Last week I gave a talk at the SensorNet 2007 conference - an event that dealt with Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which are "key emerging technologies with a broad range of applications in various fields, including chemical processing, environmental monitoring, healthcare, robotics, military and emergency services". My talk was called 'Sensoring Social Futures: Technologies of Social Communications, Cognition & Securities' and dealt with the social aspects of the sensor technologies as appropriated for consumer and civil use. The keynotes address was given by Kevin Warwick and was ttiled 'Thought Communication – Networks for the Future'.
On the 14th of March 2002 a one hundred electrode array was surgically implanted into the median nerve fibres of Kevin Warwick's left arm in order to use his neural system as an interface. This is all 'cyborgian stuff' - yet the point I wanted to make...
During his talk Kevin said, quite casually, that ever since the 'Madeline' case had come high profile, he's been receiving at least 100 emails every day from mothers who are asking him to tell them how to get their young children/babies implanted with a chip so they can be continually tracked. And that's just the mothers who know of his research...
...Further, Kevin said that the issue of 'children chipping' was already high on the agenda with those who are responsible for these things. Kevin is supportive of the idea - I disagree on this. I am no Luddite, yet high-profile public cases have nearly always been hijacked for public policy agendas by manipulating 'fear-creep'.
Each step is only a small step, yet many steps together make a bridge. A bridge to where - a next generation of chipped children? I've listened to, observed, read, been in the same room as, etc, so many of these hardware 'tech' scientists; and all too often I see a person fascinated with overcoming a technical problem; with delivering solutions, struggling with a concept to make it realisable - this is the 'job' of such scientific-minded individuals. In many cases this posturing can be applauded for it often leads to beneficial innovations. Yet the other side is that many such interesting minds shut out 'the wider picture' - the humanity, the evolving Spirit, the evolution of our 'human' consciousness.
This is not about achieving a technical breakthrough - it is about learning how to accomodate the evolving Spirit in its journey through the material world. Our material flesh may become our cyborg-prison if our wider heritage is not brought into the picture...
On the 14th of March 2002 a one hundred electrode array was surgically implanted into the median nerve fibres of Kevin Warwick's left arm in order to use his neural system as an interface. This is all 'cyborgian stuff' - yet the point I wanted to make...
During his talk Kevin said, quite casually, that ever since the 'Madeline' case had come high profile, he's been receiving at least 100 emails every day from mothers who are asking him to tell them how to get their young children/babies implanted with a chip so they can be continually tracked. And that's just the mothers who know of his research...
...Further, Kevin said that the issue of 'children chipping' was already high on the agenda with those who are responsible for these things. Kevin is supportive of the idea - I disagree on this. I am no Luddite, yet high-profile public cases have nearly always been hijacked for public policy agendas by manipulating 'fear-creep'.
Each step is only a small step, yet many steps together make a bridge. A bridge to where - a next generation of chipped children? I've listened to, observed, read, been in the same room as, etc, so many of these hardware 'tech' scientists; and all too often I see a person fascinated with overcoming a technical problem; with delivering solutions, struggling with a concept to make it realisable - this is the 'job' of such scientific-minded individuals. In many cases this posturing can be applauded for it often leads to beneficial innovations. Yet the other side is that many such interesting minds shut out 'the wider picture' - the humanity, the evolving Spirit, the evolution of our 'human' consciousness.
This is not about achieving a technical breakthrough - it is about learning how to accomodate the evolving Spirit in its journey through the material world. Our material flesh may become our cyborg-prison if our wider heritage is not brought into the picture...
2 comments:
Crimony. I'm sure glad you're out there and involved in this subject. People need to be informed. Congrats on your talk, btw. Kudos!
;-)
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