IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2015 - 21

that those who have created
this system favor: it is, I stress
again, an essentially religious
phenomenon."
Lewis Mumford, in Myth of the
Machine, vol. 2 (1970)

survive in a world that has become
Now we are lured towards an
defined by ever-changing technolalternate computer-generated reality
ogy. Folks like me do not run the
while concurrently there is constructworld or invent the machines that
ed an infrastructure of absolute
change society. We adapt to these
control. The network and its increasmachines. Now we are the ones
ingly lurid manifestations are forcing
intended to be replaced with robots.
the people of this planet towards
We are the ones to be intimidated by
an unprecedented conclusion and a
the drones. Also, like you, we have
desperate choice. The conclusion? It
come under the surveillance of the
(the network and the powers behind
Mainframe. Finally, however, we have
its installation) wants total control,
ceased to lie to ourselves about who
potentially even over our spirits.
apparently directs the future and
The choice? Whether or not to one
where that future is headed.
day let it come inside us. This is not
We're not as dumb as some may
paranoia or wild conjecture. It is the
think. We know how technology and
obvious vision of those who create
society interact. We appreciate refrigthis future. It has already hypnotized
eration and anesthesia, certainly, but
our eyes and changed our way of
are well aware that the most historithinking. It has nested in our hands.
cally significant applications of techIt has staked a claim to raising our
nology have been in the conquest
children under the watchful gaze of
and despoiling of nature and "backits "ultimate" authority.
ward" civilizations. Ask the Native
This "triumph," as manifested
Americans about the "triumph of
in the transhumanist impulses of
technology". Or, for that
matter, ask the elephants or
the bees.
The idea of inherently
The future direction of society
neutral or democratic technology is based on a funis as relevant to the unpublished
damental falsehood, often
lodged in misuse of the idea
masses as it is to anyone else.
of "choice." If we "choose"
these technologies, they say,
we can likewise choose to
reject them. This is simply not true.
the new technologies, apparently
I chose to ride a bicycle when
intends to conquer the final boundI was four years old. That is true.
aries that define us as human.
But I did not "choose" to learn how
Along the way, it decimates tradito use a telephone. I was instructtional culture and forms of comed how to use a telephone so that
munication, replacing them with a
I could join society. Our children
singular, yet maddeningly divisive,
do not "choose" the network. They
digital Tower of Babel.
are trained to use the network in a
There is coming a backlash to
world that is simultaneously made
the new law of the machine. It is
dependent on that network. Thus
the natural result of technologies
they become part of the network.
that impose themselves on man's
We do not choose the progression
consciousness. It will be a biologiof what I have come to call automatcal/spiritual response from a speic tyranny any more than we choose
cies threatened with extinction by
to have nuclear power plants. These
mechanical replacements and techare not issues one may vote on.
nological wonder toys run amok.

hough I am neither
an academic or technical "expert," I hope
to share a view point
that is widely held
among the unpublished masses. The
future direction of society is as relevant to them as anyone else.
I have no intention of listing the
scientific "facts" of our current situation. Readers of this magazine surely know these facts by now. We all
see children turning away from their
parents, each other, and the natural
world and towards the glowing portals of the network. There has come
upon us widespread Internet and
video game addiction. The field of
robotics has begun to make ominous
threats towards ancient notions of
human livelihood, freedom, and survival. Increasing demands are being
made by technology upon human
behavior and consciousness, forcing
rapid mental and physical adaptation. Depending upon your perspective, these symptoms may be seen as
part of either a spiritual, historical, or
evolutionary crisis. Such momentous
developments would seem to necessarily demand rapid resolution one
way or another. One worldview will
survive. One will fall.
The perspective of common
people on these matters has been
neglected. I will be blunt. There are
many of us who do not trust the creators of this modern technology with
our children's future. We have lost
faith in the scientific community's
ability or true willingness to save
us. This is not to say that we know
what to do about this situation. We
don't. We use what tools we need to

september 2015

∕

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2015