Doomsday

I’ve been long interested in how we construct reality, but I’ve mostly thought of it in psychological or technical (not technological terms) –  like how we project a persona or how images or words in film or literature create meaning.  Obviously technology has or will soon have the ability to create possibilities of experiences that were not previously available.  Here, I use  the word “experience” as opposed to “reality.” But the question of what is reality is at the base of much of what we have read for this week.  Further, I find it most interesting to cast this question of reality into apocalyptic terms.

Quinby calls the social domination allowed by technology “technopression” and argues that it presents and seeks to control power, truth and morality in an apocalyptic mode.  Technology allows for the dream of transcendence of human limitations,  a millennialist dream she says.  Indeed, the idea of transcendence of human form and constraints squares well with ideas in BOR about the impurities of flesh and the promise of freedom from sin once the end arrives.  It’s also the 144,000 undefiled by sex who will be saved.  But stepping aside from this obvious reference, technopression’s problems are more insidious.  Programmed perfection as Quinby calls it, or Vinge’s “utraintelligent machine,” both seek to change a current reality into a new, sanitized one.

With the advent of the Singularity, which Vinge casts as an Apocalyptic event , will come a change in time or nature of intelligence.  He argues that more detailed knowledge of science takes away from the fantasy of what is possible.  Vinge also points out that truly productive work will become the “domain of steadily smaller and more elite fraction of humanity.”  IA creates cynical elite, which corresponds to an apocalyptic mode of electism, where only a select few are worthy of redemption.  But Vinge also points out that we are the initiators of the inevitable.  Thus, the Singularity raises issue about free will and determinism.

In Vinge’s post-Singularity world, pieces of ego can be merged/copied and “size of self awareness can grow or shrink to fit nature of problems under consideration.”  The SQUID device promises exactly this new reality, one which Quinby sees as having an alienating effect.

As I was reading for class the other night, I listened to a song by Regina Spektor titled “Hooked into Machine.” The main character of the song basically describes her life as a cyborg. She writes to the higher power that is “the Machine” because it “lacks [her] perspective” and it “lacks [her] organics.” Thus, even though the character of the Machine is very powerful, there is still something that this God wishes it had that its people do– this God is dependent on Man for new ideas. This brings to mind the benevolent God/gods idea by Isaac Asimov quoted in Vernor Vinge’s “the Singularity.”

However, I have trouble believing that machines will ever be anything more than “willing slaves” unless computing changes drastically within the next few decades (which it absolutely can). Moreover, I cannot imagine technology taking over the human race. Currently, we program computers. Without the instructions, the computer cannot do much of anything. All of its thinking is contained within the lines of code that we, humans, have defined. Computers with higher processing power may be able to go through these instructions faster, however, they cannot come up with any new ideas. That is why Vinge’s example of computers that can beat humans at chess does not impress me: all the computer is doing in this case is considering all the possible moves at a quicker pace than its human counter part. However, chess is played with a few strict rules, the rules for survival as a species are not that easy.

Also, pure machines will not be able to compete with humans on a survival level until they learn to reproduce on their own or maintain themselves forever without human help. Furthermore, there is no real reason why they would develop feelings of dissent towards their human masters. Without emotions, the capacity for ambition, or the ability to feel fatigue, machines are not going to have a motive for bettering their situation. In fact, they are the perfect slaves. In the Regina Spektor song, the main character also mentions that the Machine “covets [her] defects”– it is these defects of emotion and, otherwise emotional thinking that usually clouds up our judgment, that brought the human race thus far in the game of survival.

However, although I do not see technology taking us over in the form of some twisted dictatorship, I can imagine this happening in two other ways. One, people can come to depend on technology to the point that they cannot live without it, and even, become addicted to it. The first relationship between humans and the technology God is already something we see. Computers we have readily available today are capable of pretty high processing speeds and we do depend on them quite a lot. In such a setting, people become very dependent on those who have the knowledge to control the computers. This creates a special class of people with the ability to control us all. Also, as in the example presented by Lee Quinby of the movie Strange Days, people can become addicted to technology and use it as a means of escape– this kind of dependence creates a dystopia, but, the technology itself has no conscious control. In the second scenario, cyborgs (humans with capabilities enhanced by technology) will have the ability to control and eliminate the human race if given the chance because they will have the higher rate of processing with the ability to invent.

Thus, although I do not believe that a techno-apocalypse is on its way in the sense that machines will revolt, I do believe that it is completely possible that technology will fall in the wrong hands and facilitate an apocalypse.