I promise to post sooner next time. This is a great blog I found a couple of months ago. I check it out every once in awhile just to see what else they have turned up.
Paleo-Future
I often wonder how our current thoughts on the future will be looked at. Will we look at our current video games the way we now look at Atari games? It's interesting to note how many ideas from this site actually did work out but only in different forms than was initially considered. I also wish there were more movies on the future that took an optimistic view, they all seem so dark. I like to think we will work out our problems in time, and am saddened when I realize much of the world envisions a terrible future for humanity. Anyways, just some loose thoughts from looking at this site again. Check it out when you have a chance.
West
4 comments:
I really enjoyed your post, and I am also going to share your promise of blogging earlier next time. I agree that many people predict a terrible future for humanity, but that doesn’t mean that we are not going to be experiencing any sort of technological advances.
Regarding the link you provided, it was interesting to see that some of the predictions listed are what people of our generation predict for our future—the Third World War, the fading of radio broadcasting and the wireless electric power.
One point that I want to add is that when talking about technologies or the future of technology, we must distinguish between a technology that is available and a technology that is widely used. For example, generations before us have predicted that someday a virtual application like Second Life would take over our social lives. Well these people were right to some extent: numerous virtual applications exist today, and have affected some people’s social lives, but have yet to reach a mass audience. Whenever a technology reaches a mass audience—the Internet for example—we can say that that technology has succeeded in bringing about change.
About the movie bit.. Sometimes you have to remember that a movie is just a movie. It's a form of entertainment first and foremost, and usually the 'optimistic happily-ever-after' viewpoint doesn't make for an interesting story. And just because the movie takes a dark view, it doesn't mean that's exactly what the creator envisions of our future. They may just be showing us a glimpse of what could happen if we don't play nice.
Ditto, ditto, ditto... The timing of your post West is very interesting. I spent the weekend in Tennessee. I was showing my folks SL and the "fun" I have with my avatar. As my father started to grumble, I teleported to the Princeton Library and to NOAA to show them the "positive" potential of SL. My father (who has a masters in education and a masters in psychology and is Chairman of his county commission) proceeded to rant for 30 minutes about the evils of virtual worlds and video games because people can avoid real consequences and real world problems rather than addressing them and doing anything about them. He is an intelligent man who has never read a positive thing about technology and echoes the sentiments of so many of his generation (who are also the heaviest consumers of print media) that all technology is bad... yet he surely enjoys radio, television AND his Internet use for research and communication. The generation gap was so startling to me and his unwillingness to hear otherwise was quite disappointing. I'm sure a content analysis of media messages toward new media would reflect a better understanding of why people fear what they have not experienced personally.
donna, you are so true. I have been telling everyone about my sl experiences and my new house and property. Everyone is willing to listen but in the end they all ask. You know this isn't real? I of course ask them to state reality and how my and their realities differ . Mine includes my hobby sl where I work and meet with people who are interested in the same or similiar interests. But I can only say there is a limited number of early adopters, and I am proud to part of them.
West I agree I think the future is unkown to people so they tend to give it a dark light. But Is that really the way to approach something you do not know and understand?
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