This week I watched ‘How to be “Team Human” in the digital future” by Douglas Rushkoff. It is an exciting talk.
00:45 These tech billionaires were asking a media theorist for advice on where to put their doomsday bunkers. We spent the rest of the hour on the single question: "How do I maintain control of my security staff after the event?" By "the event" they mean the thermonuclear war or climate catastrophe or social unrest that ends the world as we know it, and more importantly, makes their money obsolete. And I couldn't help but think: these are the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, yet they see themselves as utterly powerless to influence the future. The best they can do is hang on for the inevitable catastrophe and then use their technology and money to get away from the rest of us. And these are the winners of the digital economy. 3:48 Even our digital apps -- they don't help us form any rapport or solidarity. I mean, where's the button on the ride hailing app for the drivers to talk to one another about their working conditions or to unionize? Even our videoconferencing tools, they don't allow us to establish real rapport. However good the resolution of the video, you still can't see if somebody's irises are opening to really take you in. All of the things that we've done to establish rapport that we've developed over hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, they don't work, you can't see if someone's breath is syncing up with yours. So the mirror neurons never fire, the oxytocin never goes through your body, you never have that experience of bonding with the other human being. And instead, you're left like, "Well, they agreed with me, but did they really, did they really get me?" And we don't blame the technology for that lack of fidelity. We blame the other person. 4:43 You know, even the technologies and the digital initiatives that we have to promote humans, are intensely anti-human at the core. Think about the blockchain. The blockchain is here to help us have a great humanized economy? No. The blockchain does not engender trust between users, the blockchain simply substitutes for trust in a new, even less transparent way. 7:28 We can't think that way anymore. We have to stop using technology to optimize human beings for the market and start optimizing technology for the human future. But that's a really hard argument to make these days, because humans are not popular beings. I talked about this in front of an environmentalist just the other day, and she said, "Why are you defending humans? Humans destroyed the planet. They deserve to go extinct." 11:26 There is no escape, there is only one thing going on here. Please, don't leave. Join us. We may not be perfect, but whatever happens, at least you won't be alone. Join "Team Human." Find the others. Together, let's make the future that we always wanted. Oh, and those tech billionaires who wanted to know how to maintain control of their security force after the apocalypse, you know what I told them? "Start treating those people with love and respect right now. Maybe you won't have an apocalypse to worry about."
It’s no doubt we are facing a “Digitized Future”. From the societal aspect, our life has been ultimately changing since Covid-19 started in 2020. The Internet plays an essential role in our life. “Mobile living”, “virtual office”, and “digital community” etc. new lifestyles in the world. Meanwhile, in the technology field. People have started to seek a unique place for human living. For example, Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to send people to Mars. Also, politics and economics have dramatic effects at the same time, such as Brexit and global trade. It’s hard to determine the future because so many factors occur.
The phenomenon reminds me of the series film “Blade Runner”. It describes a cyberpunk-style future from 2019 to 2049. In the world of the future, humans have migrated into outer space and have mastered top-notch technology for creating bionic humans. They become the primary workforce and serve human society. However, after a long period of contact with humans, androids have developed a sense of self and are no longer willing to be service machines. So they begin to fight against humans. It leads to a series of moral and emotional conflicts.
This film illustrates a dystopian world.
But obviously, it hasn’t happened yet. People still live on Earth, and android stays on the mobile phone. Douglas Rushkoff explains a favourable situation for the unpredictable future: remembering humanity. He said: “Start treating those people with love and respect right now. Maybe you won’t have an apocalypse to worry about.”
In my opinion, people will not move out to Earth in a short time. Because some people still trust a human being. But some people don’t. Therefore, their agency guides their actions. It feels like the Chinese DAO’s image- “Yin Yang”. Different activities have different effects and counterbalance each other.