A few days ago, a tuned-in reader (his name rhymes with Bessie Trumbiner) alerted us to this important development in the all too inevitable march toward the Singularity.
The fascinating development in this particular technology (other than the fact that it makes so much sense as the next step) is that it physically mediates the external environment of the user. Instead of a consulting tool, the computer becomes a lens to augment (or, more frighteningly, judge) the world. The scene in which the inventor uses the device to project the Amazon.com (see, private company) rating on a potential book purchase just highlighted the various ways the technological "lens" could be hijacked to give highly biased or advertisement-based information.
I found myself especially horrified by the attitude of the presenter, who is wholly consumed by the desire to give humans "relevant information" to help them make "the right decision" in every situation. At the end, she jokes casually about brain implants.
Which begs the question: Has our frenzied accumulation of information become more burdensome than useful?
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
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Wendy Chung was fond of calling the condition informatic addiction.
ReplyDeleteOn some level, I think that the filtration and circulation of data must appeal to a vestigal hunter gatherer sort of brain function - there's no other explanation for why combing through reddit and slashdot could possibly be so pleasurable to me. Well, other than that I'm a huge dork, I guess.
Relatedly, it would've been awesome to sit through this conference : http://www.networkcultures.org/_uploads/27.pdf
--Brandon
That should read Wendy Chun, not Wendy Chung. I'm driven to correct this error in order to ensure that you have the "relevant information to make the most informed decision"!!! Also, it's an embarrassing typo, and I couldn't let it stand.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little uneasy about these "enhanced reality" ideas as well, but it is hard to imagine some kind of reality-media entanglement not taking place at some point in the future. I think you're absolutely right that this will become a lens applied to all aspects of life, and that's why it will be essential to make sure that this technology is controlled in a democratic way. Imagine what life would be like in a totalitarian regime with this type of technology...shitty is an understatement.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that it makes use of these things we're currently afraid will become obsolete because of digital technology - newspapers, books, print, etc. But with this, an airline ticket is the airline's website, in a way. People are Facebook. God help us all.
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