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The Technology of Law and The Law of Technology - Part XII

Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/10/2006

Hi Sam,

I am not worried at all about being in full agreement with you - it is you who should be worried indeed.

But, I think we are not dealing with the same question. I am presenting this question in absolute terms. Though all those considerations about cultures are interesting indeed, it is not my intention at all to come with another page of the "futurology of technology" or to try to make a new version of techno-waves, futures shocks and versions of culture wars of Toffler's, Huntington's and all the rest (E. J. said enough in 1931). Concerning this special issue I will elaborate in my next letter, again with pragmatic intentions. I will try to give the reader a brief picture of the king: the technician. It is essential for the individual to know who is the ruler and how he rules.

But I wasn't talking about that when I referred to Nietzsche. My question was not about cultures, nations, techno-waves, races or any other profiles. My interrogation was about the human species as a whole, those strange things we called humans. I don't know what SURPASSING, OVERCOMING, mean de facto. I was just asking the readers (and myself): What does it mean, if we accept the hypothesis (and this is another question) of supermanhood?

Could be a significant change in the human species? I am thinking in "surpassing" humans with genetic engineering, the creation of not only new races but whole new species. That is my central idea in this dialogue: What if technology embodies the Law of Nature, and the Law of nature is an eternal drive to perfection? Doesn't it mean that man must, de facto, be overcome? Does anybody think yet, that a superior species (if this means anything at all) would live with us in pax and harmony? Finally, I will ask you again: can humans be surpassed? What does it mean, philosophically and existentially, OVERCOMING?

Well, I promise to the readers that the next letter will be entirely pragmatic:-)

We will talk a little about the king and his clothes? Or is he naked?

Best regards
roberto


Dear RCM,

Sometimes, I am so obsessed with WHAT I have to say - that I forget to explain WHY I say it.

I fully understood your questions the first time around. The confluence of genetic engineering, computer networking (communal neural networks), telecommunications (especially wireless) and mass transport is bound to alter humanity profoundly and irreversibly. One possibility is, indeed, surpassing and overcoming on the way to the emergence of a Superman, in the Nietzschean sense (whatever that is). Whether this is the inevitable result - is debatable. But it is a possibility which merits discussion.

I prefer to be less metaphysical. I think that a new CULTURE will emerge. Cultures are highly structured reactive patterns adopted by human communities in response to shocks (including positive shocks), traumas, or drastic changes in circumstances. Cultures to human communities are very much as personalities are to individuals. I think the new technologies will spawn a host of new cultures (or, more like it, a global new culture).

BUT

We must always bear in mind that:

Only a small minority of humanity will be thus effected. Only the citizens of the rich, developed world are likely to have access to genetic engineering and computing and telecommunications on a pervasive scale. The "new species" is likely to be an isolated phenomenon, confined to niches of the Earth. The "new culture" will be a Rich Man's culture. This is what I meant by cohabitation. Even today we have technologically advanced cultures cohabiting with stone age cultures (in the Amazon River basin, in Africa, in Asia).
Even if we assume that the idea of historical progress (asymptotically aspiring to perfection) is valid (HIGHLY debatable); and even if we assume that technology will come to embody this idea (of progress); and even if we accept that, in becoming the embodiment of the idea of progress - technology will supplant the Law, it will BECOME THE LAW - even then, it is not certain that it will have any impact on humanity as such. Judging by history, it is more reasonable to assume that people will simply react by generating a new culture. They will respond to these new realities, making use of a series of newly and especially developed formalisms, rituals and behaviours intended to enhance their survivability in a technological universe.
It would not be true to say that history can be no guide to us this time around because the new technologies are so unprecedented. What can history teach us about genetic engineering and its capacity to reconstruct Man and to create whole new species, you can wonder. The answer is: it can teach us a lot. Low-tech genetic engineering (especially in agriculture and breeding) has been going on for millennia now. How can history help us when we try to cope with the Internet? The answer is: is many ways. The Internet is only the latest in a string of networks which spanned the globe (the telegraph, the railway, the radio, television).
So, I went and had a look at history and came up with the conclusion that ALL cultures that I reviewed (by no means a complete survey), present and future, fall into the taxonomic framework that I suggested to you. I believe that the NEW CULTURE, the reaction to the new technologies, will fall into one of the taxonomic rubrics that I suggested and that it will co-exist with other, older, different cultures. That is why I went into this elaborate classification of cultures.
I hope I made myself a lot clearer and I am awaiting your Hans Christian Andersen treatment of the technicians and their clothes.

Sam


Hi Sam

Reading your answer, I finally understand why people are not scared by genetic progress: it is that we simply cannot imagine a surpassing of MAN. We, as the self-appointed pinnacle of nature cannot conceive of anything superior to us. You say that even though THIS CHANGE is possible - it is not likely. But, don't you think that is in contradiction with your own system. You affirm that manipulation of information can be incarnated in matter, that is to say, that changes in the quanta of info imply a change in matter. So, dreams could come true.

Can we dream about something higher than man? Are there any more steps between us and the Universe?:-) What I was asking you, my dear Ph. D., is to discuss this matter, from a philosophical point of view. But you elude it, maybe it is because we humans cannot think further than humans do, maybe there is no concept of perfection beyond Man...

Well, let us get off these speculations and take off into the land of the Technicians, these new mandarins of the Empire(R). But, before starting our "graphic adventure" in the techno-jungle of our Play-SuperStation(TM) thou should know the rules of the game and the tools at thou service.

First: This is a game, any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence.

Second: Every instrument has two sides.

Third: To play this game everyone has to pay a price (and you know what it is).

Fourth: The game is not over yet.

"Is it a fact - or have I dreamt it - that by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time? Rather, the round globe is a vast head, a brain, instinct with intelligence!"
Nathaniel Hawthorn (1804-1864)

The Technician, (a lullaby)

Believe me or not, beloved public, but the truth is that our king, the king of this tale, was born a poor child, son of the marriage between Science and "homo faber". For some years he served as apprentice in forges and labs, learning all he saw. One day he had a dream and in it he was the king the world. Inebriated by his dreams, in keeping with the way of the old heroes, he went to the battlefields with his new toys and his grey uniform. Its was time for the world to know him.

The birth of a new ruler. So, with his war machines, he drew a red line (hereinafter called the "death zone") in history. 1914, year one of Age of the Technicians (TM). In those days he was young, arrogant and violent. He was not interested in art, the spirit, self-control... but in his death toys. After the "necessary" destruction of the old world, he donned his new clothes: the overall, the uniform of the Worker, to build his own world (that he had a dreamt of). But the old directors were stupid, they did not see the new world, they were blind and weak, he had to liquidate them. Like the Pied Piper he walked all over the world, playing his electrifying symphony of work and vengeance. All, young and old alike, awoke and heard the enchantment. The hammer hit the anvil, the sickle harvested flowers and heads, the propeller triturated meat. Flames twisted in revolt, the earth opened its abyss wherefrom the demons entered, but nothing of this affected our young boy, who looked fascinated by his map and his time-clocks and pushed the buttons of his switchboard. When the tempest ended, he was the director of the factory. But, now he needed money,, so he went with his machines to Eldorado(TM), he invented RiskGames (TM) to win in the roulette of the Casino of the Isle(R). Now he was the the director of Starve, Mooty and Poors(TM) and wore Armani(TM). But his thirst was infinite, he wanted all the prize. He wanted girls: the Romans ravished the Sabines(TM). He became an artist, clad in leather, he started a heavy-metal band called The Garage(TM). It was then that he discovered TV, so he contracted a band from Seattle(TM) and invented the grunge. He was now the director of a EFE(TM) (Entertainment For Ever), the megacorp of communications, and wore Burton(TM) shirts. He has all the channels: sports, porno, music, surgery, religion, even one of horoscopes, it was called Acuarium(TM) TV and the TV spot went: "we sell future 24 hours a day, only 5$ per hour". Now he had already discovered the most cruel and sublime pleasure: to control other people's minds. So he bought the various parts of AT&T and made the world over a Net of titanium and silicon - satellites were marked with his trademarked name. Then, he created a new company of software games with the best techno-artists he found. He also bought the biggest chemical/genetic corporation: SupremArtis(TM). Finally he merged all them up and created the Ultimate Super-Megacorp, which sold mega-consoles whose games were more real than Reality(TM), and he called it The Dream(TM).

Game Over
Insert Coin
Well, hope you liked it. I think it is enough for now. It is always a pleasure to dialogue with you, hope we will keep our team work - I think our different points of view can offer new perspectives to our readers and that is a very good thing.
And, dear readers, never forget: technology, the machine, is only a scenery, you are both the actor and the author.

"He only earns his freedom and his life
Who takes them everyday by storm."
Goethe

Best Regards,

Roberto