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It’s an interesting world we live in and the Information Technology industry is making things flow at an amazingly fast pace.
About four years ago I had never used the Internet, didn’t care for mobile phones and was quite happy with my four TV channels. Now I can’t survive without text messages, I need Sky One from 8pm on a Friday night and I didn’t need to “Log On” to the Internet. And I do mean need. I do everything with the Internet, pay bills, buy films etc etc.
Anyway I digress, the biggest thing all this has bought to us is interactivity on a wide scale, a global scale and online gaming has taking this into amazing depth. Games like Quake 3 and Counter Strike have allowed us to run around blowing the living daylights out of each other, a cathartic experience that has stopped me from strapping on an AK and going to my nearest school, well this is what the press would lead you to believe these games do. Another online game that recently caught my eye is Asheron’s Call. A game by Microsoft, who lets face it have a monopoly on your computer whether you like it or not. Within this game Microsoft have set up a vast online community, with rules and regulations. You can’t just go around killing who whether you like, there are nasty little monsters for that, but the key aspect behind the game is the community. There is an allegiance system where you have a patron to look after you and a monarch who looks after them and fellowships where money, food and items of value can be shared. You are able to talk to each other by typing much like in a chat room but you have the added bonus of the third person view allowing you a representation of yourself. As week speak I know of two people in America who have been flirting with each other for ages and are looking to meet up in the future. The world is very real. Further technology is being developed though. A company called Digimask have invented a system of allowing you to take two pictures and render a 3D version of your own head. Who knows maybe in Asheron’s Call 2 you will be able to shape your body to look just like your real self (or how you would like your body to look) and stick your real face on it. Allowing you to meet people that are more and more real. Scientists are even looking at ways to download your brain in to a computer and live in a virtual world rendering your body useless. You could live in a totally blissful world where everything is perfect and no one can be hurt etc etc.
This is where I want you to take a step back and look at the implications of what is going on, look at your friends, look at your children and look where this is all headed. Technology is great but what happens when you’re a pickled brain in a jar in this blissful world when all of a suddenly Window AR (alternative reality) suddenly crashes?? Then you’ve had it. But there are more implications then just that. Computer games are fun, educational and enjoyable but as with everything they should be in moderation. Addiction is a key element to this and I know people that have withdrawal symptoms from games and who dream about them in their sleep. They talk about them all day at work and their life becomes that game. I look at kids I know and all they do is sit inside and play games every evening, there are certain experiences that I had in my younger years that they will never have and a computer game will never be able to recreate. They’ve never fallen out of a tree house they were building and broke their arm, they’ve never been chased across three acres of orchard for scrumping a farmers apples, they’ve never been caught going 45mph lying down on a skate board on the steepest hill in the area. This to me is very sad. I am not saying that you should stop playing your games as there are a lot of positive sides to them, they help increase coordination, teach you computer skills and can often be cathartic. I just want you to realise that your body is a beautiful thing and like the Intel Pentium 4 processor, it will be out of date before you realise, and there’s no upgrade. Use your body while it is young, abuse it any way you like, eat Pukka Pies, drink Beer, listen to loud music, jump on your bed, climb mountains, go surfing, your body is the one thing in life that you truly do own and you must not let this beauty slip you by. It’s all very well saying that you are social and you have 30-40 friends but if you have never met them face-to-face then what is the point?
Take a step back from this world, for one day a week and see how it goes. Then try two days a week discover the Wide Wonderful World, there are many cultures and many experiences both good and bad to be had and you aren’t going to find them whilst your stuck in front of your computer reading this.
Log off, tune out and enjoy life, come back to when you have some real experiences to share with this cyber community not just how many frags you scored or how many levels you went up last night.
Experience the Real World!
About four years ago I had never used the Internet, didn’t care for mobile phones and was quite happy with my four TV channels. Now I can’t survive without text messages, I need Sky One from 8pm on a Friday night and I didn’t need to “Log On” to the Internet. And I do mean need. I do everything with the Internet, pay bills, buy films etc etc.
Anyway I digress, the biggest thing all this has bought to us is interactivity on a wide scale, a global scale and online gaming has taking this into amazing depth. Games like Quake 3 and Counter Strike have allowed us to run around blowing the living daylights out of each other, a cathartic experience that has stopped me from strapping on an AK and going to my nearest school, well this is what the press would lead you to believe these games do. Another online game that recently caught my eye is Asheron’s Call. A game by Microsoft, who lets face it have a monopoly on your computer whether you like it or not. Within this game Microsoft have set up a vast online community, with rules and regulations. You can’t just go around killing who whether you like, there are nasty little monsters for that, but the key aspect behind the game is the community. There is an allegiance system where you have a patron to look after you and a monarch who looks after them and fellowships where money, food and items of value can be shared. You are able to talk to each other by typing much like in a chat room but you have the added bonus of the third person view allowing you a representation of yourself. As week speak I know of two people in America who have been flirting with each other for ages and are looking to meet up in the future. The world is very real. Further technology is being developed though. A company called Digimask have invented a system of allowing you to take two pictures and render a 3D version of your own head. Who knows maybe in Asheron’s Call 2 you will be able to shape your body to look just like your real self (or how you would like your body to look) and stick your real face on it. Allowing you to meet people that are more and more real. Scientists are even looking at ways to download your brain in to a computer and live in a virtual world rendering your body useless. You could live in a totally blissful world where everything is perfect and no one can be hurt etc etc.
This is where I want you to take a step back and look at the implications of what is going on, look at your friends, look at your children and look where this is all headed. Technology is great but what happens when you’re a pickled brain in a jar in this blissful world when all of a suddenly Window AR (alternative reality) suddenly crashes?? Then you’ve had it. But there are more implications then just that. Computer games are fun, educational and enjoyable but as with everything they should be in moderation. Addiction is a key element to this and I know people that have withdrawal symptoms from games and who dream about them in their sleep. They talk about them all day at work and their life becomes that game. I look at kids I know and all they do is sit inside and play games every evening, there are certain experiences that I had in my younger years that they will never have and a computer game will never be able to recreate. They’ve never fallen out of a tree house they were building and broke their arm, they’ve never been chased across three acres of orchard for scrumping a farmers apples, they’ve never been caught going 45mph lying down on a skate board on the steepest hill in the area. This to me is very sad. I am not saying that you should stop playing your games as there are a lot of positive sides to them, they help increase coordination, teach you computer skills and can often be cathartic. I just want you to realise that your body is a beautiful thing and like the Intel Pentium 4 processor, it will be out of date before you realise, and there’s no upgrade. Use your body while it is young, abuse it any way you like, eat Pukka Pies, drink Beer, listen to loud music, jump on your bed, climb mountains, go surfing, your body is the one thing in life that you truly do own and you must not let this beauty slip you by. It’s all very well saying that you are social and you have 30-40 friends but if you have never met them face-to-face then what is the point?
Take a step back from this world, for one day a week and see how it goes. Then try two days a week discover the Wide Wonderful World, there are many cultures and many experiences both good and bad to be had and you aren’t going to find them whilst your stuck in front of your computer reading this.
Log off, tune out and enjoy life, come back to when you have some real experiences to share with this cyber community not just how many frags you scored or how many levels you went up last night.
Experience the Real World!
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Will they invent this technology in our lifetimes? they say that we will be able to buy D.I.Y. spaceships from B&Q in the year 2005! that sounds cool, but it's just a stunt to gain intrest or whatever, we need some basic technology that helps us out now but won't need to be updated, a simple idea thats not been thought of, I don't mean like some of the useless things you see on 'the Big Breakie' and 'This Morning' a non dripping tea pot is hardly ground breaking technology!
The idea that doctors will be able to download your brain and walk around in it sounds really cool, but this is coming from the same people who told you the Millenium bridge would be stable enough to walk along.
The idea that doctors will be able to download your brain and walk around in it sounds really cool, but this is coming from the same people who told you the Millenium bridge would be stable enough to walk along.
Yes but what is The Matrix?
On the 'Brain in a computer' thing, I seem to remember hearing somehwere that some of the supposed 'teleporters' in star trek worked in a similar way. This suggests to me, that you're killing yourself every time you use one. As an extra effect, a clone of you is being created (and it's not like you're around to object either.) from the electrically transmitted data. Can't say I'd see much appeal in using one myself.
I agree with your point about going outside and enjoying yourself, rather than playing games all the time. I'm actually quite thankful that my parents refused to let me play games on sunny summer days. If you think back to your most enjoyable memories, none of them ccome from gaming. In fact, I can remember hardly a thing from the gaming I did when I was younger. Nothing beats the adrenaline rush of hiding in a farmer's trailer in a field, then as the combine harvester approaches, realising he's going to fill it up....
I agree with your point about going outside and enjoying yourself, rather than playing games all the time. I'm actually quite thankful that my parents refused to let me play games on sunny summer days. If you think back to your most enjoyable memories, none of them ccome from gaming. In fact, I can remember hardly a thing from the gaming I did when I was younger. Nothing beats the adrenaline rush of hiding in a farmer's trailer in a field, then as the combine harvester approaches, realising he's going to fill it up....
Good well thought out and logical post - maybe Trace is already a pre-programmed cyborg who already knows the future and has come back in time to warn us flesh beings of the downside to intergrate machines and humans! Or maybe I've been reading too much sci-fi!
Life will always develop in way seen and unforseen whether by nature of human intervention. We are already inplanting machines into our bodies as part of progress to humankind. We have heart implants, metal limbs, hearing aids (glass eyes - not machine but still not flesh) and lately a tutor at a UK uni has had a tracking device incerted just under his skin so that when he walks into the uni building it knows who he is and says hello and opens doors for him! He is now developing one that will react to his thoughts!!
The main thing I guess to remember is (as Trace pointed out) that we have choices. Temptation (be it playing computer games till the wee small hours, drinking, drugs etc) has always been with us. The new temptation is in cyber form and it is here to stay. How quickly and how far it will all go is anyones guess. There are companies in the good old USA that offer (for a price!) to clone your cells in order to grow them into full working limbs or even a complete clone of you!
Remember we have thought, flesh and a soul...
The future is life, the future is yours.
Life will always develop in way seen and unforseen whether by nature of human intervention. We are already inplanting machines into our bodies as part of progress to humankind. We have heart implants, metal limbs, hearing aids (glass eyes - not machine but still not flesh) and lately a tutor at a UK uni has had a tracking device incerted just under his skin so that when he walks into the uni building it knows who he is and says hello and opens doors for him! He is now developing one that will react to his thoughts!!
The main thing I guess to remember is (as Trace pointed out) that we have choices. Temptation (be it playing computer games till the wee small hours, drinking, drugs etc) has always been with us. The new temptation is in cyber form and it is here to stay. How quickly and how far it will all go is anyones guess. There are companies in the good old USA that offer (for a price!) to clone your cells in order to grow them into full working limbs or even a complete clone of you!
Remember we have thought, flesh and a soul...
The future is life, the future is yours.
** Tracer ** wrote:
> I need Sky One from 8pm on a Friday night
Hey hey! Tracer's a Buffy and Angel fan! Welcome!
> I need Sky One from 8pm on a Friday night
Hey hey! Tracer's a Buffy and Angel fan! Welcome!
Nice post bud, a pleasure to read.
One thing...
** Tracer ** wrote:
Scientists are even looking at
> ways to download your brain in to a computer and live in a virtual
> world rendering your body useless. You could live in a totally
> blissful world where everything is perfect and no one can be hurt
> etc etc.
???
Even if scientists knew enough about how the brain functions for it to be possible, just look at genetically identical twins - the effect is basically the same as what you suggest - at an early stage the fertilised egg cell/very early foets splits in to 2 seperate parts, effectively the genetic information is copied from the first individual into the new one. This doesn't mean there is any further link between the 2 twins, where they can know what the other one is thinking or feeling (please, nobody bring up Yuri Geller, spoon bending and psycics!), all it is is that they share the same original genetic info.
If the same kind of thing was done, and the information in the brain was copied to a computer a la lawnmower man, whatever happened in the computer program, it wouldn't transmit the feelings to the person it was copied from, it'd just run completely independantly and unconected from the original human. Just like a genetically identical clone with some more information at the start.
Basically, in terms of 'living forever'. it's on a par with 'living forever' by passing your dna onto your kids (creating a new (unconnected) version of you) or 'living forever' by lasting in the memories of people you knew - ie) very nice and poetic but it's a cop out of dealing with the real question, and having to face the real answer.
Hypothetically, it'd be possible to support an isolated brain with an artificial blood supply via something equivalent to a souped up kidney dialysis machine, and wiring the nerves from the brain into a computer system or to artificial limbs (as can be done now, at great effort) and sensory devices (which we don't have the technology for yet). But that's not what we're talking about.
One thing...
** Tracer ** wrote:
Scientists are even looking at
> ways to download your brain in to a computer and live in a virtual
> world rendering your body useless. You could live in a totally
> blissful world where everything is perfect and no one can be hurt
> etc etc.
???
Even if scientists knew enough about how the brain functions for it to be possible, just look at genetically identical twins - the effect is basically the same as what you suggest - at an early stage the fertilised egg cell/very early foets splits in to 2 seperate parts, effectively the genetic information is copied from the first individual into the new one. This doesn't mean there is any further link between the 2 twins, where they can know what the other one is thinking or feeling (please, nobody bring up Yuri Geller, spoon bending and psycics!), all it is is that they share the same original genetic info.
If the same kind of thing was done, and the information in the brain was copied to a computer a la lawnmower man, whatever happened in the computer program, it wouldn't transmit the feelings to the person it was copied from, it'd just run completely independantly and unconected from the original human. Just like a genetically identical clone with some more information at the start.
Basically, in terms of 'living forever'. it's on a par with 'living forever' by passing your dna onto your kids (creating a new (unconnected) version of you) or 'living forever' by lasting in the memories of people you knew - ie) very nice and poetic but it's a cop out of dealing with the real question, and having to face the real answer.
Hypothetically, it'd be possible to support an isolated brain with an artificial blood supply via something equivalent to a souped up kidney dialysis machine, and wiring the nerves from the brain into a computer system or to artificial limbs (as can be done now, at great effort) and sensory devices (which we don't have the technology for yet). But that's not what we're talking about.
Sounds close to a book I once read...
Good post man... very interesting... welcome to the forum! :)
However...
** Tracer ** wrote:
> Scientists are even looking at
> ways to download your brain in to a computer and live in a virtual
> world rendering your body useless. You could live in a totally
> blissful world where everything is perfect and no one can be hurt
> etc etc.
uh-huh... mmmm...
However...
** Tracer ** wrote:
> Scientists are even looking at
> ways to download your brain in to a computer and live in a virtual
> world rendering your body useless. You could live in a totally
> blissful world where everything is perfect and no one can be hurt
> etc etc.
uh-huh... mmmm...
Did you read anything other than the title?
(One day, God knows when, but one day far away from now, we're going to sit down, and for a whole day, twenty four hours, we aren't going to pick on Sniper. It's going to be hard, but I think we can do it.)
(One day, God knows when, but one day far away from now, we're going to sit down, and for a whole day, twenty four hours, we aren't going to pick on Sniper. It's going to be hard, but I think we can do it.)
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