Wednesday, August 12, 2009

I really am working...see?


I really am working...see?
Originally uploaded by aaron@digitalcole

What have I been doing lately? Well, for starters I've been taking numerous strolls around the web finding all sort of interesting things mostly involving digital technology and our society. I'm going to stop short of calling myself a singularitarian
but, granted, the idea is intriguing. Without doubt we as in the human race will eventually create the technology that'll give us eternal life weather it be nano, techno or some other undiscovered means, it will happen. The question is what will we, the human race, do with ourselves once we reach this plateau? If I can allow myself a moment of wistful fantasy I can imagine a collective knowledge universe where we not only share memories but, our thoughts and feelings. A collective consciousness if you will. Of course this is already starting. We already have collective memories (blogs, flickr, facebook) and if google wave does what I think it's capable of that may be the beginning of collective consciousness. Some of these ideas here, were already discussed on FastCompany.

It's an exciting time to be alive. We're entering into a world where anything and I mean anything will be possible. It'll require a new mind set, a new way of thinking about life and our place in the universe. Are we capable of such responsibility? After all we make destruction an art form. We'll need to get past our obsession with living in a scarcity society and embrace the abundance society that we're now finding ourselves in. This wont be easy, many corporations and through them governments are standing in our way. Terrified at the prospects of finding a world in which they're no longer relevant, they strive to usurp us in our endeavor to live in a free society, where knowledge is infinitely sharable. They remind me of little children afraid to live in a bigger world. They'd rather go in circles then wonder off the path to see what's out there. I personally would have no problem with their futile endeavor to "bury their heads in the sand". The problem that I have is that they expect us to follow suit. It's an absurd notion yet though copyright law and powerful lobbyist that's exactly what they're trying to do. This in the end will fail, no totalitarian regime can last. It tends to eat itself from the inside through it's own paranoia. In the end they're really nothing more than a waste of time but, how sad it is that we waste this precious time. Time that could be spent moving us forward.

-adc- (digitalcole)


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