Tyranny & the Rise of Technology

Aaron · Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:35 am Post subject: Tyranny & the Rise of Technology

So were the anti-utopian writers correct?

Does the advent of modern technology virtually guarantee tyranny?

As man’s grasp of science advances, so does our ability to manipulate our environment. Over time, technologies which once seemed impossible are developed & used, eventually trickling down to the most mundane parts of everyday life.

With enhanced ability, comes enhanced responsibility.

Individuals become ever more capable to reach out & change things around them, as today’s new technology, becomes tomorrow’s microwave ovens.

This has both good & bad consequences since people will likely use their newfound powers for both good & bad purposes. The point is that they will become ever more influential, & have a greater & greater impact, one-way or the other.

In today’s world of international terrorism & global military conflicts, it’s not hard to imagine a time none too distant, where people won’t just accept tyranny… they will demand it.

Are we already seeing this process manifest itself in intrusive governments & laws, which depart from traditional values of freedom & individuality?

Is it even possible to avoid the coming technocracy?
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"When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F Roberts.

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dinopello

I don't know about avoiding it, but it would be much more benign if we relocalize. People (generally) care more about what they do and how it gets done if it is being done in their backyard. This includes government, schooling, food production, manufacturing, resoure management, urban design, transportation...

I am not under the illusion that this is or will happen everywhere or in most or even in many places. But where it is happening, I think you see the result of people thinking and caring more about all these type of issues. It may be compelled to happen due to PO if some prognosticators are correct.

JustinFrankl · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 22, 2005 Posts: 657

kevincarter

Part of the problem lays in the fact that we use technology to solve problems created by technology itself, therefore we find ourselves in this endless loop, the more problems we solve, the more problems we have.

Technology is the most anti-freedom thing that exists since it destroys nature, we come from and ARE nature, after all.

Genetically Modified food for example, today is something we more or less can choose or refuse, soon there will be no choice, the impact on the environment will be devastating and impossible to reverse, therefore we’ll have to invent something to try to solve the problem created technology in the first place. And the solution will prove, as always, worst than the disease.

The “fertilizers revolution” for instance, promised to end hunger, now we have more famines than ever and a over populated planet. GM promises the same, end hunger, and it will deliver the same, more starving people + modifications in nature that were not ment to be.

The system can not survive without restricting more and more freedoms and developing more and more technologies. And we are now at a very decisive point.

Another problem is that besides total destruction of nature, with today’s technology a very few people can really control the rest. Imagine if Hitler or Stalin had had access to biometric or genetic technologies, same goes to cameras, computers, satellites, databases, computers…

Soon you won’t have to argue about having or not having a national ID card, you will be your national ID, thanks to biometric advances. Same goes with Genetic Engineering.

Technology doesn’t ever have any good consequences, only bad ones.

One last example, population control (deciding who can have kids or how many kids you can have). In the time of a very severe crisis "population control" will arise as a great solution, some loosers are even in favour of it now, it could come to a point where a large organization, like the goverment, could decide if you are allowed to have a child or not. That's freedom restriction, that's artificiality and that's a need the system has, to control you more and more.

Will people ask for tyranny? Some will, they’ve been programmed to obey from the first day, and they all think technology and progress are a blessing, tell them otherwise and they'll want to burn you. Some others will take the red pill.
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Aside from technology…

I just got back from jury duty. One of the questions asked of prospective jurors was Do you know anyone else in the jury pool? Out of 60 people, about 55 raised their hand.

This is a small rural county, population maybe 20k. And much like the novel Main Street written 100+ years ago, everyone knows everything about everyone else. I’m sure that is the main reason the trial had been moved here from another, similar county.

But a funny thought struck me reading Aarons post. Since the majority of us know very few of our neighbors perhaps we have transferred our apparent urge to gossip over the fence about any and everyone we know to the current fascination with whichever murdered little girl the media chooses, or the marriage/divorce/pregnancy of whatever Hollywood couple is in vogue or the human tragedy of the moment.

Maybe I am reading too much into this but perhaps the urge to know what those around us are doing is instinctual, maybe even a logical self-defence tactic. Since many of us don't even know the name of the folks 2-doors down, giving big brother the right to snoop is OK and maybe even welcome because we are too busy (and our Gossip Gene satisfied by) watching Big Brother?
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Declan

Nicely said KevinCarter!

Probably 90% of the people I know would rather die then live without their modern life comforts. To them, that is the only acceptable way of life and they are willing to make any compromise to keep it going, because even the worst compromise is better than death.

In the same time, there are a few people in the world who would rather die then lose their freedom (whatever that means anymore) and these will be the people who will make a stand against tyranny, succesfull or not.
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NeoPeasant

Wouldn't technology based tyranny require a lot of microelectronics and displays and sensors and infrastucture and a reliable power grid to keep it all going? Aren't these the very things we have been predicting will become impossible to sustain in the future?
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The battle to preserve our lifestyle has already been lost. The battle to preserve our lives is just beginning.

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Declan

rogerhb

Greg · Tar Sands Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 26

kevincarter:

Technology comes from and IS nature just as much as we come from and ARE nature.

mrflora · Heavy Crude Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 115

So, ah, I suppose we should go back to the days of the Roman Empire or medieval times, when there was no tyranny?

Regards,
M.R.F.

nemo

I had a discussion similar to this with my brother just the other day. We talked about how Orwell described an apartment with one single camera in it - leaving the main character nooks and crannies out of sight where subversive actions could take place out of BB's sight. A near future technocracy needn't limit itself to one camera per residence, went the argument.

It seems obvious that refined technology allows increased control over the populace both in terms of mind-numbing entertainment/propaganda and in active monitor/control roles. A modern totalitarian state could check the populace with digital precision surpassing anything Stasi, Orwell or Huxley could possibly envision - but does this really make technology evil in itself? I think not. Technology clearly empowers evil men to do evil things previously impossible. The flip side is the empowerment of good men doing good things. We, the sheeple, will have to endure all the tyranny we accept, and thus deserve. To me it seems like freedom is on the counter-march, but I'm not convinced this is permanent.

This marvelous series of tubes of ours - the "internet" if you will - is full of subversive minds spreading all kinds of crazy ideas and data. Today, most users can't be bothered to protect their anonymity, but if there are crackdowns, people will wisen up. Consider the kiddie porn crowd: They're out there, sharing highly illegal data, getting smarter after every bust. I'm sure the cops cramp their style somewhat, but they can't be stopped.
This must surely be one of the weirdest, most revolting and offensive sentences I've ever written, but here you go: Paedophiles give me hope for the future.

kevincarter

Doly · Expert Joined: Dec 03, 2004 Posts: 4035