Whither Technology?
With the new year approaching, I found myself giving in to the soft tyranny of year-end “best of” lists this weekend, and taking in a long overdue screening of “The Social Network” (please note that I’m still resistant enough to peer pressure to have skipped “Avatar”). It’s a fine film, with all of the verbal fireworks that you’d expect from the inimitable Aaron Sorkin (whose political predilections shouldn’t keep the Ricochet family from appreciating what an extraordinarily gifted wordsmith he is).
One of its most effective moments, however, is dialogue free. I won’t ruin it for those who haven’t seen the movie yet, but the film closes on a beautifully melancholy note about the emotional isolation that can be experienced even in the perpetually connected world of cyberspace. And this grace note seems to me a worthy place to start a conversation that I imagine roils the right in equal measure to the rest of society.
Who are we now that technology and perpetual connectivity is a standard feature rather than an accessory in our lives? I’m inclined to think that stout libertarians (and here I’m making mental reference back to Virginia Postrel’s book, “The Future and Its Enemies”) will be more likely to defend the tech revolution on the merits and argue that the social implications will sort themselves out with time. The Burkeans among you, however, may have deeper-seated concerns about a resultant atomization of society.
So where do you come down? Does this brave new world inevitably lead to a virtual cul-de-sac where we only connect with those who think, talk, and believe like us (this seems to be the lament of every network news anchor on the verge of a pay cut)? Or is tech-fretting just the most recent iteration of Luddite hand wringing? Does synthetic community represent a net increase or a reduction in genuine fellowship? And will our children’s lives be better or worse as a result of living in an era where friend is a verb?
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Nov '10
Re: Whither Technology?
I think, thankfully, that this may be a false dilemma.
Take alcohol as an analogy. It has already proliferated through society. Are its effects malign or benign? Well, it certainly is no substitute for other forms of social activity. When consumed as such, and to excess, it is typically a bane. However, when consumed as an adjunct to social activity, and in moderation, it is typically a boon.
Just as for every sordid drunken brawl, there are lovers getting merry on champagne, for every social link lost or weakened due to internet activity, so there is another social link gained or rekindled.
I fancy the net effect, pun intended, is positive. However, it could be the eggnog talking...
Dec '10
Re: Whither Technology?
Like all community it evolves. I recall as a kid that folks in town used to schedule events at the VFW hall. Does everyone here recall what the VFW is? Or my grandmother used to invite us to dinners at the Eastern Star Lodge. Again, how many here have been to the Eastern Stars lately? Ten years ago, maybe even fifteen, I always turned on AOL and Yahoo messenger when I fired up my computer. I cannot recall turning on either anytime in the last five or eight years. Electronic social networks are a place for people to meet. They come, go and move like all places. Best to think of them as a place.
Back in college the front desk at the library was a place where folks often ran into each other and chatted (where reserve materials were kept). I do not imagine it to be that kind of place today (although I could be wrong) because why would anyone need paper reserve materials. Was in Houston over the weekend walking around the campus of Rice University. Peeked in the library and was struck by the scene of people surrounded by books all on laptop computers with earbuds.
Aug '10
Re: Whither Technology?
I'm apparently a stout libertarian ("hardcore" according to the World's Smallest Political Quiz), and while I have no ideological opposition to technology, I can't say technology inspires me with warm, fuzzy feelings.
In fact, for one so young (20s), I'm already a techno-curmudgeon, inclined to curse computers, not check e-mail when I think I can get away with it, etc.
Partly, I think this is upbringing. I was raised in a house stuffed to the rafters with whiz-bang technological contraptions, not a blasted one of which worked reliably, or so I gathered from the constant complaints of my father, the engineer responsible for all the gadgets in the first place.
Also, I'm the quiet type. Too much connectivity, like too much advertising, overloads my senses and I just shut down.
Can't think straight with all that connectivity going on...
Aug '10
Re: Whither Technology?
Oh, just so you know, here's the Google Ngram on "Whither Technology?"
As you see, technology has exploded since 1960, though it looks like it might be leveling off (at last!). Whither, on the other hand, has practically disappeared.
May '10
Re: Whither Technology?
Ray Kurzweil doesn't think so.
Sep '10
Re: Whither Technology?
Saw the movie as well and reccomend it highly. Social networks can be seen as a response to social alienation as well as the cause. I recently chatted with a friend I had lost track of in Norway, without facebook I never would have talked to her again.
My friends are scattered all over the country and world. I was at a New Years Party in NYC where the hosts husband was in Singapore on a Skype connection, the laptop was on the couch, he was virtually there. The only thing different was he got more attention because he was the one on TV, as it were.
I have had the other experience too. Living in a large community and having everyone as facebook friends, I found myself wanting to ask some people, How are you doing? Whats new? but realizing I had recently read their update and already knew...nothing to say. Still, if you want to talk with someone you can. The same thing can be said about all communication technology all the way back to the post office.
I just get Hallmark greeting cards in the mail, they used to come over and bring me a fruitcake!
Aug '10
Re: Whither Technology?
outstripp
Ray Kurzweil doesn't think so. · Dec 20 at 5:38am
Well, he's a futurist, so whaddya expect?
Really, I'm not as hostile to technology as I sometimes feel like I am. Mostly, I think technology is something to be grateful for, and the fact that I, personally, am irritated by it so much of the time is my problem.
I know I benefit immensely, for example, from simply being able to look pretty much anything up at any time, from the many books and papers that are just out there, free of charge or at very low cost.
I've learned that if you don't expect technology to work too well in the first place, you're disappointed less often, and pleasantly amazed when everything does work. Lower expectations. The snag is, when you rely on technology to get your work done, you can't afford the expectation of having it break too often.
Aug '10
Re: Whither Technology?
There is a wonderful short story which predicts many (if not most) of the societal issues that are created or exacerbated by the growth of the Internet.
The social isolation of individuals. Increased intellectual deliberation on trivia and minutia (most on-line comment boards. Not Ricochet of course!). Multiplication of reliance on hearsay, criticism and commentary (and Wikipedia) as opposed to the study of original sources. Etc.
The mind-blowing thing is that The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster was written in 1909, and yet its predictions of the 21st century world are eerily prescient.
I strongly believe that Forster's short story should be required reading in all English classes. It has far more to teach about the world we actually live in than many of the works that students must read.
Aug '10
Re: Whither Technology?
Midget Faded Rattlesnake: Oh, just so you know, here's the Google Ngram on "Whither Technology?"
As you see, technology has exploded since 1960, though it looks like it might be leveling off (at last!). Whither, on the other hand, has practically disappeared. · Dec 20 at 5:17am
Very interesting. Further to my post above, note how there is a brief uptick for "technology" right around 1909. Dear historians, please tell us what was going on in 1909 that caused the increased intellectual interest in technological theory?
...
EDIT: Hold on. When I did a search for "internet" on Google's ngram page, I got the same uptick around 1909. I'm pretty sure the word "internet" didn't exist back then, so methink's it's more of a glitch in Google's algorithm.
Edited on Dec 20, 2010 at 9:28amMay '10
Re: Whither Technology?
What technologies like the internet and cellphones do is vastly expand our resources and amplify the consequences of certain decisions. That's good or bad depending on actual use.
The main benefit of the internet is increased communication. The main threat of the internet is increased communication.
We're able to establish more fruitful connections and learn more than every before. But the deluge of information and contacts is also a driving factor of cultural relativism and nihilism. People are confronted with so much information and so many questions these days that the worldviews of many have collapsed due to an inability to process it all.
On a side note, I much prefer being called a "Burkean" than a social conservative (which seems meaningless). Thanks for that.
Nov '10
Re: Whither Technology?
Misthiocracy - in the case of "internet", it's very much a case of poor algorithms. To see this, just limit the search to a small range of dates (say from 1890 to 1910), then click on the list of dates that shows up at the bottom of the graph. This will bring up a list of publications in which the word was detected. Click on one or another, and it will take you to the detection. You get things like mispellings of "interest" (as "interset"), French wors included in an English paper (i.e. "internes"), abbreviations ("Internat." for "International"), and even names ("Dr. Infernet") interpreted as "internet".
Other things - perhaps the selection of publications they use for their searches. The late 19th and early twentieth centuries saw a huge boom in science and engineering, it may be that an unusually high number of tech publications were preserved, The search is not case-sensitive (though it is supposed to be), so titles and names (like Mass. Institute of Technology) get turned up.
Sorry to go on, I used to break algorithms as part of my job, and still find it enjoyable.
Re: Whither Technology?
So many thoughtful, nuanced reflections on the state of technology. Not one of you is willing to die on the hill resisting or joining the rise of the machines? It's like a "No Labels" meeting!
Your responses may actually offer more insight into conservative sociology (a word I'm loath to use because it is seemingly a discipline without boundaries -- which is to say no discipline at all) than into technology. One of the salient trends I notice in any discussion like this is that conservatives are loath to blame the instruments of social trends, preferring to place responsibility with the individuals utilizing them instead. That strikes me as a much more morally sophisticated posture.
So well done, Ricocheters; you've restored my faith in humanity -- at least as it materializes behind our ivy-covered virtual walls, anyway.
May '10
Re: Whither Technology?
Misthiocracy
EDIT: Hold on. When I did a search for "internet" on Google's ngram page, I got the same uptick around 1909. I'm pretty sure the word "internet" didn't exist back then, so methink's it's more of a glitch in Google's algorithm. · Dec 20 at 8:36am
Edited on Dec 20 at 09:28 am
Google uses automatic books scanners and OCR. If the book was not printed clearly the OCR makes mistakes. It's not the algorithm. Text data is always a little messy.
Nov '10
Re: Whither Technology?
outstripp
Google uses automatic books scanners and OCR. If the book was not printed clearly the OCR makes mistakes. It's not the algorithm. Text data is always a little messy. · Dec 20 at 8:49pm
No, it's more than that. If you look at the bits I posted, you'll see that they all vary by one letter only from "internet", and in only one (Dr. Infernet) is there any similarity between the letters. This implies they are using a pretty sophomoric metric (i.e. how the "distance" between words is measured), that they don't look for common letter-swap problems (e.g. interset for interest), and they don't look at context ("internes" is in a long French section in an English publication).
It may seem trivial, but similar algorithms are used in everything including medical diagnosis, credit card use, terrorist identification, and my old field (ASW & mine detection) - wherever computerized systems are used for pattern detection & analysis.
I think that this sort of problem (related to Dunning-Kruger?) is a bigger danger than the problems Troy proposes. If Google can't get it right with it's billions, can the government?.