spodi wrote:I apologize for stealing your idea Mr. Thug and appreciate your big word. Thanks! Now in all seriousness, I think we might have similar views. Whats your opinion of digital monopolies futures?
This year I've read many books, but one that really stood out, Neil Postman's
Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79678.TechnopolyI recommended it for reading!
Now, since you asked for my opinion on the future of technical lordship
Does job automation scare you?
Yes,
Because humans will loose their sense of purpose in life, therefore they will seek new outlets for their need to express themselves. I'm afraid that outlet (as used by capitalist marketing teams) will be specifically designed to cultivate complacent personalities who do not question authority. Authority will be automated and unquestionable. Over in my Popular pattern psychosis thread I poke at this dreadful sequence. Although most members of the prole cult class hate their jobs and
hard labour in general, they unknowingly cherish its identity and sometimes take pride in being a member of the passive consumer class.
Once their jobs become automated, we will have millions, if not billions of displaced souls. People who, before giving up their position in life to robots, had regularity, conformity, clarity, in their day to day sequence. Now, without the cognitive process of working for their reward, they will be rewarded without reason. This will eventually transform the consumer class into some kind of Wall-E world human blob. Except, I highly doubt robots will act as our romantic saviour from the dullness of automation.
Don't forget to stand in honor of our transnational anthem
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Will humans be obsolete in the workforce?
What do we do when a main part of our purpose in life (our jobs and careers) is lost to artificial intelligence?
We reinvent purpose, or fall into some deep mental depression, lulled till death... or excuse me, if you prefer, LOL'd to death.
How much time do we have?
We've been experiencing this transition since Francis Bacon established scientific empiricism. We already live in the technocratic world. Go outside today, and see for yourself how machines developed by technical experts backed by centralized government enforcing law & order, control almost every aspect of 21st century,
first world, day to day life.
I laugh at
futurists who think we need further education so their fantastic dream of technocracy can replace conventional models of day to day life. These morons don't realize we are already living the foundation of technocracy. Our technologies develop in effort to control or combat our environment, and take precedence over many aspects of daily life.
Here is an interesting piece on Francis Bacon and why he is the father of scientific method/technocratic ideal.
http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1713&context=btsDo you know who Ray Kurzweil is?
Yes, folks like this man make my point very clear... The elite use capitalism to raise their standard of living so they can develop technologies only they can afford and eventually achieve their Luciferian goal of becoming immortal Gods. Once they live forever, why would they need billions of human resources to make their high standard of living possible? Machines will automate the basics and our great unwashed mass will be slaughtered (most likely
humanely ).
Do you believe in the singularity and 2045? Will it come sooner?
I personally think it will be sooner, because our technical innovators realize they are in a race with overpopulation which threatens the standard of living they take for granted.
Why doesn't the U.S. or other nations have a cabinet level position for something so vital (the digital landscape) to our existence today?
This is a good question. Thunderhawk points out
People and government are rooted in past practices. Even a forward outlook is done through the lens of what was done before
You should appreciate this debate between Marshall McLuhan & Norman Mailer. The
rear view mirror phenomenon is discussed along with the whole
electronic envelope Western society built. Please pay close attention
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it is true, I admire McLuhan
Have we entered an Orwellian age? Has the average human accepted the infringement on their privacy from big brother? Will the internet of things destroy more of our privacy?
Like others have said here, it is more Huxleyan than Orwellian. Technology becomes our culture in Brave New World. The physical tyranny described by Orwell is an outdated concept, which failed when Hitler tried using brute force to take over Europe. Other despots learned from Hitler's mistakes, thus we implement more clever methods of subversion today. Although, the psychological operation on language is very real, and Orwell's newspeak thrives in our Brave New World. If we can reshape our language, we can reshape our thoughts, because language (being a technology) is a metaphor we use to manifest formulas conceived in the mind. So if language becomes stripped and full of information bias, consequently, our thoughts will be stripped and full of information bias.
Aldous Huxely was aware of psychological subversion, that is why he used slogans like
"Praise Ford," to distill the thought process of someone living an illiterate factory life. This illustrates how a technology driven world would think, in terms of automation and absentmindedness.
Some of my ideas have evolved since this thread, but I think you will find this relevant-
http://politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=154051Was it ironic when Google and Facebook came out against N.S.A data collection?
No, perfectly natural. They need to keep favorable public relations, because their profit margins depend on it.
Are Google, Apple, Amazon etc the 21st century equivalent of 19th and 20th century oil barons, steel and railroad monopolies?
In a way, but consider this-
Robber Baron's estimated worth $340 billion
By the time Rockefeller died in 1937, his assets equaled 1.5% of America's total economic output. To control an equivalent share today would require a net worth of about $340 billion dollars, more than four times that of Bill Gates, currently the world's richest man.Do internet start ups have a chance today to not be bought and sold?
This isn't important, because once the
new kid on the block becomes profitable enough to go public, our
major players carve up this new entity.
Monopoly monotony continues.
Are technocrats our future leaders?
Yes, just as the Cold War benefited a whole class of military men & women... The age of technocracy will benefit technocrats.
The cold war used fear to speed up invention and push death machine technology to its brink
The information war will use fear to speed up internationalism and push conformity to its brink
I might add, the cold war in general aided internationalism and technology. Now capitalists are capitalizing on an international community of consumers to maximize personal profits. These personal profits will be used to achieve narcissistic God-like qualities.
Who will rule the internet? Nations, companies, or individuals?
Corporate super egos. Because, you know, corporations are people, my friends.
The shareholders will control information monopolies.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-winkler/corporations-are-people-a_b_5543833.htmlWill the fictious story of the matrix become a fact?
No comment.
Is Google the closet being to our collective concept of God?
If data mining has anything to do with the mapping of our human mind so corporations can anticipate behavior and control such behavior with precise sophisticated mathematical algorithms... Then yes, Google is the technical manifestation of our
"Noosphere."-
a postulated sphere or stage of evolutionary development dominated by consciousness, the mind, and interpersonal relationships (frequently with reference to the writings of Teilhard de Chardin).I wrote a thread sometime ago, suggesting the use of sociological study to aid and implement machines that help control society.
Think about traffic lights...
http://politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=157012After all, science doesn't ask
why anymore, it asks
why not? Lastly, I want to ask you something... How will it feel when machines take over?
My best guess, Imagine yourself living the life of a well-trained house pet.