown away by how technology is changing the world, whether it’s things little or big. It makes life exciting and gives it purpose – this time isn’t like countless previous generations.
To demonstrate that point, and to address the point above that you made about human greed, hate and indulgence, I offer you this article:
Can a Transhumanist Be Elected President?
Why would anyone want that? “Because human beings are naturally selfish. Human beings are naturally after their own interests. We are geared towards pursuing our own desires, but oftentimes, those desires have contrasts to the benefit of society, at large, or against the benefit of the greater good. Whereas, if you have a machine, you will be able to program that machine to, hopefully, benefit the greatest good, and really go after that. Regardless of any personal interest that the machine might have. I think it’s based on having a more altruistic living entity that would be able to make decisions, rather than a human.”
Charlie,
a) You find the destruction of the world awe-inspiring?
Watch Hollywood blockbusters much?b) Looking into the night sky is the absolute antithesis of technology. Why do you think it is so exhilarating? Not in Chengdu, of course.
c) The serious problems with humanity as I mentioned are greed, hate, indulgence… etc. Tech will never solve those problems, no matter how much you ‘like’ something on facebook.
Animals kill because they are hungry, not because they want a leather jacket or a pair of Air Jordans.
greed, hate, indulgence… etc
You see them as serious problems. I see them as the ying to the yang which makes us human, rather than robots, in the first place. It’s not news that hate and love occupy the same mechanical space in our brain, they’re so intertwined it is actually a perfect example of the opposite of what you’re proposing — *life*, itself, requires this type of multi-faceted aspect of humanity, because without evil, where is good?
Regarding technology impacting the more extreme ‘negatives’ of humanity, certainly technology has produced many ways to stimulate our systems in ways that control/restrict these type of massive fluctuations where they are present, largely in the way of pharmaceuticals. Further on this topic, check this, it’s a non-pharma method of stabilizing moods, scary sci-fi shit sure but, whatever:
http://www.thync.com/c) The serious problems with humanity as I mentioned are greed, hate, indulgence… etc. Tech will never solve those problems, no matter how much you ‘like’ something on facebook. Animals kill because they are hungry, not because they want a leather jacket or a pair of Air Jordans.
Hmm I’m happy not to live my life as medievil peasant. Considering the age of our species, it isn’t long ago that most of us had to do extremely hard physical labor their whole short life, could potentially die of caries and had absoletely no entertainment gadgets whatsoever… If you ask me, it is awesome to belong to a species that is in the position to do cruel things for petty and shallow reasons. And why the good old “humans suck and animals are morally superior” argument? Newsflash: we are animals as well. We are rather smart naked apes. And apes are cruel animals as well. Chimps rape, murder, steal and go to war with one another. Humans just have this huge culturual baggage that we call civilisation.
why the good old “humans suck and animals are morally superior” argument?
I didn’t read anything that emphasized that argument at all. I only read the emphasis on the needs vs. perceptive needs, ie. everyone thinks they need “Jordans” when in fact we only need the basics to sustain life. The argument is entirely different depending on how it was intended, in my interpretation, I’d argue that the whole point of enjoyment for our short time on earth is to achieve “happy”, which essentially means whatever each individual finds as a goal — to achieve it, whether it be getting Jordans or filling an empty stomach. The producers, the innovators, they simply enable new options in achieving the common goal of ‘happy’, maybe new forms of happy, things which we don’t even know make us happy – but may – without any options or knowledge of given options surely we could, too, revert back to the “if I have a full stomach life is great” philosophy, but then what are we? Certainly nothing interesting.
Ill just leave it here… http://www.transmetropolitan.com/
Somehow im pretty sure thats what will wait for us.
Charlie, a) You find the destruction of the world awe-inspiring? Watch Hollywood blockbusters much?
Humans have had the technology to destroy planet earth 10,000 times over for 70 years. This is unprecedented in earth’s 4.5 billion year history. Do you realize how long that is, and how much has changed in the last 0.000000002% of earth’s history, which happens to fall during our lifetime? You don’t find that interesting or strange, the coincidence that of the hundreds of billions of humans that have existed, we are here now, witnessing this precarious balance of power and danger as we head into a completely unknown future? This isn’t like the past, where one generation follows another and life continues on the way it was.
Since you mention Hollywood blockbusters, I think they are related since they point to the amazing possibilities of the near future. Of course, they are exaggerated and sensationalized entertainment, made to be fun. Some examples:
Terminator 2: we are inextricably facing a future where artificial intelligence assumes a greater role in society. What happens when artificial intelligence becomes smarter than us? Legitimate question.
Jurassic World: could catastrophe effects be the result of genetic tampering or creating new life, as we are now becoming capable of doing?
b) Looking into the night sky is the absolute antithesis of technology. Why do you think it is so exhilarating? Not in Chengdu, of course.
Confronted with the scale of the universe, many people would feel a deep and profound sense of humility. That your personal problems and narrative are meaningless in the context of the infinitely expansive world that we live in. Simultaneously, our lives are everything to ourselves. That exhilaration, which you probably don’t get when riding the subway, waiting for lunch, or getting your hair cut.
The serious problems with humanity as I mentioned are greed, hate, indulgence… etc. Tech will never solve those problems, no matter how much you ‘like’ something on facebook.
Those are not problems. Problems, by definition, are things that can be overcome or resolved. Problems like:
- Infants dying at birth
- Nuclear proliferation
- Ground water contamination
- Global climate change
- Risk of pandemic
- Energy crises
Note that there are technological solutions to all of these problems.
Animals kill because they are hungry, not because they want a leather jacket or a pair of Air Jordans.
This is false. Animals absolutely kill each other for their equivalent of leather jackets and Air Jordans, or they just kill for no apparent reason. Chimps are naturally violent and they prefer mob violence. They kill, rape, and wage war just like humans. The reason why is because we share 99% of our genes with apes. You see this type of behavior all across the animal kingdom of course, not just in humans and apes.
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