<as so many modern men have as they've lost the knack of improvisation and have assumed a life of quiet desperation, waiting for the next alienating and dehumanizing advance in what we so ironically label as progress........... >
Ray, you have been reading Ted Kaczynski's manifesto. Not to mention Bill Joy's "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us". Not to mention Ray Kurzweil's "Age of Intelligent Machines". Not to mention Stephen Hawkings' "We can beat the computers if we tune our brains up with some genetic engineering - well, we can do better anyway".
There is definitely a process underway and I suspect the outcome is that our evolutionary dead-end is in sight. We will increasingly [as individuals] be more akin to a mitochondria providing a bit of energy to the beast, rather than individual autonomous beings at the apex of sentient existence.
Some paranoia is justified. Those who are not worried don't understand what's going on. Softly, softly catchey monkey - and the same technique works for the dim-witted human cuzzies too.
But there's not really anything to worry about. That would be like worrying that there's a gravitational law, or dark matter, or survival of the fittest. It's just how nature works. So, go with the flow and enjoy the trip. Opposing it will lead you to Tim McVeigh's ideas and recitings of Invictus, or Ted Kaczynski's cell, or Osama's bunker, or Saddam's, or Guy Fawkes' bonfire.
Mqurice
PS: Or, you could join the revolution ... it's on the quiet, whispering in cyberspace. A poltergeist rising ethereally amidst the power-seeking relics of the 20th century. They don't have a chance. Even if they figure it out, they are doomed. Like Kasparov playing Deep Junior - he was grateful for a draw. wired.com |
