When watching Dune, the technology choice really piqued my interest. The movie itself it seems so otherworldly like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings as in it is in an alternate dimension. However Dune is in fact set far in the future of this reality. So the fact that so much of the technology isn’t intuitive in how we would sense technology is going. We see technology like social media and smartphones and a permanent part of the human experience like they’ve always been here and will just become more and more prominent as we go into the future.
But our kneejerk instinct fails to take into account the impermanence of all things and the plasticity of all things including what types of technology we find useful or deserves our attention at the whatever time. It gives me hope actually because of course companies in silicon valley pouring billions of dollars into gaming our attention and switching off out brains is not the epitome of human and technology coexistence. We can and I believe will once we get the wherewithal, focus on technologies the bring out power, discipline and self enlightenment to the forefront as opposed to aggravating and encouraging our worse natures, our monkey mind, jerking off, slack jawed, coke-taking rats in cage tendencies.
The worry of AI and people losing our jobs therefore purpose. The fear that people will become more lost and more addicted being gamed and made obsolete by the technology we’ve financed, created and encouraged with our patronage in whatever ways.
If we can break from a more unconscious reactionary way of thinking and think and invest from a deeper place of wisdom we could and would make better technology, better as in more harmonious and symbiotic with our nature as opposed to better meaning more convenient. Better as in more convenient has not turned out to be what humans truly need, need at their core.
We are not condemned to making technology that is solely destructive and soul destroying we only need to see and choose another way.