Tuesday, 29 January 2013

JOURNAL ENTRY #6: Technological Development Journal Response

In juxtaposition with “Voice box and Flute” and “Earth 2.0”, Mckibben’s essay “The Post-human Condition” displays a complete Dystopian view of the advancement of future technologies. He believes that the idea of the future consists of people wanting to give up old contexts, and goes to more extreme measures such as genetically modifying unborn children in order for them to possess specifically chosen traits. He feels that the possible outcome of future technologies is drastic enough to ultimately ruin the lives of humans. Both video and audio documentaries present positive views in the development of humans in this technological age. With this new technology of an electronic voice box, it allowed for her to continue living her life despite having a fatal disease. Thanks to the research that went into this technology Sarah Greenfield was able to once again have a voice as at least a source of communication and interaction. Other technologies similar to this one have managed to benefit many in making lives easier as well as saving them. In “Earth 2.0” we get a glimpse into a re-imagined and modified technological world that seems way out of reach in complexity at the moment. New technologies may be able to contribute to make the world an entirely innovated Utopian like haven. Mckibben’s concerns seem to not be so believable or strong when juxtaposed with these sources. In this case the positives rule out the negatives. Due to the possibilities, numerous improvements can be made in order to contribute to the development of humans for the future. These additional sources also complicate Mckibben’s views because if technologies can ultimately help humans and save their lives, this would definitely make a Utopian society rather than a dystopian one. They provide concrete reasoning into what it means to be a human in the technological age. 

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