Machine In The Ghost, Ctd.

A few commentors have wondered what is so "prophetic" about my previous post. Well, what I'm thinking is that the video points to the way in which human biology and technology are coming together. We are all familiar with prosthetic limbs, pacemakers, artificial hearts, etc. But within my lifetime, I think I will see a much deeper level of integration between the two, particularly involving digital information technology. We may one day augment our own mental abilities with computer chips. At that point, where the boundary is between man and machine becomes blurred, it seems to me. For those people who choose to incorporate this kind of technology into themselves, will it be accurate to describe them as human beings? Will their technology be dictating their actions to some degree? At least, will the fact that they incorporate so much technology into themselves make their behavior unrecognizable to non-technological humans? It's a huge question, and a huge subject, but it seems to me that the fact that technology will change our behavior so much that it becomes a major determining factor in that behavior is inevitable. We will be subject to technology in ways we can't yet imagine.

And this brings me back to the video. What is so interesting and disturbing and prophetic about it is that, in it, computer technology controls human muscles, not the other way around. The human being is subordinate here, the medium by which the music and the technology expresses itself. When the music really gets going, the expression on the guys face is almost one of being overwhelmed by the electronic pulses making his face spasm, like a swimmer out at sea giving in to the constant barrage of waves that bat him around.