In the week 12 lecture, we were asked to write up a stream of conscious musing regarding the topic today. After viewing the peculiar video regarding the ethics involving smart technology – I created this unedited musing, after choosing to focus on “humanity is in charge of its own future.” Whilst writing this, the fictional character of “Kara” stayed with me. I couldn’t help but consider if this will actually be a problem for the world in the far-away future. It may seem absurd, but 50 year ago, the idea of touch screens or even a small phone to carry around with you, was a crazy and (seemingly) impossible idea.
Humanity is in charge of its own future
Stream of consciousness:
Humanity is in charge of its own future in many different ways. From technology to the welfare of the environment, human beings are in charge of its future and the prolonging of it. This can be used in context to climate change and how the mass human consumption is greatly harming the future of the environment. The great and wonderful advancement of technology has come at a great cost to the planet. By no means does this mean that we should hinder or stop our pursuit of knowledge and technology, but it means that if we have the capacity to create so many things, there must be a way that we can compete this without further damaging the environment. This further advancement of technology has created brand ethical questions that have remained unanswered. For example- can artificial life ever be considered the same as a real, live bringing person? What’s the difference between a human being that feels fear and a man-made machine that feels fear?
As many “dystopian future” media texts suggests, this may be a bigger problem than it is realised. But it also highlights the fact that we can progress so far in technology that can change man-kind, yet we still live in a conflicted world with hatred. Although the world is more connected than its ever been, the world is simultaneously becoming less connected than ever. We would rather send worded messages than to listen to voices. And the internet is infamous for as having many good things as bad things. Essentially- the online world represents humanity.
In context of this week’s reading: I think the discussion of “culture” is fascinating. I focused on the Murphy and Potts reading, in their discussion of culture and technology. The distinction between culture and nature is interesting, and I think that this idea of the countless groups of culture (and the subgroups of culture) has increased due to the changing nature of technology.