During the movie clips of Waking Life we watched last week the idea of the telescoping of time was presented. The reference used was the evolution of technology and man. This I consider to be terribly interesting – terribly thought provoking.
It’s painfully obvious that there is a telescoping of time where the idea of technology is concerned. For those that are unaware, there is rule that might help us better understand this telescoping of time; it is called Moore’s Law. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia:
“Moore's Law describes an important trend in the history of computer hardware: that the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit is increasing exponentially, doubling approximately every two years … Almost every measure of the capabilities of digital electronic devices is linked to Moore's Law: processing speed, memory capacity, even the resolution of LCD screens and digital cameras. All of these are improving at (roughly) exponential rates as well. This has dramatically changed the usefulness of digital electronics in nearly every segment of the world economy. Moore's Law describes this driving force of technological and social change in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.”
This is a very important quality of our new media. When we are confronted with the concept of technology we immediately conjure up ideas of computers. It seems that not a week, not a day really, goes by before we see advancements in these digital devices that are made smaller, faster and more compatible to being integrated into every aspect of our lives. We live in a digital world and it won’t be long before we soon forget what the world must have been like without it – some already have.
The idea that I want to pose here is evolution. During the film the evolution of man and technology were mentioned as if they were somehow one in the same. The evolution of digital media is undeniable but I have my reservations about the evolution of man being coupled with this.
In my honest opinion, the human race is at a state of stagnation. We’ve completely removed nearly every danger in our existence. We are a master of nature. We have completely removed nearly every natural predator that has ever hunted us. We have even begun to tame death so that our very unnatural lives have doubled, nearly tripled in years. Cradled in our shell of invulnerability we’re no longer experiencing natural evolution – we’ve reached the pinnacle of our species in that regard.
As technology is developed we do not evolve, we adapt. We use this ever changing technology to supplement our lives, to make it easier and more productive but could this be compared with evolution?
This advent of technology has changed our method of interaction. With the invention of writing it is said that we became more aware of our individuality. As time has progressed we have become more and more disconnected from one another that there are those of us that find social interaction impossible and choose to text one another while in the same room or even at the same table. The attention has become so solely focused on the self that we’ve lost nearly all concept group membership or considering the needs of a group before our own.
Peace and justice, as mentioned in the movie, are lofty ideals that concern the welfare of a group. These ideas are meaningless in a world where we seem destined to become completely isolated, autonomous and modular as the data we’re representing.
Perhaps this is a bleak look at this trend in human culture but if this is an example of evolution then I’ll forever be a monument to failed possibilities.
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