Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Is Technological Self-Restriction a Possibility?

The short film we watched in class about ordering Pizza underlined many current and past apprehensions about the overspreading of information. Today, many technological advancements which are positively associated with convenience and heightened efficiency (like a Universal ID card) are also the kinds of developments that threaten personal security and identity. Just as seen in the film, the unlimited access to information by corporations and other public entities highly reduces an individual’s freedom. Yet this issue applies to a much broader concern about technology which I think is much more fundamental to the discussion – that technology grows under an unrestricted evolution - one which is driven by economic selection rather than natural selection. With continued progress in weaponry, genetic cloning, etc. one can easily recognize how technological processes are often completely unhindered, where the basic goal appears to revolve around asserting the limitless abilities of humans (rather than self-restricting based on ramifications.)

As companies pitilessly attempt to gain access to our every consumerist desire (through keywords in GMail for example,) one can easily see how the spread of information might be just as much at the mercy of an economic selection, free from any moral constraint. If we consider the government’s persistent need to acquire information about its citizens as a matter of “national security” in a world “plagued by terrorism,” coupled with the constant spread of information on the internet, we might wonder, “What will stop us from arriving at a world like that in the Pizza delivery film?”

2 comments:

Adam Church said...

I'll give you that technology is driven by capitalism; it's why we have cell phones that shoot video and no cure for cancer (there's a bigger market for the LG Chocolate than there is for a cure for cancer). However, the idea that information is restricting seems near-sighted. Whether or not a pizza delivery boy knows everything about you doesn't necessarily reduce your freedom. All the information about you exists regardless of it being compiled and at the fingertips of whatever entity. I agree that we frequently mistake ease for freedom, but the ease with which others access our cataloged personal data/statistics doesn't intrinsically inhibit our ability to author and/or change that data as we see fit. Just because they know your waist size doesn't mean they know you are a revolutionary.

Natalie Willens said...

Knowledge is power....
Ah! - But soon enough "compiling" all this info that already exists (or rather 'understanding' it) will bring the delivery boy the knowledge of the percentage likelihood that you are a revolutionary...the percentage likelihood that you are to rebel or go against conventions or break under pressure or be altruistic. All this information already exists within our DNA (granted maybe something spiritual is lacking,) and the ability to quantify behavioral tendencies or predict the actions of an individual will certainly impinge on every individual's freedom. For once public entities have hold of this information they can charge you 68 bucks for a pizza because of the heightened likelihood of a heart attack, or insurance companies will be able to reject applicants because they are "risky" individuals.
That is just holding information. What happens when scientists begin to manipulate this information and knowledge to create humans with more desirable traits or in other words almost completely eliminate the probability of ever having another rebel...
(I don't know if I'm so pessimistic to actually believe we will get rid of rebels, but my point is WHO KNOWS?)