Subject: Re: post-literate change
From: tom abeles (tabeles@tmn.com)
Date: Tue 02 May 2000 - 03:40:39 MEST
Date: Mon, 01 May 2000 20:40:39 -0500 From: tom abeles <tabeles@tmn.com> Subject: Re: post-literate change
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"Muhammad Betz, Ph.D." wrote:
> I find myself thinking more like a computer, and I have
> noticed a change in my sensory perception, i.e, to by more virtual,
> particulary after extended time at the computer station. We humans
> predictable will grow more like computers and computers will become more
> human.
>
> The question: Does this phenomenon indicate an evolutionary event? No, not
> yet. Evolution does not occur within one generation. With the rapid rate
> of progress in terms of technological progress, there is no sound way to
> predict where the relationship between humans and computers (or computers'
> "relatives" and "progeny") will lead.
>
> Just a thought and nothing more,
> Muhammad
>
> Muhammad Betz, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor
> Educational Technology/Teacher Education
> Southeastern Oklahoma State University
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhammad Betz's reflection is more than a casual thought. We do need to explore
this in substantive detail because he is far from the first to speculate on this.
Donna Harraway has suggested that we are already cyborgs though not in the sense
of Star Trek's Borg. Ray Kurzweil in his Age of Spiritual Machines and Bill Joy,
in the recent issue of Wired Magazine have also suggested that this is the
evolutionary path if computers deem that we humans as biological organisms have a
survival quotient high enough. Dugal Dixon, the anthropologist/writer/illustrator
has discussed this in Man After Man and the polymath, futurist, Erwin Laszlo has
said that when God created humans she took a chance since intelligence wasn't
necessarily a survival characteristic- an idea which is the focus of Bruce
Sterling's philosophical short story, The Swarm.
Oh, it is only in the Darwinian construct of evolution that change occurs through
generations. Evolutionary change can occur within generations through Lamarkian
transfer- probably the route for the next round of human evolution in a knowledge
age- so we may not have the luxury of time if we have any say in the path.
Someone once remarked that revolutions kill individuals and evolutions destroy
species- That path may be the one that we are on.
Betz's casual thought may have triggered the lamp which made this transformation
visible-- thoughts?
tom abeles
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