Semester end review

Now comes the time for review. As the semester comes to an end, it is now time to look back and reflect on the material I learned and read, mainly from Friedman’s book, The World is Flat. First off, I really enjoyed this class from Professor Jensen. I have never written a blog, nor have I ever shared my personal views in this type of format. I was not sure if I would enjoy blogging and for the whole world to see what I wrote. I knew hardly anyone else would read these entries, but it still was something I always thought about. Now that this class is over, I have looked back and read my old blog posts, and actually enjoyed reading what I wrote. It was also nice to review what I learned throughout this semester. I have already forgot many things from my other classes with no way to ever review the material. These assignments will be on the web forever, and I will always have access.

I enjoyed reading Friedman’s book, for the most part, as he did tend to ramble and jump around quite a bit. I felt at times he just liked to hear himself speak. However the points he touched on were things I had never really thought about. I enjoyed how he spoke about each flattener of the world and how each of these played out and the impact they have had on us today. It has really made me think about how much we let technology control our lives, how dependent we are on it, and how we take it all for granted. He talks about the subtle changes that can occur, such as his Jet Blue story and checking in online and how easy technology can pass us if we don’t stay current. I really wish there was a new updated version, at least something only 2-3 years old. This book was written 8 years ago, and in technology time, is forever ago. Things have already advanced beyond what he predicted. I could only imagine his face if he knew I was able to check and review his citing’s on the web, read and search for specific entries without having to re-read his book using the find function on my Mac.

If I could offer a suggestion for this class, it would be to read specific chapters from his book, and to then read more short stories, such as The Logic Named Joe, The Future Doesn’t Need Us. When I was reading this story, I had no idea how old it was. I loved the predictions the author had of the future and some were right on where others were a little off. I really enjoyed switching it up and watching a sci-fi movie and writing a review. I laughed when I first saw the assignment, but it really made me watch the movie and analyze it rather than just watch it with a bowl of popcorn.

Overall this course was interesting and was easily one of my favorite courses to take. Having to read and write a blog post each week was definitely welcomed. Many of my other courses had me reading everyday, with multiple quizzes each week, along with an exam thrown in for fun! Thank you, Professor Jensen! 

I'll be BACK!

I had a nice long break for Thanksgiving, and I read an article titled, “Why the future doesn’t need us” which was published in Wired magazine and written by Billy Joy. Wired magazine is known to be an edgy tech magazine, which I am familiar with.

Billy Joy talks about (GNR) or genetics, nanotechnology and robotics and the destructiveness this can have on mankind. Joy compares GNR to (WMD) weapons of mass destruction, in terms of the power they can both produce. The biggest differences are that governments tightly hold the power to produce WMD’s, and one must not only need rare elements, but wealth and a great knowledge in specific scientific fields to create them. Where with this new technology, GNR, only requires someone with the knowledge, which can easily be attained on the Internet, and someone enough determination to want to destroy the world.

Joy has three main fears with technology and robotics and how this could possibly affect human life, as we know it. He fears that humans will gradually become robots, that robots will then slowly exterminate mankind, and that these new powerful robots will be controlled only by the rich and powerful, and can be used at their will to either take out competition or destroy the earth.

I truly believe technology will someday surpass our expectations, and I agree with some of the other contributors to this article that this change will happen gradually. It will happen so gradually that mankind will not be able to just stop using technology and robots, as we will rely so heavily on them that doing so would kill us. I have seen so many sci-fi movies as a child that references many of these scenarios playing out. A few that come to mind are, I, Robot, which is talked about in the article, and of course, the Terminator series. In the Terminator series, they build advance robots that then start to think on their own, and rationalize that humans are worthless, and try to exterminate them. I have always thought if this could ever happen to us and now that I am older, I can see how the advancements in technology could begin to come full circle and these scenarios playing out.

We already depend too heavily on technology today, and we are already at a point where we cannot just turn off technology without disrupting the entire world. It may not kill us, but some of us would feel dead. We don’t ever think of the implications new technology can have on us, we just want the best and newest ‘thing’ that will make our life even easier.

The point of this article is that Billy Joy fears the future and the changes that will come with it. He does compare this to a Pandora’s box scenario and I believe he has some valid points, and that we must be cautious moving forward. I don’t think robots will overtake us buy 2030, but the advancements we will see will truly be out of this world, and we must make sure we always remain in control.