You could say that 2000
is just another year. You could
say that all of the rabid excitement about high technology,
ecommerce and the internet is just hype. Maybe it is. Maybe
it isn't.
The fact is, technology and
the concept of the network are drastically changing
the ways we do business, communicate with each other, produce,
create and live right now. One can ask the question:
does all of this sudden change mean anything? Is it good;
is it bad?
Is it fleeting excitement,
eventually to be overtaken by the good ol' human assets
of community, family, friendship, love, commerce, creativity,
touch... or are the technology inspired changes occuring
right now in our society the beginning of a new paradigm
of living?
Kevin
Warwick embedded a chip in his arm because he believes
that the next phase of humanity involves our integration
with technology. Is he a madman, or a genius?
So, the final question: are
we evolving? Or have humans finished doing that?
The
Discussion
As usual, in the course of
the evening, the discussion went all over the place. The question
about human evolution led to a discussion of progress: specifically,
is there really any such thing as true progress? Or, with
all of today's technology, are we just using more machinations
to achieve the same human things we've done throughout history?
Another important issue came
up: are we removing ourselves from the basic necessities of
life so much that we risk possible extinction if the techological
systems we currently depend on are destroyed? In other words,
would we ever be able to "live off the land" if
almost none of our population has ever learned to farm? The
more technology progresses, the further humanity removes itself
from the baseline of "natural" animal existence.
We are after all, with all of our advances, still animals.
The question of "can we"
versus "should we" came up many times during the
evening. Just because we have developed a technology, does
that mean we should be compelled to us it? Many feel that
our maturity as a world society has not caught up to the sophistication
of our technology. If that is true, when did it happen? Has
it always been the case?
An idea surfaced that most
of the world, including America, was maturing at a rate equal
to its technology until World War II. Then, the atomic bomb
was dropped and suddenly humans realized that they had developed
the ability to obliterate themselves. It seems that, ever
since the bomb, we have been using technology that
we may or may not be ready for, simply because we have it.
Or because we think it will help us in our quest for constant
economic growth. (Of course this point is ignoring the whole
subject of The Industrial Revolution, but that's another
discussion altogether.)
Technology has always been
a double-edged sword. And it always seems to be pushed forward
by the need to conquer or the fear of destruction. The internet
was developed by the military. Now civilians use it as what
may be the ultimate free speech tool. The interstate highway
system was developed by the military. This monstrosity has
both created economic growth and decimated our cities. The
examples go on and on.
So it seems that we are running
a race with technology, hoping that it will not outpace us.
Perhaps Kevin Warwick is not wrong in his assumptions that
technology may overtake us someday. Perhaps we may need to
become androids like him in order to survive. If this is all
true, it's too bad we didn't have the foresight to avoid heading
down this path in the first place.
Check
out the NYC opensewer info >>
Many thanks
to Joy at the Market Avenue Wine Bar in the Ohio
City 'hood of Cleveland, Ohio. She and the staff made sure
we had a great time! Give them a call at (216) 696-9463, or
stop in and say "hi." Click
here for directions.
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Reading
material for this meeting was the following:
"Cyborg 1.0,"
by Kevin Warwick, Professor, Department
of Cybernetics, University of Reading, England.
Click
here to read the article online.
the article can also
be found in...
Wired Magazine, February 2000, pages 145-151.
