A commentator from the post “Our Own Demise” referred to technology and cloning as the savior from our current destructive path. He implied that our technological advances will be able to right the wrongs of our own doing. I thought about it and something just didn’t sit quite right. It could be plausible, but is this a road we want to go down?
Technology is all around us, we can’t get through the day or even conduct business successfully without its presence. Our phones are our ever-present reliable sidekick. The loss of our phone is about as scary as a missing child. Yet,
even though the phone allows us to be more connected to each other, we seem to be further apart than ever before. It isn’t rare to see people around a table more engaged with their phones than each other.
It made me recall a New York Times article I read a few months back and the discussion that followed on the train. The article (Click here to read article) talked about Akihito Kondo from Japan, Zheng Jiajia from China and a Frenchwoman named Lilly, all are either married or engaged to robots. Yep, you read that correctly. They are in committed relationships with machines. Actually, I believe one was a hologram, but I guess it’s the same thing. Once again, I wonder: is this really the road we are headed down? Is this where technology is taking us? I wince a little bit.
The article identified this new attraction as being “digisexual”. When I brought up this article to my fifth car commuter, he was un-fazed. I couldn’t help but think of “The Stepford Wives” released in 1975. Troubled, I wondered what kind of message are we sending if we are willing and able to replace our spouse with a machine? I believe it tells people that their flaws are not worth loving. He asked: how many people in abusive relationships wouldn’t trade the person beating them for a machine who would treat them well? I didn’t have an answer.
Then I think of “Terminator”, “The Matrix” or even season 4 of the TV show “Marvel: Agents of shield” as cautionary tales of the creation turning against its creator. Could they evolve into aware beings that will one day come to understand that we are the less superior creature? As we continually improve the machines programmed to be smarter than us, are we becoming less valuable? What are we sacrificing as we become more reliant on machines? I can’t help but think it’s our brain cells and our ability to form meaningful relationships with another beating heart.
The questions are endless and the web becomes immensely tangled. As we continued to discuss, this was the challenge. Could machines divert the worst of human impulses against humans? Could machines aid in the prevention of human trafficking, pedophilia? Say you are having a bad impulse; here have a robot. Human suffering alleviated. I came across a statistic that men outnumber women in China and India by 70 million. That is a frightening amount of lonely men. What are the consequences of this imbalance?
The article made mention of robot brothels that have surfaced. Something has to be going strangely in society if even the oldest profession is becoming automated. But, given the statistic in India and China, are we destined to become digisexual? Should it be encouraged? Will robot lovers become the norm? I wince again.
Don’t get me wrong, I am constantly amazed at where technology has taken us. I wouldn’t be able to write this without my trusty secretary, Ansel the Ipad. But, I keep thinking, there are places we shouldn’t go, certain boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed.
I believe nature provides us with a sense of purpose, spontaneity and awe; trees and flowers bursting with leaves and petals after a winter slumber; the spectacle of volcanic lightning; butterflies in your tummy when you’re in love. I believe there would be a certain emptiness if we knew these things were programmed versus naturally occurring. Sometimes you can dismiss a parents praise because, you think, Mom/Dad are just programmed to say good things about their kids.
I’ve come across several mentions that being in awe of nature makes one nicer and happier. We could use more nature in our lives. Where is the balance between technology and nature? I would like to hear your thoughts.
So many thoughts and do I have enough time to express how I really feel? Robots are coming but I think that is least of our problems we will face in the future. It’s the language that powers everything and gives it life. It affects our relations on all levels. It affects our brains at a level that I don’t think will be realized until it’s too late. The coding of the Robot, the cell phone, the algorithm that pops and suggest you should buy based on a website you just visited. We literally have no privacy in everything we do. And influence everywhere we go and everything we decide. Do you pick up your cell phone to see what is the star rating on something is? Do you swipe right or left because how a person looks? This is fueling all of our worst impulses already. Technology has had a heavy influence on our opinions of everything, especially relationships and the state of our environment. The sarcastic phrase “you can trust everything on the internet” still influences our decisions. Now we have technology that is very intrusive in our own homes. People who own Alexa are being recorded into a server everything they say. If you start talking about something that you bought, or you wish it will give you suggestions and low and behold when you log into your Amazon account you will see those items come up as a suggestion. It also can be used against you if there is a crime? https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/amazon-echo-alexa-evidence-murder-case-a8633551.html.
What if you and your spouse are having an argument or say something stupid like I wish someone would kill my neighbor, I would buy them a drink!. Next day your neighbor is killed. Can the Police just go to Amazon and ask for everyone who has an Alexa and look at the dictation it took that day and the day before? Is that for the greater good? Where is the line between privacy and public safety? Can this invasion of privacy work to your advantage? I recently watch a Date Line about a boyfriend that was accused of killing his girlfriend. They got into a fight and she took off and left the bar. She ended up picking up some stranger and he killed her. Let me tell you the boyfriend the next day didn’t report her missing until 4:30 pm?!?!? He is on camera on Day 2 with the cop came acting like nothing is going on and he doesn’t give a shit where she is? Oh yeah, this dude is going down and he is so guilty! Turns out the guy she picked up killed her. How did they catch him and exonerated the boyfriend? The GPS on the killer’s phone placed him in all the locations that she was and the murder scene! Google maps, peeps 😊. So, slam dunk, right? No way, killers’ story is that the boyfriend caught them having sex, pistol whipped him and made him kill the girlfriend, HA! And the text this boyfriend was sending to his mother was very damming. Reasonable doubt? Nope, what saved his ass was the Fit Bit he was wearing showing that he only took 18 steps between 3 am when she was murdered and 6:30 am when he woke up to take care of their baby. Is this invasion of privacy or is this perfectly acceptable because the right guy went to jail?
The integration of technology and the human body is the real future. Robots will make cars and go into places humans can’t. The integration of technology into humans has already started. We now have technology that will send signals to your brain that will help with Ellipse. My sister suffered from this her whole childhood. Good stuff, right? What if the same technology could be used to fry someone’s brain and kill them instantly or make them have a seizure in the wrong hands. Eventually, we will put a chip in our head to answer calls and check our emails. Making my chicken breast bigger and juicier is already happening. Where does it stop? I haven’t even mentioned our “smart” phones, so amazing right? There was a graphic that showed the first phone was huge and as the years went by the phones got much smaller and then they progressively got bigger and bigger! Why? The caption said “Getting Porn on your phone” 😊 I encourage you to watch Westworld. The is the essence of what the future may look like. I would love to hear your thoughts on a theme park where people can have sex and murder without consequence just for pure entertainment. Virtual reality will be another future that will be experienced in the leu of going outdoors and enjoying the sites.
Does nature belong in our lives? I think so but I’m old, why not just walk into a simulator and walk along the path going down the Grand Canon and I don’t even have to leave my house? Maybe, go to Vegas and play the slots virtually and not get on a plane deal with crowds or the smoke? Get the full experience without the hassle of the car, bus or airports. Does a beautiful afternoon really appeal to a Millennial or the next generation? Hell, they don’t even ring a doorbell anymore, they’ll send a text, I’m here. Are they going to care if they see the birds and walk up the ail? Only if they can post it on social media, showing how great their life is. How many beautiful places have you been where people have their faces in phones? There should be a social media account that is created for “What beautiful Places Have you been while looking at your phone?” Are there boundaries that should not be crossed? Sure, but the only boundaries left are ones we can break through, it is not a matter of should they be crossed, it’s just a matter of time before technology catches up and breaks through all the boundaries. I didn’t even get into the genetic manipulation of all things in our life. What are the moral and practical implications of this on nature? That is for another time.
There is much to think about regarding this topic! You first reminded me of something a friend told me ages ago. He said, “In the old world, we hunted food. In the modern world, food hunts us.” I thought that was right on target. Technology has allowed companies to comfortably influence you. That is why the 2016 election was worrisome. The Russians didn’t need to hack into computers and change votes. They used technology to spread misinformation and influence people’s opinions. It worked. The ability to persuade is a powerful tool.
The DateLine episode was an interesting example of technology working for you and against you. We are now bound to technology. I know we are headed that way but, I will loath the day that a simulator replaces the need to go into nature. It will be a grave loss. First, it will remove that curiosity to seek, to find and experience the true awe of nature. Second, how sad to be whittled down to only one of our five senses. Only visiting an ocean can you truly appreciate the beauty of water, feel and hear its power as a wave crashes into you, taste the salt in your mouth as you go under and breath in the fresh air as you pop out. You seem to believe that there are boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed but that we are incapable of policing ourselves. When it comes to technology, can you answer the reporters question from 1900: are we the master or its slave? We could be the master, but we find ourselves becoming more and more a slave.
JANUARY 1900
A Reporter’s Notebook
PORTSMOUTH, NH
Electric, electric, electric! The way people bandy that word about nowadays, you’d think electricity is the new salvation of mankind. That attitude is particularly “on the wire” this week as the Old Town by the Sea hurtles relentlessly from the comfortably familiar 19th century into the unknown landscape of the 20th.
This writer, however, urges caution as we contemplate the coming Electric Age, admonishing readers not to entertain Utopian flights of fancy. Certainly this modern miracle has its usefulness, but for every labor-saving benefit, electricity brings us — something, we fear, is lost in the trade.
We have long acknowledged the value of the telegraph, bringing us speedy long distance communication, but bringing with it, an unsightly army of poles and wires that pollute the view of our historic city.
Now comes the electric telephone, which offers promise. It promises, detractors fear, to strike at the very sociability of our community. People who would normally seek out each other’s company, may now speak over a wire, and so far, with minimal fidelity. Still, the prophets (or should we say “profits”) tell us that some two million telephone receivers may be in use by this time next year in 1901. Whether all these gentle people truly have something worthy to say, remains a mystery.
We were pleased, years back, to see electric bells made available to area businesses in need of alarms to protect goods from theft and fire. Here, at last, was a use above reproach, but progress waits for no man. Today we see that Trafton & Sons of 36 Congress Street are advertising electric light wiring for business and for homes! Electrified stores and electrified street lamps we can applaud — but electrified homes? To date, thanks to the “shocking” cost of power from the Rockingham Electric Light and Power Company on Daniel Street near the ferry to Kittery, few residents can afford the conversion from the dependability of gas.
But to see the future, a local pundit informs me, one need only walk down Water Street at night where the incandescent glow of electrical lights beckon hapless sailors from across the Piscataqua to visit houses of adult entertainment. Vice and corruption, it seems, have deep pockets. Electricity is the new Jezebel, seducing our young men into the arms of immorality.
The speedy 20th century will certainly take its toll on our ancient New Hampshire city. With the metropolis of Boston just an hour away by train, can we hope to keep our children from seeking dangerous new pastures? And what of the electric current flowing through our homes and streets? Despite the vaunted medical benefits of electrotherapy, can we be assured of its true safety?
The untapped electrical fluid leaking from these outlets and wires, we are told, may cause serious bodily damage and – with prolonged exposure – possibly death. We are certainly gaining momentum in this Modern Day, but can anyone tell us where we are headed?
Just the other day, in Market Square, a deadly accident almost occurred. We say “almost” because Nature saved the day when the old mare leading a cart of hay took it into her head to back up near where the fountain meets the Electric Road. At the same moment, the electric car came briskly up Congress. The cart met the trolley and, instead of a thrilling accident, rose high up on the metal bumper, whereupon it simply fell off with a giant bump, dumping both occupants of the horse-cart into the street. The mare, halted in her backward journey, reversed direction and stepped ahead toward Pleasant Street as if nothing had happened, but bystanders were convinced there will be many accidents.
Not so lucky was our beloved historian Miss Sarah Haven Foster who was killed this year while crossing at the corner of Middle Street and Richards Avenue. She was struck by an electric trolley. In her 70s, the author of our well known “Guide to Portsmouth” was rushed to the cottage hospital where she died of her injuries — the first victim of 20th century technology in the state of New Hampshire – but we predict, far from the last.
Meanwhile, the fearsome autoists are also on their way. A few automobiles have already made their way through our fair city, lured by the nearby sandy beaches, fine hotels, Revolutionary history and panoramic scenery. Hoards more of them cannot be far off, their engines fouling our already gritty air, their horns blaring as they compete for their share of the muddy downtown streets with the trolleys and the horse carts. Thankfully, rumor has it, that a breed of highly efficient electric motorcars may quickly replace the fearful petrol powered vehicles. Motoring is bound to be the latest craze for the idle rich.
Thankfully there is legislation planned that will require all motorcars to be proceeded by a man on foot waving a warning flag. This is certainly a commendable safety measure and should be supported.
If you believe the likes of Mr. Jules Verne and the proponents of the upcoming 1900 World’s Fair — electricity may someday replace the coal furnace, eliminate the icebox, eradicate the plow, outstrip the printing press, modernize the outhouse, and put the cart horse permanently out to pasture. But will we become the masters of the lightning or its slaves?
What will we do with endless hours of sunlight and ceaseless days of leisure?
But never fear, fair Seacoast citizens of this New Year. This is but the dawning of the Electric Age and its power still remains within our grasp. Thankfully man, for all his presumption and cleverness, has yet to learn to effectively navigate the air. If and when we learn to fly, the shocking consequences will make electricity seem as tame as the invisible atom itself.
It is interesting that the same question keeps coming up even more than 100yrs later. If we correlate the advent of electricity with AI, digisexual relationships as the norm is just around the corner. As I laugh at the more mundane concern of the icebox being replaced and the eradication of the plow, we have to acknowledge the significant concerns that have come to pass: gritty air quality, motor-vehicle deaths. As I turn on my air-conditioner, we would be naive to stop the progress of technology. But, has the more important question been answered of: will we become the masters of technology or it’s slave? We are so dependent, an attack on our infrastructure causing a long-tern electrical outage is not to be taken lightly. You still haven’t answered the question. It is not a matter of stopping the advances of technology but, is there a boundary or direction where we shouldn’t go? You can swim in the ocean at dawn and dusk, but should you?