Flagons Den

I just found an online tag cloud generator (here) - so I popped in the text from my dissertation and it gave me this;

I have finally finished my dissertation; A Roadmap For Our Digital Future.

Abstract

“We are in the middle of a quiet revolution that affects all our lives…” (Carter, 2009)

Faced with the exponential growth of computer processing power and the prevalence of digital technology in society – the pertinent question is what may society’s digital future hold in store? According to the media, scholars, futurists and science fiction writers the digital revolution will lead us towards two possible destinations; utopia or dystopia.

The optimists foresee a globally connected world of wirelessly communicating smart objects with conventional geographical nations and borders replaced by online information networks and an end to hunger and disease. The pessimists foresee an irrevocably mutated ecosystem and humans enslaved by the ruthless heuristic functions of artificial intelligence in a totalitarian Brave New World.

The aim of this essay is to undertake a deeper examination of the effect of technology’s progress on society, in order to create a more reasoned basis for any predictions about the future. I will investigate the key determinants of technological progress: the research and development of the military, the influence of commerce and the checks and balances of ethics. This aims to uncover any correlation between the digital age and the preceding era of analogue technology. To try to discern whether the emerging digital age can be described as a societal revolution I will also take into account the historical precedent of the industrial revolution through to the present day as a comparison.

The essay also provides an overview of current digital technology, exploring the developments in online technologies such as IPv6, cyborg experimentation, biotechnology, RFID, artificial intelligence and autonomous robotics. From this I can show the basis of the predictions of both the optimistic technophiles and the pessimistic technophobes.

As individuals, the perceived future of the information age suggests a significantly more pervasive and integrated connection with digital technologies, therefore a basic roadmap may provide the minimum of information required to take our first steps with some measured forethought.

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Download the PDF below:

A Roadmap for Our Digital Future

I have been making some inroads into my dissertation, having previously moved away from the pop references and possibly superficial/sensationalist topics of the idea of cyborgs.  I have looked deeper into the convergence of technology and nature - and it is looking more and more like an ethical question rather than a simple statement of change.  Although these technologies are plausible, and in some basic incarnations already exist - is this progress, or are we de-humanising ourselves and undermining the value and dignity of what it means to be human?  To err is human, therefore should we look to create perfect humans?  I read a paper on biotechnology (here) and it discusses the ethics of human augmentation, specifically in sport as an example but the underlying thesis is transferable to all biotechnology - insofar as to raise the question; should we create a transhuman society?

I had my first meeting with my dissertation supervisor - Mike Punt - today.  It seems there were some serious flaws in my original proposal.  Mainly due to tthe fact that a lot of the research material I had chosen he deems as scrappy rhetoric - posing questions but without any real concrete conclusions.  He gave me some interesting pointers in stripping away all the re-iterative content about cyborgs and to look at the central theme in more depth; Technology and nature.  The interconnectedness is self evident, so I shouldn’t try to separate them but what are the key aspects?

Technology as an aid/prosthesis to overcome the harshness of nature

What is technological progress? As it’s subjective. (is a sword bettered by a gun?)

Analogue vs digital  - one is easier to visualise and understand the other is more alien/ethereal, the differences in their effect on nature/us.

What happens if/when technology becomes/subsumes nature? The new biology (of digital networks)

In summary - I need to completely rethink my question, and explore my idea more fully.

I read this article in the Guardian, about ubiquitous computing and the evolution of the net.  Essentially (according to the article) the net will be recalibrated so each user will have a network the size of the current internet (!) and their belongings and household appliances will all have an IP address so they can communicate with each other.  Cyborg culture in every home, technology and humans integrated and continually connected.

Also - in the Guardian - was an article on brain implants in monkeys to overcome paralysis, which could be rolled out to humans in 5 years.  Invasive BCI, but to create a better working cyborg organism.

Mental Typwriter (BCI Interface)

I was interested in the concept of BCI, especially after reading about the mental typewriter. This can be a non-invasive or invasive technology depending on te task at hand. Essentially a convergence of human and computer at a cerebral, thought processing level.

Interesting generative art stuff - coalescing man and machine…
Body Navigation by Recoil Performance Group from ole kristensen

I saw this - it made me think about the relation between man and technology - the whole symbiosis idea of mutual reliance and development.

manufactured landscapes

I saw the film Manufactured Landscapes at the Plymouth Art Centre last night. Very evocative imagery of industry’s impact on nature. Of particlar importance was the processing of eWaste as it is a by product of cyber culture. It got me thinking about the ecology of cyborgs - whether it is more environmentally sound to use biotechnology as a platform where the only upgrades could be software based or hardware which is organic based which doesn’t leave such a ecological footprint. (powered by bio electricity perhaps)

Other than that aside - the cinematic impact of the vastness of the industrial landscapes was immense. Slightly clunky editing didn’t distract from the visual impact, 7/10.  Some scenes were reminiscent of Vertov’s Man with a movie camera where you see Burtynsky setting up shots, though at points it felt they were using up footage rather than editing it out.

In fact it worked well as a 4D piece, deconstructing the capture of a photograph into the surrounding moments when the shot was being orchestrated and showing that alongside the still image.

I reckon that the question should be - “are we already a cyborg race” because there are as many advocates of that position as there are humanists who are repulsed by te idea of a cyber tech merging with their flesh and blood and may fear the onset of the potential post-human culture.

These two opposing camps, which can be seen readily debating in comments folowing sites showing experimentation with animals and insects as to the morality of such technological intervention.

With this as a hotly debated morality question - a research into it’s permutations could be an interesting topic for further investigation.

With that argument in mind I could question if there are moral implications to a cyborg culture where those integrated into the cybersphere are deemed as post human.

Kevin Warwick looks like he knows a thing or two about cyborgs.  He’s trying to become one.  So far he has RFID tags in him and chips which enable him to wirelessly connect to his wife.  And I thought Stelarc was pushing the body/machine crossover  - seems it’s becoming more and more popular.