Technology and Inevitable Assimilation

Technology has been around for many years, from the spears of hunters, to the guns of World War One, to the GPS guided missiles used today and throughout history, the medical fields have been right along side the spears, guns and missiles trying to repair the damage. Today’s high tech world holds ID chips in roaming pets that have lead to ID chips in humans and robot toys for children that have lead to robotic arms and legs for amputees. Technology has lead to many things, and hundreds of groups have drawn thousands of lines, but nowhere does there seem to be signs of technology slowing down. On the contrary, the rule of technology is just beginning.

As I write this, a company called Cyberkinetics is developing “technologies that restore function, including limb movement, sensation and communication, for those with a wide range of central nervous system conditions, diseases and injuries” (“Cyberkinetics”). Good. They are working toward helping injured people, so why are there groups trying to shut down Cyberkinetics’ research? Mostly, the reason is fear. Cyberkinetics has recently developed the BrainGate Neural Interface System that allows a person “to use his thoughts to control cursor motion and/or replicate keystrokes on a computer screen.” Of course, in order to get to this point, a small chip, about the size of a baby aspirin according to Cyberkinetics, must be implanted into the brain. Not only does one sit through brain surgery, but one hundred electrodes attached to a silicon backing will be poking into your brain enough to keep the sensor in place.

Chips that control computers may eventually lead to chips that control wheelchairs, or better yet, slim frames that fit over a paraplegics’ legs that help them to walk again. Why stop there? These chips use electric signals from the brain to tell the computers and frames what to do, so simply bypass the broken spinal cord and reconnect the brain with the legs through wireless chips.

William Donelson has had a local piercer place a small chip in his hand that allows him “to log on to his computer, open doors and unlock his car” (Bahney) all with the wave of his right hand. Donelson, twenty-one at the time, was a computer networking student looking to show how close we are to a time when there will be a fine line between human and machine. The tiny chips have been safely implanted in roaming pets and livestock for years. Soon chips just like his can be used to do almost anything that used to require a key, remote or swipe card. Bahney also reports that while many people look fearfully at movies such as “The Matrix” and “Blade Runner,” Donelson is part of a group that is trying to show how close we are to widely accepted implanted chips and other such technology. (Bahney)

The that’s just the beginning. Combined with the chips placed in so many people’s brains, it will eventually be played off as another simple innovation: “Picture the possibilities,” a smooth voice will say over the radio. “You will no longer have to get up to turn down the lights. No more messing with complicated remote controls, just think about changing the channel and there it goes.” Of course sibling rivalry will have fun with such “innovation.” Three kids sitting in the same room would be able to change the channel on each other just by thinking about it and there will be no way to prove which was the culprit.

Another scare that has popped up is that of cancer. With studies on whether or not cell phones cause cancer still leaving that issue up in the air, the scare seems very really to many people. Along with many metals used in electronics corroding when inside the human body for long periods of time, there are many fears, but there have always been doubts about technology and we have survived by using out judgement. Simply stated, keep improving and work it out along the way.

The popularity of Computers has soared and technology in general has shown no signs of slowing. As the possibilities grow the chips and other components are getting smaller, leading to computers like Apples new MacPro that can hold up to three terabytes while still looking like the average desktop (Apple). MP3 players that hold more and more as they get smaller show that computers are getting closer to humans; higher end MP3 players even blend in to clothes and wireless headphones make it easier to move, even play basketball, without catching wires.

Apply the brain chips and cochlear implants, and everyone can have permanent music that they can turn on merely by thinking. And no one else can hear it, the music is feed straight to the brain in the form of electric signals. All that will give new meaning to the phrase “I have a song stuck in my head.”

Technology makes life easier, entertains, and speeds everything up. Technology is the essence of progress, the main thread pulling evolution, and no matter how skeptics try to stop or even curve the path of technology, there seem to be only two ways to go; technology will either consume us or make us stronger, just like most things in life.