According to Moore’s Law, technology, specifically computers, is predicted to grow at an exponential rate indefinitely. Elon Musk, technology mogul and it is said the world’s wealthiest man, predicts artificial intelligence will soon enough take over the world and threaten our existence. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg forecasts a future in which everyone spends part of their daily life, if not most of it, inside a virtual reality world, so much so that he renamed Facebook “Meta” to co-align it with a virtual Metaverse his company is designing, for us all to plug into. He acts as if he is God re-creating the Universe. Full immersion VR sets and software already exist, in which the experience is very similar to physical reality. This is the latest phase of a Brave New World.
By the way, considering the trillions upon trillions upon trillions (upon trillions) of variables that make up physical reality, it is virtually impossible for any team of computer scientists, or AI, to even remotely re-create the real world. To think that is possible meets the definition of absurdity. Or maybe I am thinking of delusions of grandeur. At best it would be an online hedonistic escape from the stresses of modernity, or a utilitarian tool in industries like medicine or the military. No computer program can literally become an intellect, with actual intelligence, because the intellect is by definition transcendent, spiritual, self-aware, and an actual person with, you know, personhood. No matter how advanced we make AI or humanoid robots, it will never come close to the complexities and creative power of a real human being.
There is an awakening today to the dangers of modern technology having taken over our culture. For example, more and more people today are appreciating the practical wisdom of the Amish in resisting the modern revolution of technology, themselves having no electricity nor phones in the home, and certainly not TVs, laptops, smart devices, nor the internet. Similar movements have arisen in the last few decades: the Back to the Land movement, the homesteading movement, and more recently the minimalist movement, with some overlap. People are re-examining how much technology and modern living really brings them peace and contentment. Some go so far to live an Amish-like lifestyle to some degree, with or without the same creed, building a very simple house in the country, with few appliances and conveniences, doing things more by hand and outdoors, and living more simply closer to Nature.
We’re all products of our environment to some degree, so in my case I am at heart a country boy because of how I was raised in a rural neighborhood surrounded by woods as my playground, Scouting, and camping/backpacking trips. But since becoming an adult, I’ve intentionally on my own analyzed our ultra-technological culture and largely resisted the revolution because of its unsatisfying departure from the natural order of things. The exception is I’ve had a TV, computer, and smartphone, but tend to ignore the latest trends.
For Christmas, I’d rather have carpentry tools to work with real wood, with my hands, than a VR headset. Given the choice between an old but well taken care of car, that will get me from point A to point B, for $5000, with no frills, or a $50,000 self-driving Tesla with a computer console staring at me, I’d go with the older car. Give me a pile of wood, a chopping block, good solid ax, wood burning stove, backyard meat smoker, Jack Daniels, a cigar, a friend or two, and I’m good to go. I neither need nor want a Smart House, robot vacuum cleaner, nor a $30 pair of synthetic Gore Tex socks, to keep my feet a little warmer and drier, and a little less itchy, than the old-fashioned wool variety....
(Enjoy what you are reading? The rest of Ch. 3 and the book will be for sale soon on Amazon, link posted here).