Just another freak in the freak kingdom
This blog is on the inherent interaction that modern day society has with technology on a day to day basis its effects its pros and its inevitable cons. We now live in a society ruled by technology and saturated by the media. Radio, television, internet, advertising, mobile phones, the influence of media and technology has become a part of our everyday lives, its everywhere. Over the past 2 decades we have experienced an explosion of the technological, we search for information, purchase items book holidays and indulge in sexual exploration at home through the use of the internet. We continually text each other on a spectacular basis through our mobile phones, allowing quick interaction without face to face social interaction having to occur. The advent of the gaming industry continues to grow exponentially with sales beginning to dwarf that of the film industry and such inventions as MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing games such as world of warcraft) adding to the boiling pot that is social and technological interaction. And of course we still watch television, which is continually evolving together with the home pc and internet that in the future they will most probably be one in the same. This inescapable media saturation is prominent so much so that we have entire university courses designed to studying every aspect of it. We examine its base technical aspects of how it works, to its influence on political social racial and religious issues every aspect is covered. Indeed this blog itself will always be constrained as not being an entirely well rounded argument due to the fact that it is word processed and being posted on the internet, and will inevitably be submissive to criticism because of the format used and the way in which the argument is presented. Therefore when faced with the challenge of writing a blog the equivalent of 2000 words in length on the subjects covered in 'New Media Cultures' I am filled with a sense of confusion. Surely those respectfully indulging in a subject covering the increasing symbiotic relationship between man (and or woman) and machine and particularly the ways in which the theoretical material in particular can be seen to inform and illuminate aspects of our daily lives, can respect the irony in the way that it has been asked to be assessed.
With the advent of the blog (a portmanteau of web log is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.) And other forms of social expression on the internet such as facebook, or myspace. There has been more fuel added to the uncontrollable fire that is the revolution of the technological individual that has occurred over the past few decades. These social networking sites and the blog have created a situation where people no longer rely on social interaction on a face to face basis, they can fulfill there daily dose of socializing into a few hours on the computer on something like facebook or msn messenger. Some argue that this is a tool that is demolishing social interaction in a way never before seen, however others argue that this is an example of the growing relationship between man and machine and that to ignore it or dismiss it would be foolish. This state of personal expression on the technological information highway that is the internet, has become a new media cultural phenomenon stripping people of social hierarchy with celebrities taking hold of it in a way to express themselves through persona scandal and outspokenness.
So now we use technology to present opinions and ideas that we may be to afraid to do in public, stripping away the veil of the normal social interaction.
But how far does this relationship look set to extend? Too what degree will technology and humanity intermingle and merge together?
On one level it can be argued that the influence of the media in our day to day lives is already a tool that shapes our direction and decision making. Day by day we are bombarded with images of products that we “must” have. To the point that to not wish to own would be seen to be unnatural. The free enterprise society has become a runaway train, where the needs of society (the food, the homes) have been replaced with the wants (the TV’s the I-pods, the Playstations) And where politics has just become another form of media manipulation. “The UK is awash with fake news, of which the examples here are only a taste, it is just that we don’t pay much attention to it. The American scandals over fake news are played out against the background of some pretty clear laws forbidding propaganda with a disguised source within the borders of the US. There are no laws forbidding fake news in the UK. Perhaps we needs some.”
— David Miller, BBC broadcast “fake” news reports , Media Lens, March 15, 2005
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/05/050318_bbc_broadcast_fake_news.php
"Over and over again I have said that there is no way out of this present impasse. If we were wide awake we would be instantly struck by the horrors that surround us…we would drop our tools, quit our jobs, pay no taxes, observe no laws, and so on. Could the man or woman who is thoroughly awakened possibly do the crazy things which are now expected of him or her every moment of the day?"- Henry Miller
There has been increasing interest in the potential social impact of new technologies, such as virtual reality (as may be seen in utopian literature, within the social sciences, and in popular culture). Mychilo S. Cline, in his book, Power, Madness, and Immortality: The Future of Virtual Reality, argues that virtual reality will lead to a number of important changes in human life and activity. He argues that:
* Virtual reality will be integrated into daily life and activity and will be used in various human ways.
* Techniques will be developed to influence human behavior, interpersonal communication, and cognition (i.e., virtual genetics).
* As we spend more and more time in virtual space, there will be a gradual “migration to virtual space,” resulting in important changes in economics, worldview, and culture.
* The design of virtual environments may be used to extend basic human rights into virtual space, to promote human freedom and well-being, and to promote social stability as we move from one stage in socio-political development to the next.
Indeed humanities utter obsession with technology takes such ideas and exploits them in their own medium. Steven Lisberger's 1982 movie TRON was the first mainstream Hollywood picture to explore the idea. One year later, it would be more fully expanded in the Natalie Wood film Brainstorm. Probably the most famous film to popularize the subject was more recently done by the Wachowski brothers in 1999's The Matrix. The Matrix was significant in that it presented virtual reality and reality as often overlapping, and sometimes indistinguishable. All these films present a reality where the worlds of the technological merge together in a state where reality is virtual.
Are we headed to an inevitable infusion of man and machine where society as we know it will be utterly changed? Surely no, reason would surely be the final boulder in the way of such uncontrolled madness?
Well no unfortunately it looks like one day there will be robots and yes they will dream of electric sheep... But only after they have satisfied mans sexual desires first. In an article printed online by sky news the issue of sexual interaction with robots in the future was presented as “A View of the future”.
Sex With Robots? A View Of The Future
By Sky News SkyNews - 2 hours 54 minutes ago
People will be having sex with robots by 2050, an artificial intelligence expert has predicted.
David Levy's book Love And Sex With Robots: The Evolution Of Human-Robot Relationships claims robots will become so lifelike that they will be hard to distinguish from real people.
The 62-year-old, also a chess master, writes in his book: "Great sex on tap for everyone, 24/7. What's not to like?"
Robot technology is advancing hugely across the world, with Japan in particular making great strides towards robots which can help out in homes or hospitals.
Mr Levy believes that the people most likely to use a robot for sex are those who are too ugly or too isolated to find human romance.
He said: "They're lonely, they're miserable. I think society will be a much better place when they have an alternative that satisfies them without doing any harm to other people."
Mr Levy is not the first to predict sex with robots.
In 2006, Henrik Christensen of the European Robotics Research Network, predicted that people would be having sex with robots within five years.
Mr Levy also believes that relationships with robots may not just be about sex - people may end up marrying them as well.
"The question is not if this will happen, but when," he said, adding that he expected the state of Massachusetts to be the first in the US to allow it.
Surely this permiates the wall of reason and reality? Well it goes further there is even a name given to the fetish of those who wish to indulge in this technological coitus, Robot Fetishism. Robot fetishism (also ASFR or technosexuality) is a fetishistic attraction to humanoid or non-humanoid robots; also to people acting like robots or people dressed in robot costumes. A less common fantasy involves transformation into a robot. In these ways it is similar to statuephilia, which involves attraction to or transformation into statues or mannequins.
As absurd as it may sound and indeed i expect offensive too many, this may be the future. Who knows whether it will turn out to be true or not but never underestimate the sadistic capabilities of the over sexed human brain. As it seems that technology no longer has to rely on a war to advance it but rather the sexed up imagination of those who design it.
This is the reality however of our 21st century generation whether it is applauded or frowned upon the inescapable truth is that as a society we are totally reliant on the pulse of technology, where every opinion, image, sound, absolutely every piece of art is simply becoming information and reduced to a series of 1’s and 0’s.
