Catching up with the brave new world

[Lite Beer]

EDITORIAL
Catching up with the brave new world
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The neck-snapping speed of technological change is tearing the wheel of human destiny from our grip

In the not-so-distant past, people craved technological updates. Today it can feel strange if two days go by without news of some cool innovation, or at least some great, jaw-dropping potential for one.

Technology is pushing in all directions, and changing human life as fast as the landscape flies past outside the window of a speeding car. At first we braced and held tight, but now we've become quite used to it.

Barely an eyebrow was raised when we were told that Harry Potter's "invisibility" cloak is on track to becoming a reality. A few years ago journalists would have chuckled at the thought of a computer writing breaking-news stories. Few are laughing today, now that software is churning out those articles.

How about taking a virtual-reality "vacation" in the comfort of your home? Well, we know this will be available - once the software becomes cheap enough.

For the younger generation, the idea of being part of an online "multiverse" - with an infinite number of you's and me's - is no longer science fiction. Will the world soon stop relying on oil? Very likely, if the powers-that-be can figure out a way to switch power sources without upsetting global politics and the economy. Will cars fly? It's just a matter of time (they're already driver-free). Will 70-year-old men be considered still young? Probably someday soon.

In short, "What comes next?" is not as important as "What do we do with it?" Technology is not only changing the way we live, but also the way we think. Caught in its mutating grip are religious faith, social life and other fundamental issues like career, family and friendship. The leaps can be dizzying, leaving us suddenly facing vistas of strange new possibilities.

Culture shock is mild compared with "technology shock", although sometimes it's difficult to differentiate between the two. The former involves a relatively slow physical journey from one "world" to another, while the latter can hit you in your own home if you take your eyes off the ball for just a brief moment. In the not-so-distant past, a person emerging from a 10-year coma would still find himself in a familiar world. If he were to fall unconscious today and awaken in 2019, he would likely see commercialised moon travel, society almost devoid of obese people, and the beginnings of a "human-memory-for-sale" business.

And the pace of change will only get faster and faster.

The potential danger is obvious. Not so long ago it was relatively easy to handle, say, cloning because we had little else to worry about. It's different today, and will be very, very different in the near future. That the world is debating the pros and cons of "killer robots", which, like cloning, must now be seen in the light of their suitability, not just possibility, is good news. At the very least, we know what's coming.

But we can't be so assured about the "big picture".

"Whatever can happen will happen" goes one school of thought. Nothing, they say, can prepare us for the surprises technological progress has in store. Others counter with examples of what can happen if the world remains passive and ignorant in the face of change. They cite the "Frankenstein" technology of nuclear power, whose awesome benefits come with awful destructive potential.

Technology is the tool that shapes human life, but like a knife, it cuts both ways. And the sooner the world learns to handle that knife properly, the better.

-- The Nation 2014-05-31

[Emptyset]

Brave New World... seems quite an appropriate headline at the moment.

[BSJ]

A lot of woo haa about things the average Thai isn't able to afford anytime soon. When they still have to pay off their scooter over 3 or 4 years I can't see how they will be able to finance "commercialised moon travel"!

[SoFarAndNear]

The most thing I am worrying about is that most new technology and gadgets are destroying our privacy and allowing companies and governments to analyze our complete life's.

Interesting video about "new" technology

Most people simply don't understand what these new cool technology also is doing. Cloud computing, full time synchronizing of every device we are using. Not just your mobile phone, everything in our life is going online and feeding companies Databases with our information where we are, what we are doing, what we like, what we don't like, what we are eating, what we think about others.

Example: My mother has visited me in Thailand a few months ago. She has a GMAIL address. ( Why she has a gmail address? Because she want to send e-mail of course.) What didn't know she has also an Google account. That means most things she is doing with her browser is logged by Google. She only uses the Google Search even if she know the URL address of a website she just type it in Google and then click on the search engine link. Which means google knows she was looking for that site and visited it. Now the big thing is google saved all of this for years. The websearch history was activated and this for 3-4 years. I showed here exactly what she was searching for on the 28th of March 2011 and the websites she has opened. The same of course for day 29th, 30th and so on... Automatically when you are applying for a Gmail e-mail account your applying for a Google account and if you don't manually disable all these features they are activated by default. Same with your mobile phone. If you use android and don't manually deactivate all tracking features you can even see on map where you have been in the last years.

So what I want to say is that people should not think only of advances of modern technology, they should even more think about the consequences. We like to have everything comfortable and easy but this also means that someone out there knows everything about us. Another example is the GPS accident system in Cars. The European Union forced a car manufactures that every new car by 2016 (maybe I am wrong with the date) needs to have some kind of GPRS module which will in case of an accident automatically inform the nearest Police station about it and will send of course the GPS locations etc. If you are already forced to have this device who knows when it will be forced to stay ON all the time and will send your location 24/7

[johnno2]

does the brave new world include being able to watch BBC or CNN from my true satelitte service? i'd love to be able to catch up with the brave new world

[kurnell]

I grew up watching Astro Boy, Space 1999 etc and was fully expecting gleaming cities, with flying cars by the year 2000. What have we got? Mobile phones. That's it! It still takes 9 hours to fly from Sydney to Bangkok, and likely will on the day I die.

Brave new world?? Pfft!

[BugJackBaron]

A lot of puffery. Cell phones happened. Stem cell treatment is likely to be experimental

for decades to come. News stories need to be checked by humans and computers still can;t

translate my ex's facebook page into anything resembling normal English.

Flying cars while doable are likely to be a plaything of the military for the foreseeable future.

Invisibility cloaks won't be totally invisible but will probably look like an outline as in the Predator

movies. They will have limited usefulness.

But hey, who knows?

[chainarong]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The most thing I am worrying about is that most new technology and gadgets are destroying our privacy and allowing companies and governments to analyze our complete life's.

Interesting video about "new" technology

Most people simply don't understand what these new cool technology also is doing. Cloud computing, full time synchronizing of every device we are using. Not just your mobile phone, everything in our life is going online and feeding companies Databases with our information where we are, what we are doing, what we like, what we don't like, what we are eating, what we think about others.

Example: My mother has visited me in Thailand a few months ago. She has a GMAIL address. ( Why she has a gmail address? Because she want to send e-mail of course.) What didn't know she has also an Google account. That means most things she is doing with her browser is logged by Google. She only uses the Google Search even if she know the URL address of a website she just type it in Google and then click on the search engine link. Which means google knows she was looking for that site and visited it. Now the big thing is google saved all of this for years. The websearch history was activated and this for 3-4 years. I showed here exactly what she was searching for on the 28th of March 2011 and the websites she has opened. The same of course for day 29th, 30th and so on... Automatically when you are applying for a Gmail e-mail account your applying for a Google account and if you don't manually disable all these features they are activated by default. Same with your mobile phone. If you use android and don't manually deactivate all tracking features you can even see on map where you have been in the last years.

So what I want to say is that people should not think only of advances of modern technology, they should even more think about the consequences. We like to have everything comfortable and easy but this also means that someone out there knows everything about us. Another example is the GPS accident system in Cars. The European Union forced a car manufactures that every new car by 2016 (maybe I am wrong with the date) needs to have some kind of GPRS module which will in case of an accident automatically inform the nearest Police station about it and will send of course the GPS locations etc. If you are already forced to have this device who knows when it will be forced to stay ON all the time and will send your location 24/7

Tec likes to let you know how smart they are , when you log out it comes up "You have Logged out" I know that for Christ sake I just did it or do you want to leave this page , sweet mother I wouldn't leave if I wanted to stay, but they are not that smart , the smart phone didn't know my DOB when I brought it.

[chainarong]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

A lot of puffery. Cell phones happened. Stem cell treatment is likely to be experimental

for decades to come. News stories need to be checked by humans and computers still can;t

translate my ex's facebook page into anything resembling normal English.

Flying cars while doable are likely to be a plaything of the military for the foreseeable future.

Invisibility cloaks won't be totally invisible but will probably look like an outline as in the Predator

movies. They will have limited usefulness.

But hey, who knows?

My bank account wears an invisible cloak

[selftaopath]

A lot of woo haa about things the average Thai isn't able to afford anytime soon. When they still have to pay off their scooter over 3 or 4 years I can't see how they will be able to finance "commercialised moon travel"!

LOL This is funny, b/c we live in a village that has practically no one "on line," outhouses are the norm, no running water - to speak of - in homes, no trash pick up, electricity goes out a/b every 18-24 hours, and loud speakers blast out the events per the Wat or village chief along with people selling their wares daily. So I get a chuckle out of most topics related to Thailand and modernization.

[jvs]

No wonder so many people are have mental breakdowns and other problems.

Is are brain able to keep up with this fast pace?

Only 50 years ago it was normal to see a few major changes in your life time,now you have to buy a new phone every 3 months to keep up with the rest .

I think very soon we will realize it is us people who can not handle the change,i know i can't.

All the info we are being bombarded with is too much to be able to put in to perspective.

On the other hand i do use the net a lot,any info i want on any subject i can find in an instance.

Only 20 years ago i had to go to the library to find a book on the subject only to find out it was not there at the time but i could have it the week after.

[soalbundy]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

A lot of puffery. Cell phones happened. Stem cell treatment is likely to be experimental

for decades to come. News stories need to be checked by humans and computers still can;t

translate my ex's facebook page into anything resembling normal English.

Flying cars while doable are likely to be a plaything of the military for the foreseeable future.

Invisibility cloaks won't be totally invisible but will probably look like an outline as in the Predator

movies. They will have limited usefulness.

But hey, who knows?

My bank account wears an invisible cloak

I wish mine did,all that red gives me a headache

[soalbundy]

No wonder so many people are have mental breakdowns and other problems.

Is are brain able to keep up with this fast pace?

Only 50 years ago it was normal to see a few major changes in your life time,now you have to buy a new phone every 3 months to keep up with the rest .

I think very soon we will realize it is us people who can not handle the change,i know i can't.

All the info we are being bombarded with is too much to be able to put in to perspective.

On the other hand i do use the net a lot,any info i want on any subject i can find in an instance.

Only 20 years ago i had to go to the library to find a book on the subject only to find out it was not there at the time but i could have it the week after.

You don't have to 'keep up with the rest' that is up to you.I have simple mobile, no camera,no gadgets,its a phone, that's all i want.My children,still being immature, have to keep up with the Jones'es and '"need' the latest stuff.

[ggt]

Just when you think you have a handle on how to use the knife...it's design, size, and functionality changes rendering you obsolete...

[noitom]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Brave New World... seems quite an appropriate headline at the moment.

But the content was not what one would expect.

[noitom]

And they still can't track the whereabouts of a large commercial jetliner that just disappears. hard to figure what this Thai writer was thinking of in referencing Aldous Huxley's great work. Was it the state of ultimate "happiness?"

[jvs]

Soalbundy,i am not keeping up with the rest myself, i was just using that as an example.

I just got another phone because i could not see the small letters on my old one but that was a 900 baht phone i used for nearly 5 years.

[Thai at Heart]

Be scared little people. Don't fear, the Thai army will protect you.

[Thai at Heart]

Be scared little people. Don't fear, the Thai army will protect you.

[marko kok prong]

The part about no obese people,forgive me but is obesity not becoming more common worldwide?

Edited May 31, 2014 by marko kok prong