Using the Program Guide of the World Science
Fiction Convention in Dublin, Ireland in August 2019 (to which I will be unable
to go (until I retire from education)), I will jump off, jump on, rail against,
and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program
Guide. The link is provided below where this appeared Saturday, August 17, at
10 am…
Revolutions In an Era of Advanced Technology
How do revolutions (e.g. overthrowing government) occur in an era of
advanced technologies? Are orderly regime changes jeopardized with growing
asymmetries in weaponry, surveillance, and political power? Are current
political processes up to the challenge?
Kathleen Hunt: lawyer, fan of fantasy & science fiction, instructor.
Marguerite Kenner: editor at Cast of Wonders, Escape Artists, lecturer,
lawyer
Maria Farrell: Writer, taught politics and policy on Oxford University,
appeared as technology policy expert on NBC, BBC
Klaus Æ. Mogensen: futurist, science writer, fiction writer, magazine editor,
Institute for Futures Studies
Catherynne Valente: bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction for
both adults and children
I’m going to start out by saying that at the end of May in the opening
of the second decade of the 21st Century, I am a lifelong resident
of Minneapolis and its northern suburbs. I was born in and lived my first five
years in the core of the city, not far from where the city’s heart is currently
being torn out by civil unrest sparked by the concatenation of fifty years of
unchanged history of police brutality – perpetrated by a few, but responsible
for all – institutionalized poverty; 20% unemployment; COVID-19; public
servants (aka politicians) openly antagonistic to each other, dismissive of
ideas and accomplishments of those with other viewpoints; authority tolerant of
abuse within and outside its ranks; violently polarized population, dismissive
of ideas and accomplishments of those with other viewpoints; and violently polarized
nations…
Worse than all of these is déjà vu (Definition: "...the feeling that one has lived through the present situation before. The phrase translates literally as 'already seen'".)
In my city, an eerily similar event occurred fifty-three years ago in
1967. Nearly sixty years ago, when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act as an
amendment of the Fourteenth Amendment, when the advancement of technology has
leaped ahead, the advancement of politics and race have been at a virtual
standstill.
Sixty years ago, the height of technology included the typewriter as we know it
(for those of you who have no idea what this is, it’s like a keyboard that
makes noise); and the very FIRST: laser (iow, the thing that makes your
DVD player play); robot (not as smart as your Roomba); satellite
that passed phone messages (I don’t even know what to say here); GPS (that thing you
use to find the nearest open Perkins); computer game (for young
people <30, that’s a nonsense statement); email (see previous
parentheses); color TV (see previous two sets of parentheses); and ATM
(though
this has become a vanishing technology)…
We live in a future where transplanting organs is boring, straightening
teeth is invisible, paper books are serially obsolete, Encyclopedia Britannica ceased
paper publication a decade ago and is entirely online, a crewed space station
that has been in orbit for 22 years goes completely without remark most of the
time, and news is instantaneous, riotous, and rarely verifiable as fake news is
easy to create and facts have more to do with consensus than occurrence.
While men, women, and children battle the authorities (not only police,
but the politicians of all parties, who support the police implicitly or
tacitly, and are entirely incapable of altering the paradigm of brutality), the
largest nation on the planet has removed the civil rights of a city it promised
it would never do and every religion on Earth is persecuted somewhere
(including atheism). Little has changed and racism is still rampant, not just
in my city, but on Earth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_by_country
While racism is in the spotlight, it has always existed; now that it’s
close to my home (literally; closer to my foster daughter’s home and the homes
of colleagues…) it invokes despair and discouragement.
Were Martin Luther King, Jr. (Why does NO ONE note that “…[when] [Rev.
Michael King, Sr.] returned home (The trip [to Germany] ended with visits to
sites in Berlin associated with the Protestant reformation leader, Martin
Luther.[20] While there, Michael King Sr. witnessed the rise of
Nazism.[20] in August 1934, and in that
same year began referring to himself as Martin Luther King Sr., and his son as
Martin Luther King Jr.[20][22][17] King's birth certificate was altered to read
‘Martin Luther King Jr.’ on July 23, 1957, when he was 28 years
old.[23][20][21]”? Were Martin Luther King, Jr to step out of a time machine on
Lake Street in South Minneapolis at this moment, he would be unable to tell
that he’d leaped forward in time a half century into the future.
He would probably weep, then join the protesters.
Revolution requires great PEOPLE, not advances in technology. With
great people, great minds, and great leadership, real change might be affected.
Ultimately, revolution will not happen because of “advanced technology”; rather
revolution will happen because of advanced PEOPLE…and by that I do not mean “the
singularity” will POOF! make everything all right. In fact, I don’t think “the
singularity” will even happen, certainly not the way its proponents expect it
to happen (as far as I can tell, most proponents appear to think that they’ll be
excluded from this paradigm shift because they’re such forward thinkers and stupid
people like me will be done away with…
The Singularity is "a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. According to the most popular version of the singularity hypothesis, called intelligence explosion, an upgradable intelligent agent will eventually enter a 'runaway reaction' of self-improvement cycles, with each new and more intelligent generation appearing more and more rapidly, causing an 'explosion' in intelligence and resulting in a powerful superintelligence that qualitatively far surpasses all human intelligence."
The Singularity is "a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. According to the most popular version of the singularity hypothesis, called intelligence explosion, an upgradable intelligent agent will eventually enter a 'runaway reaction' of self-improvement cycles, with each new and more intelligent generation appearing more and more rapidly, causing an 'explosion' in intelligence and resulting in a powerful superintelligence that qualitatively far surpasses all human intelligence."
The Singularity will happen when “an upgradable intelligent agent will
eventually enter a "runaway reaction" of self-improvement cycles,
with each new and more intelligent generation appearing more and more rapidly,
causing an "explosion" in intelligence and resulting in a powerful
superintelligence that qualitatively far surpasses all human intelligence.”
Then, apparently, POOF! everything will be awesome. Whatever…
What needs to happen is a "singularity" of heart and action. Something small has happened here -- normal people, intensely committed to change of MIND leveraged by people making choices. The mythical "technological singularity" requires NOTHING of us. It'll "just happen" when trillions of dollars are invested in Artificial Intelligence.
Perhaps the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. would have something to say to that "upgradable intelligent agent" when they meet, spirit plasma to electric plasma...
References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964,
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/technology-in-the-1960s,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52854037,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_persecution,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity
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