I’m reading an audience research study about a tech exhibition which teaches people how, in a few years, everything will be connected to the internet and so our environments can be customized to our tastes. (They call it “anything to anything”.)
This got me thinking how technology can further fragment society by creating alternate universes, so to speak. Let me explain.
We all know that, for instance, there are different countries with different cultures. We know that there are places where people have never seen a computer. Their world, in many ways, is completely different from ours. If we visited them, or they visited us, it would be a truly novel experience, another world. We all know this.
But consider how this can happen - and is happening - in our own communities. I’m not just talking about affluent vs ‘poor’ neighborhoods, but even neighbor to neighbor. Consider the “echo-chamber effect,” which “refers to any situation in which information, ideas or beliefs are amplified or reinforced by transmission inside an “enclosed” space” (wiki). A perfect example is politics and the media. As they become polarized, there is less and less effort to understand the others’ position, and instead, supporters of one position tend to limit their information sources to those which agree with them. (E.g. conservatives watching Fox, or liberals watching the daily show.) Same thing is true with science. (e.g. fundamentalists visiting the creation museum vs hardcore evolutionists reading the pharyngula blog.) I’m not saying that I think both are valid, but they are demonstrations of the echo-chamber, and the internet makes it a lot easier for people to create their own worlds of information. This is a serious problem, and probably contributing to the growing polarization.
As another example, somewhat more trivial, consider TV commercials. I was watching the show Once Upon A Time, which is probably a bit atypical for my demographic, and was pretty amazed at the content of the commercials. Not only were they for products I don’t normally hear about (e.g. pregnancy tests, make-up, etc.), the style of the commercial was different. It was appealing to a different set of values and mentalities. (Sorry, it’s difficult to explain.) Now, of course, this has been true for a long time, but as the internet allows us to increasingly cater our viewing experiences, this effect will grow. In essence, it can feel like watching TV from another country, or an alternate universe. I’ll be honest, it felt kinda creepy.
Or consider conversation. It’s a common (sick) joke that someone sitting on a bus is more likely to text a friend than say hi to the person next to him.(This might also explain, in part, the rise of internet dating.)
And this is just the beginning. As the “anything to anything” concept grows - as it surely will - we’ll be further and further able to customize and create our own world. And with tech like AR, we’ll be able to paint the world as we like. People will literally see the world differently. Imagine giant billboards that are customized for demographics, or sound tech which allows you filter out the stuff you don’t like hearing, or adding in the stuff you do like hearing. Instead of an echo-chamber, it will create different worlds for each person - an echo-world effect.
Now, while I’m a big fan of tech, and customizing, and while much of this appeals to me, I do recognize that it comes at a price: It limits what we’re exposed to - and that limits us. This is a problem for suffering and gross practices that are hidden from society, like poverty and the gross treatment of animals on many farm/factories, and it’s a problem with the echo-chamber of ideas, and it can similarly be a problem when we’re no longer living in the same world as our neighbors and family. Seeing the world for what it is, seeing things from another’s perspective, and just stumbling onto something atypical for your tastes - these are all important and nurture a person’s mind, expanding their horizons, addressing real-world problems, building community, and more. And yet they are in danger, already suffering. And theoretically it wouldn’t be disastrous for people to have different worlds - except that we all live on this one, real world and there are issues, even global issues, which require us to work together.
I don’t have any ideas for a solution. I tend to think that technology is a double-edged sword, and if this is a threat, then perhaps technology can pose an opportunity. And in many ways it already has. Afterall, the internet has allowed people across the world to connect in ways unimaginable before, with great results. I guess much of it will depend on people, our awareness of this danger, and how far we’ll go to avoid or address it… To be honest, that doesn’t exactly fill me with hope or confidence.
So, all in all, I’ve got mixed feelings about this.
P.s. Comments.
