Down the Rabbit Hole

As exciting as new media is, we’re really just in the infancy of what it’s capable of. When Guttenberg invented the printing press in 1439, no one would have suspected how the mass production of reading materials, the lowering of production costs, and the increase in literate population would affect the world. Sure there were some aristocrats that correctly feared that a literate population would jeopardize their positions of power, but no one could have foreseen how drastically that new technology would change the way we think. And how rapidly a literate proletariat population would improve the quality of life throughout the world, while simultaneously dooming future generations to unimaginable atrocities: a deteriorating environment, weapons of mass destruction, attention deficit disorder, etc.

So, in regards to the question, “how will we think in 50 years?” I would have to say, there’s no way to truthfully gauge the after-effects of new media: beneficial and harmful alike. However, since this is an assignment, I must pose some answer so I’m going to look at some emerging technologies and use my imagination. So, I’m going to dive down the rabbit hole here and say, I think we’ll think exactly the way we’re told to think.

Scientists around the globe are conducting experiments to determine how compatible the human mind and computers are. Right now, the human-computer interface involves physical interaction with a keyboard and mouse—and now with the advent of touch interface, hand gestures, but computers are being developed to use a new type of interface: thoughts. This technology is called brain-computer interface (BCI) or sometimes Direct Neural Interface (DNI); it’s a lot like Blueray and HDVD; we’ll have to see which format wins out. At any rate, the interface can take electronic signals from the brain and interpret them in the computer, and it can also send electronic signals to the brain and have direct effects on the subject. One neat application is that quadriplegics can lead more independent lives :

But who knows where this technology will lead? We’re a long way from sticking ourselves into virtual worlds and being used as batteries for evil machines, but 50 years is a long time. Am I paranoid? Maybe, maybe not . . .