Doomsday hype?

Image from morguefile.com

While many of the ideas presented in Dr. J. Weizenbaum's article "Computerized Gods and the Age of Information" are exceptionally interesting and engaging, I cannot suppress the image of someone on the side of the street waving a sign that screams, "The End is Nigh" in splotchy red letters.

Other images that also pop into my mind are mainly from science fiction stories. For example, Dr. Weizenbaum states, "...we have now sent computers into space which will continue to orbit, to make their computations and so on. Soon, according to this apocalyptic vision, these computers will be able to reproduce themselves, and when they do, the human race will have accomplished its purpose."

Perhaps this observation appears to be quite a shocking revelation at first glance, but it was the essence of Star Trek's the Motion Picture's plot in 1979. A space probe essentially reproduces itself for hundreds of year before it finally starts to make its way back home to Earth.

Additionally, Dr. Weizenbaum worriedly states, "But when one accepts...the purpose (if one may use that term at all) of organic evolution is not the perfection and adaption of living organism to their changing environment but rather the perfection and growth of intelligence in the universe, then the extinction of the human race also becomes an acceptable end.

This certainly is a sentiment that is shared with the big bad enemy in some of the Star Trek series. The Borg was introduced to Star Trek fans/geeks back in the late '80s and the collective has continued to assimilate every humanoid in sight as it grows closer to the goal of technological "perfection."

Dr. Weizenbaum's observations also have some similarities to the philosophy of transhumanism. Yet while there are some similarities, transhumanism sees a "brighter future" for the human race where human beings evolve beyond the current human form and human limitations.

Creeped out? Well, apparently we may be evolving just through our day to day interaction with technology. According to Juan Enriquez on TEDTalks, rapid evolution could be happening now. He argues that there could be a rapid evolution of the brain occurring which could possibly be attributed to how much information is processed by a modern human being. We are now trying to take in as much data in a day that, in the past, people would have taken a lifetime to process.

Dr. Weizenbaum provides many thought-provoking ideas. They are certainly ideas with moral implications. Yet while I think his observations are valid, it is important to consider other related notions. Technology could possibly evolve to the point where humankind is no longer important or necessary. However, technology can also continue to work alongside humanity, hopefully improving our health, education, quality of life, etc. There is no doubt that technology has negative effects, but perhaps we also need to look at other aspects of how we live, whether with or without technology, when we consider how we are going to continue and survive on this planet. Technology certainly is related to that existence, but it is, to use an older technological metaphor, only one cog in the machine.