Regressive is their goal, not a design flaw. I pretty certain everything they wish to strip from us, they will keep for themselves. We will be the grunting, unthinking, plugged-in and tuned out ones who fear real human interaction and long only for whatever enticements are offered in the digital prisons created for us.
Yet, as you pointed out, these “elites” and their flunkies are not as smart as they think they are. Their own hubris will play a part in their downfall.
One another note, I have loved books all my life, and while a recent move and downsizing forced a clearing out of many I had, I will never let go of certain ones that have shaped my life and continue to bring joy and wisdom into my mind and heart. I’m sure their are many like me out there. The power of the written page will endure.
I think Musk’s “brain tech” will work every bit as well as his self-driving cars, or Hyperloop. Specifically: not at all well.
I’m all in favor of the research because of what can be learned but it’s a cul de sac, its object a mirage.
Being old enough to remember how “expert systems” were going to replace human doctors in “5 to 10 years” (that was ca. 1980), I’m intensely skeptical of such prognostications (and the prognosticators).
I know the director of a “big science” project to do something ambitious. I asked him how it’s going. “It’s a lot harder than we thought” was his response. Funny, had he asked, I could have told him that, but the reality is that the outcome that mattered was the grant money, not the putative result of the research, which was decidedly second priority. He knew it was nonsense and didn’t care. The stated goal was important only in so far as it could sufficiently bamboozle the bureaucrats who controlled the money. Musk has this same MO
Thank you for sharing your beloved husband’s prescient meditation, all the more dear since “Twilight Zone” is my husband’s favorite show, and that episode in particular is in our top 10.
The thought of people throwing away their books makes me physically ill!
And that Musk quote combined with Mark Zuckerberg’s megavillainous vision of the Metaverse make me weep for the future:
That said, I do believe the human spirit will triumph and ultimately reject these dystopian tyrannies, as the Canadian truckers and citizens are showing us today.
This is precisely it. The technocratic arrogance that all is well and tech solves all the problems (created by tech) is I think the root, or at least part of the root system, of problems.
Yes, I have been musing about this too. The many ways in which attempts to store and transmit human knowledge can go wrong. Store it in human beings, griot style. Great until your culture suffers disruption by devastating epidemics. Electronics, more fragile than anything as you point out. Print, amazing how fast low quality paper can deteriorate. Stone tablets? Great, as long as someone remains who can read the script.
Regressive is their goal, not a design flaw. I pretty certain everything they wish to strip from us, they will keep for themselves. We will be the grunting, unthinking, plugged-in and tuned out ones who fear real human interaction and long only for whatever enticements are offered in the digital prisons created for us.
Yet, as you pointed out, these “elites” and their flunkies are not as smart as they think they are. Their own hubris will play a part in their downfall.
One another note, I have loved books all my life, and while a recent move and downsizing forced a clearing out of many I had, I will never let go of certain ones that have shaped my life and continue to bring joy and wisdom into my mind and heart. I’m sure their are many like me out there. The power of the written page will endure.
I think Musk’s “brain tech” will work every bit as well as his self-driving cars, or Hyperloop. Specifically: not at all well.
I’m all in favor of the research because of what can be learned but it’s a cul de sac, its object a mirage.
Being old enough to remember how “expert systems” were going to replace human doctors in “5 to 10 years” (that was ca. 1980), I’m intensely skeptical of such prognostications (and the prognosticators).
I know the director of a “big science” project to do something ambitious. I asked him how it’s going. “It’s a lot harder than we thought” was his response. Funny, had he asked, I could have told him that, but the reality is that the outcome that mattered was the grant money, not the putative result of the research, which was decidedly second priority. He knew it was nonsense and didn’t care. The stated goal was important only in so far as it could sufficiently bamboozle the bureaucrats who controlled the money. Musk has this same MO
Oh this is brilliant. And heartaching. Because it is true.
Thank you for sharing your beloved husband’s prescient meditation, all the more dear since “Twilight Zone” is my husband’s favorite show, and that episode in particular is in our top 10.
The thought of people throwing away their books makes me physically ill!
And that Musk quote combined with Mark Zuckerberg’s megavillainous vision of the Metaverse make me weep for the future:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvJ2uYN8qtg
That said, I do believe the human spirit will triumph and ultimately reject these dystopian tyrannies, as the Canadian truckers and citizens are showing us today.
This is precisely it. The technocratic arrogance that all is well and tech solves all the problems (created by tech) is I think the root, or at least part of the root system, of problems.
Yes, I have been musing about this too. The many ways in which attempts to store and transmit human knowledge can go wrong. Store it in human beings, griot style. Great until your culture suffers disruption by devastating epidemics. Electronics, more fragile than anything as you point out. Print, amazing how fast low quality paper can deteriorate. Stone tablets? Great, as long as someone remains who can read the script.