Singularity

Am I the only one freaked out by the pace of communications technology progress? It takes a moment for me to realize that I was alive when instant communication with my entire social sphere was impossible. The concept existed only in sci-fi movies at best. Going to the store, and forgetting the list meant making the trip twice. Today, I just call the wife, remind myself what was on the list, and voila!

Late for a meeting? Not sure where to meet up? Catching up with friends out on the town? Nothing simpler. Just whip out the cell. How did people meet 20 years ago? 

The thing is, that's about as far as my imagination takes me. A sure sign of getting older. I just discovered "twittering" as a concept. Actually, I was informed of what it was, after quizzically staring at the word in an article, and asking someone better versed in the medium. Why in the world would I want to tell the world in short blurbs what I was doing/thinking/feeling/expecting/dealing with/hoping/...? And how would I find the time to constantly update this information a dozen times a day or more? Don't these people work for a living?

I reached a few conclusions about this. No guarantee that they're correct, but they're mine. And, after all, I'm writing a blog, so obviously I expect someone to read what I'm writing, maybe.

Anyway, fact is, humans are lonely. And scared. And they feel insignificant in this big universe. So, having a voice that goes out as far as electromagnetic waves can carry it is reassuring. It makes us feel significant. I exist, hear me think!

And, I'm getting older. I always wondered how it was that a generational gap could exist. Weren't the ways of thinking of the young obvious and clear? Now I look at the behavior of teenagers and wonder how they could do what they do. How does one maintain a virtual presence one's entire day and night? How is it possible to function while having a dozen virtual conversations at once, while listening frantically to music clips, and finishing homework, and sending text messages, and twittering, updating your mySpace page, Facebook, etc? I'm relatively hip, I have a Facebook profile, and I know how to text, and use IM, and even have a blog, but my engagement is nowhere close to that of the future generation.

And social structures are changing faster today than at any time in history. The speed and ease of electronic communication is slowly erasing the need for direct personal contact. On one hand this is lamentable, and many have made the usual strong statements about the deterioration and fall of civilization. On the other hand, there are new forms of connecting that have created bonds at times stronger than the traditional ones. Look at World of Warcraft, and MySpace, and social networking in its various forms. You can more regularly let others know what you're about, you can represent yourself much more creatively, you can express what you would not normally be able to in words, and you can have a much broader audience than ever before. Aren't all these things positive? We're not losing social structures, we're broadening them in new ways. My generation is barely keeping up, my parents' generation is shaking their heads in dismay. So it was with the advent of radio, then television, and so on.

Politically, we're closer to true democracy than ever before. The lip service to "freedom" and "democracy" that America's leaders give is being debunked regularly. The above cannot exist without a well-informed populace, and if you control the information sources, you control the population. The US and North Korea alike are doing a good job at this. The difference is that in America there are so far no significant restrictions on information flow via the Internet. Anyone can write something, post it, and have it reach a wide audience. Duping the public is still possible, and happens regularly (reasons for invading Iraq, anyone?), but reality catches up with everyone much more quickly than in the past. It used to take 20 or more years for the facts to emerge. Today the scandals come out within months.

Of course this isn't yet true social democracy, we have a ways to go yet, but it's the first step. The mass consciousness that will manifest with the advent of the appropriate technologies will surprise the older generations. It already does. Why else are so many people caught with their pants down these days? Stephen Baxter's "Light of Other Days" is worth checking out for an example of how far this could go.

Finally, there is a new form of class divide, on top of the usual socioeconomic ones. That of technological haves and have nots. If you don't have a cell phone, you will soon be marginalized. If you live in the developed world, and do not have Internet access, you will soon be marginalized. If you think that all Internet users are beer swilling porn junkies, you're already marginalized (see Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the PiS party in Poland).

It's an exciting time. And my son, arriving soon, will never conceive of an unconnected world. In his lifetime we will become permanently wired. Today's social networking will be as archaic in 20 years as card-driven computers are today. I hope I remain "hip" enough to keep up...