Technology: Promise And Peril

I love technology. Always have. Even though it has always been obvious that it could be used as a tool or a weapon. The first human who picked up a stick could use it to dig a furrow to plant seeds or to bash someone's head in. A stone could be used to strike sparks to start a fire for warmth or cooking or shaped into a spearhead to bring death to an enemy. Splitting atoms allowed us to light our cities and homes or make bombs with incredible destructive power that could flatten those cities and kill hundreds of thousands in seconds.

Now with the digital revolution comes the potential to usher in a truly golden age where most of the ills that have plagued humanity could be conquered. Some of us dare to dream of a possible world where disease, hunger, and poverty are banished to memories that fade to historical record. A world where all our energy and resources could go to realizing human potential instead of battling nature and our fellow humans for survival or mere advantage. But the perils posed by that same technology are terrifying to contemplate. Molecular nanotechnology could be used to repair human illness at the cellular level or in runaway reactions turn all matter on the planet to "grey goo".

Some weeks ago and again today on NPR I heard of the danger posed by the incredibly rapid drop in the cost of digital information storage. For example, every conversation you have on your phone for a year can be stored in a data bank for 17 cents. Every move you and a million other people can be tracked and known with an accuracy of a few feet and stored for $50. This could morph into the kind of Big Brother nightmare world that dictators and tyrannical governments could only dream of just a couple of years ago.

I have no idea whether we are going to get a Utopian world or a worldwide North Korea. But unprecedented change is coming and we better be figuring out how to do our best to steer this inevitable technological progress toward enhancing human happiness and liberty or face disaster on a scale undreamed of.

America Divided

The left-right schism that seems to have ballooned to monstrous proportions has me wondering if we have ever been so divided since the Civil War. It now seems to infuse almost every facet of daily life. I often read an article online that catches my interest and find when reading comments posted by other readers that seemingly no subject exists that can not be twisted to support a political view. Recently I read of the Alaskan town that got 18 feet of snow. One of the first comments on the article stated that Sarah Palin was a Jesus-loving anal whore of Satan (It was quickly, and rightfully, deleted by the commenting community). I'm certainly no fan of Palin, but wtf does she have to do with a story about a town buried under 18 feet of snow?

Having some moderate-to-left-leaning tendencies, I'm going to blame the right wing for much of the venom in the discourse these days. To some degree they seem to be winning the argument. They tell bigger and scarier lies. They seem to have sold the idea that "liberalism" is a dirty word, but "conservatism" is noble and desirable. Now it seems that "moderate" has become a dirty word. Recently, Newt Gingrich contrasted himself as a "strong conservative" with "Massachusetts moderate" Mitt Romney. Isn't moderate a very reasonable thing to be? 

A recent column by NYT columnist David Brooks, my favorite moderate conservative (A highly endangered species these days), wonders where all the liberals have gone. He says this should be a "golden age" for liberalism but notes, "there are two conservatives for every liberal". Since conservatives see enemies wherever they look, perhaps that explains some of the belligerence in daily discourse in America. A Tea Partyish bunker mentality and distrust of government and intellectuals seems to be typical right wing fare.

Have to take a moment to note my disappointment in another Brooks recent column expressing some positive sentiments about Rick Santorum, who, in my opinion, would like to see American Taliban and ayatollahs restoring American piety. Very, very frightening concept. 

Mourning Christopher Hitchens

A bright star burned out when Christopher Hitchens died from esophageal cancer. I hoped he would beat it even though I knew the odds were slim. There has been an outpouring of obituary type remembrances of him from authors, rabbis, and fellow intellectuals. He was remembered with considerable awe from fellow writers for his brilliant essays and articles. Some noted with incredulous envy how he could spend an evening that went late into the night carousing with his legendary capacity for large quantities of alcohol and cigarettes that would incapacitate the average human while holding forth on almost any subject with his customary deep knowledge and then go home and turn out an impeccably witty and brilliant article for Vanity Fair or some other publication. He was a fearsome debater with, as a famous author remarked, seemingly "total neurological recall of anything he ever read". His tongue was sharp and cut deeply, but without malice. We probably shall not see his like again anytime soon. Farewell, Hitch.