Heading for the Cyber-World of the Future

Much to the consternation of some, the “Digital Age” and “Cyber-World” is upon us. What we thought we knew of the world and future likely has dramatically changed and is in the process of what was, to what will be. There is nothing revolutionary in that statement, but the rate of change is constantly accelerating, making it difficult to adapt and keep up. Old folks like myself are absolutely astounded by the changes occurring and how society is adapting to the new realities. The old saying is “there is nothing certain in life except death and taxes”; but, to be more accurate, we need add another; “there is nothing certain in life except death, taxes and change.”

As a species; we are unique when compared to other species. Whereas, all other species primarily live in reaction to only the Physical Environment; we actually live in three separate but interconnected and interactive environments. We too live in the Physical Environment; but we also live in a Social Environment and a Technological Environment.

The Physical Environment created us as a unique species. Changes in the environment made it possible to evolve and adapt into what we are today. At some point in our specie's history, we evolved into a species with cognitive abilities that allowed us to not only react to the physical environment, but to actually act upon the environment and make changes to the physical environment that accommodate our survival needs. A good contemporary example is the use of air conditioning. Prior to the widespread use of air conditioning, the population remained suppressed in hot humid climates. With the advent of air conditioning, it made these climates more habitable and in the southern and southwest regions of the United States it can be attributed for the spectacular growth in the last five decades. For most of our specie's existence we lived as hunter-gatherers. But, when the climate began to warm and made agriculture possible, we adapted and became more sedentary agriculturalists.

As long as the changes in the physical environment don't come along too rapidly, the species is usually able to adapt and accommodate the change. Widespread pandemics and natural disasters are the most difficult to adapt to, since the devastation is quick and overwhelming. The current climate warming is a prime example of having the time to adapt through changes in behavior and uses of technology.

The second primary environment is the Technological Environment. This is an environment totally created to help us to adapt to the demands of the Physical and Social Environments. While we remained hunter-gatherers the technological innovations were with the hunting tools that we used. When we transitioned to agriculture, then the focus of technology shifted to create the tools needed to more efficiently and effectively grow our own food. Since it required protecting our resources from other humans, we developed the technology of warfare. For each change we have routinely sought a technological solution to the new demands. Each technological innovation solves one problem, but may create other problems that we again use technology to solve. A prime example is the use of fossils fuels for energy.

Fossil fuels have been a tremendous resource to provide the energy needed. However, the combustion of the fuels have led to other problems. We look to technologies to lessen the negative impacts of fossil fuels. As those remedial technologies remain unsatisfactory, then we will move to the technologies that don't use the combustion of fossil fuels and the toxic byproducts, finding something that will provide the energy needs of society as it moves into the future.

Demands rising out of the Social Environment has led to the creation and implementation of the Information Society. What originally satisfied our needs was by word of mouth, can only now be accomplished by complex information transfer systems. The speed and complexity of social interaction needs are doubling approximately every 12 to 18 months forcing the development of new technological solutions, which accelerates the speed of change even more.

The Social Environment is clearly our specie's basic survival strategy. We evolved, like the other hominids, to be a social species. We are unable to survive without the close cooperation of others of our species. From birth onward we are a communal animal and have the ability to adapt to changes by adapting our social organization. When we lived primarily as hunter-gatherers, we lived in small egalitarian groups of between 25 to 30 interrelated individuals. When we moved onto agriculture, our groups changed to settlements of around 200 individuals. As technology advanced, it opened the way to organize in more complex social groupings and communities. All of the major social institutions have been invented and evolved to accommodate the needs of social groups and variations in community. The needs of the community becomes the driving force behind technological innovation and invention. Whereas, word of mouth was sufficient at one time to communicate, the needs of the community have led to the present communication mediums involving digital communication.

Normally, the extent to which individuals can successfully engage with is limited to perhaps between 150 to 200 persons. Now with social media, the individual can communicate with thousands or more. Obviously it is not the same kind of communication, but still there is communication interaction. Ask any parent of a teenager who is constantly texting and you understand the scope of the influence of technology on the individual and the influence on the technology.

Anyone who normally follows my writing understands that I am focused on social organization and social issues. Of particular interest is what is occurring with the integration of digital technology into our social world. Already, many are living in a world that is part cyber and part material. As I have personally witnessed, many people who become cutoff from their cyber connections have varying degrees of adverse reactions. Take away a teenager's cell phone and you might have as well placed them in solitary confinement. But, the technological phenomenon is constantly going even further. Now there is much discussion of integrating digital technology into the human body and brain.

I have been reading recently that there are some who think that in a mere short 15 years that science will be able to flood the human brain with millions, if not more, nano sized processors. The goal is to make the individual smarter and more easily able to communicate. These same people see the species as involving into something that is akin to a cyborg, part organic and part artificial. They claim that nanobots could be released into the whole body to help maintain health and make repairs to organic systems, leading to far extended lifetimes. They also claim that the enhancement of the brain could and would lead to the creation of cyber worlds and realities that people could live in. This notion is based on the fact that we currently live in a world created by our organic brains. We have absolutely no idea what really exists beyond what our brain tells us.

If this were come to pass, there are a number of important questions. Would these individuals still be considered human? What would it mean to our social institutions of religion, government, education, economy, and family? What would it do to our system of morality and ethics? Who would be eligible to be 'super sized' and who would not? Would we all be so interconnected that we would become like the “Borg” from 'Star Trek – Next Generation'?

As we move steadily and rapidly into these new realities, how do we judge or predict the outcome of such changes? It really goes back to the old principle of; just because we can do something, should we do it?