"The Rise of Data and The Death of Politics"



The tech world is certainly taking Peter Diamandis advice on predicting & creating the future seriously. In the article "The Rise of Data and The Death of Politics" it is a apparent that they are taking Diamandis suggestion quite literally. This is alarming information concerning the NEAR FUTURE and the control that is extended through all of our smart-devices. Technology is combining big-data with predictable behaviour to create a new society that will be ULTRA-STABLE by helping you to make all the right choices.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/20/rise-of-data-death-of-politics-evgeny-morozov-algorithmic-regulation

All technological control comes with upfront benefits and promises for an "even more secure and safe" world.  Even, and especially if it is to protect us from ourselves.  For instance, Apple's latest patent will "deploy sensors inside the smartphone to analyse if the car is moving and if the person using the phone is driving; if both conditions are met, it blocks phone's texting feature."  this is one of many examples of control, oh I mean benefits of the new system of "smartification!"

Besides efficiency, the new "smart world" has a "new type of governance" called "algorithmic regulation."  This is being presented as an exciting political choice since "so much of our everyday behavior is already captured, analysed and nudged, so why stick to unempirical (not scientific)  approaches to regulation? Why rely on laws when one has sensors and real-time feedback mechanisms?  If policy interventions are to be...evidence-based and results-oriented, technology is here to help.  It offers policymakers simple solutions to "politics, democracy and power." 

The ultra-stability will be possible due to a system to "maintain stability by constantly learning and adapting itself to changing circumstances.  The system will readily adapt and change due to its tons and tons of supplied data which we have given (freely) over the years to help anticipate our next move.  All information which is stored in the clouds (very large, connected computers) that is measured, categorized, and analysed and will be used to accurately predict our next move.  All of this "big-data" combined with "predictive analytics" and the "internet of things" will allow the new system to operate a machine-like control in order to have ultra-stability.

The system can adapt to "ultra-stability because it is always monitoring and redeploying possibilities and resources.  Therefore, "there's no need to develop procedures of governing contingency, because the algorithms and immediate feedback can do a better job than inflexible rules out of touch with reality." 

The article goes in depth into all the new devices and uses for governments which some countries are already adopting.  This is the scientific approach of governance and if you heard (or thought) that the internet is the best surveillance the world has ever seen (Bloomberg) then wait till you see what the internet of things will be able to do. 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/20/rise-of-data-death-of-politics-evgeny-morozov-algorithmic-regulation

 

SUMMER HALF OVER READING LIST to understanding the future

Summer Half Over Reading List



I bet you haven't started on the 10 books to explain the future.  So I thought in the interest of time that I would shorten the list since summer is half over.  You do want to understand what's coming, right?  So here is my top 5 choices of books to read pertaining to the future.

If I could only recommend one book to read this summer it would be Jaron Lanier's "You Are Not A Gadget.  Jaron is a techie that has stepped out of his comfort zone to help the public understand what is occurring in Silicon Valley and how they are creating your future.  He is smart and truthful.  This is a must read book and I am sure you can get it as an e-book (which is just wrong in my opinion).

#1 You Are Not a Gadget BY Jaron Lanier

 

2. This 2nd book is an oldie but goodie.  I bet you saw the movie but the book is way better and very different.  This little book was for the future but I think you will agree that it is relevant for today.  It is about a society (in the future) that couldn't handle conflicting opinions and chose to remain ignorant by filling their time with entertainment and empty pursuits.  Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." 



 

#2  Fahrenheit 451 BY Ray Bradbury

 

3. This book is so short you can read it in an hour or two.  Again, this is a story written for a future time in which society has let the machine take over every aspect of life.  Everything is done for them by their fancy smartphone (or whatever device you would like it to be).  People rarely see each other in person but instead attend to their life in VR (virtual reality).  E. M. Forester's "The Machine Stops."

 

#3 The Machine Stops BY E.M. Forster

 

Or here is a link to a pdf of this story: http://www.ele.uri.edu/faculty/vetter/Other-stuff/The-Machine-Stops.pdf

 

4. The next recommended book is a response to the fact that the middle-class is disappearing and his suggestions of how to take advantage of the time available to make lots of money.  Also, he suggests ways to be happy and to find balance in a very unbalanced time.  This is a fast and fun read.  This guy is smart and funny.  James Altucher's "Choose Yourself."







 



 #4 Choose Yourself BY James Altucher

 

5. I can't recommend this author and this book enough.  The author continues with his theory on the take over by everything digital and what it will mean to our VERY NEAR future.  This is an insider's story of the technologies that are consuming our life.  Jaron Lanier's "Who Owns the Future?"

 

 

#5  Who Owns the Future? BY Jaron Lanier

 

There you go!  This list is as easy as it is interesting and fun.  So grab some good books or reading devices and start reading! 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 











DOES YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT MATTER?

Indelible

 

Your digital footprint is all that you do everyday with your digital electronics.  For instance: you get up in the morning and grab your phone to check facebook, twitter, yahoo, weather bug, news source, etc.  You like something and change you status on facebook, you retweet on twitter and add your opinion in a clever 140 characters, you then go to yahoo and check your emails and respond to the important ones, you check the weather where you plan to spend your day, you pin a new outfit on pinterest, you google some private issue, you text, you post, you call, you order things, you listen to music, you check your bank account and credit score.  Every little thing you do digitally is your digital footprint and is saved and is a measure of who you are and what you are up to and is being saved by every server you are using. 

 

Does this digital footprint matter?  That is what you determine by every movement you make on the internet.  For what might be nothing today could be something tomorrow.  Seems small but for some it has cost much to clean up their digital footprint.  New programs such as Cyberdust will allow you 30 or 45 seconds to read your text and then poof it is gone forever.  Not saved on any platform.  I think this is the wave of the future.  Everything we do online will be turned into nothing...but then we will go from substance to nothingness. 

 

So there is a fine line being drawn right now over the permanence of your information.  All that is out there now is very permanent.  There are just a few app's on the horizon that won't leave a print.  So for the most part it is important to be aware that everything you do online is being watched and saved, and will be there FOREVER for future viewing.  I guess the internet has become eternal!  So watch your step.



THE MACHINE STOPS by E.M. Forster

Could it be that easy?

 

No it is not easy to unplug from our technology.  And everyday it gets harder as we are using more and more technology to do everything.  Digital technology is embedded in our life now.  We depend upon it.  We trust.  We trust others to protect our digital life movements.  We are locked in: to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer (them) for poorer (us), in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part...Well, with the coming Singularity; maybe not even then!

 

Today I read short story by E.M. Forster "The Machine Stops".  He tells an excellent story that will make you think about our daily technology and the effect it is having on our culture and on our future.  This is a story written in 1909 and yet the language and presentation seems more appropriate for today.  It is the story of comfort, convenience, and protection.  Also, a story of dependence and atrophy.  It is a story of us and our love of technology and our want of ever more efficiency. 

 

It took me only an hour or so to read.  But as I finished, it set me into deep contemplation of the times we are living in with our ever advancing technology in relation to the story.  Then I decided that I wanted to take a college class on something along this line.  So I wrote a course syllabus called "Technology, Culture and the Future."  The course will explore the long reach and penetration of technology on individuality, personality, relationships, innovation, perpetualness, and the effect on humanity and civilization. In this course we will explore the usefulness and benefits of technology, as well as, the seduction and addiction of it.  Then we will explore the danger of the capacity of current trends in technology. 

 

It should be a lot of fun and thought provoking.  Just let me know if you would be interested in taking such a course online and I will get it set up. Just let me know in the comment section and I will get further information to you.  By the way: the first reading & discussion will be E.M. Forster's "THE MACHINE STOPS."