Artificial Paradise : Tech v. Touch
Physical or Digital Infinities...
Is exploration as valuable as it once was? Will the new digital frontier enable us to seek out new environments - or perhaps - cradle us into something no physically further than a projection hovering a few inches from our eyes...
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about how virtual reality might come with a digital handful of real-life consequences. Having access to an infinite virtual world might beat the physical world we know and love. I mean, why would we exhaust so many real-resources to discover more about our universe, when we could customize a universe all our own? This existential argument could actually take place within a generation from now. It might even be akin to today’s version - “why read a paper book when I could watch the movie?”
Human nature seems to point towards something a little grim if today is any indication of what the future holds. Our culture is exponentially product-oriented and customized. We love our apps and we binge watch everything. Augmented Pokemon pop-up on subway rides where commuters are glued to their phone screens like flies to a glowing bug-zapper.
Paradise can be found in contrast. There’s something alluring about contrast. Like a mirage in the desert, we are pulled in towards the possibility of oasis. Sometimes that contrast appears as a VR headset in your living room, a gambling mecca in the desert (Las Vegas) or a magic kingdom off the highway (Disney World).
High Tech v. High Touch
While at times it might feel as if we are careening towards an inevitable singularity-infused-apocalypse… there’s also a parallel push to better embrace our physical, natural world.
You might have heard the phrase “High-touch.” This movement is not about rejecting technology, but about harnessing it for the betterment of our place as humans within a larger natural ecosystem. High Touch is fueled by empathy… perhaps something that is instinctually more powerful than any digital reality we can create.
Potent ideas, again! Great article and choice of photography too. Thanks for sharing and namaste :)
Many thanks for your kind words, Eric! Namaste my friend :D
I just finished the Black Mirror series and it was great! Not too many TV shows out there right now that make you actually think. I grew up in Louisiana and know the value of being outdoors and living in the city now I start to feel that disconnect sometimes so this article really hit home. I think if you can find a peaceful spot in the woods with a high speed internet connection you're all set. Looking forward to seeing more of these articles!
Now that's a future that I look forward to! Thanks for the kind feedback and thoughtful comment. I'm actually working on a post about nomadic DIY architecture. I think you might enjoy it...
Great! I'm kinda new to this, so if I'm following you I'll see you're new articles coming out, right?
Yes! When you click the "home" tab in the upper left corner you will see a chronological list of the latest posts from folks you follow. (If you're a brand new user, it might take a few hours for posts to appear... so don't be frustrated if it's blank!) Great to have you here!
Great to be here, liking the site so far, clean layout! I do see the message "If you recently added new users to follow, your personalized feed will populate once new content is available". so I'll just wait like you said, Thanks!
Yup, the more high tech we become, the more high touch we also need to become. We are still human after all. (at least for now!)
At least for now! Yikes! :)
I actually believe that High Touch will also become available in the virtual world. When we start connecting computers more into our brains, I do not see any roadblock why virtual reality cannot stimulate our emotions. Also when virtual reality experience become so real, I do not see why we will not able to experience the vritual worlds like we experience the world we call 'real'. Think of a dream; Virtual but we experience it as real. Ex Machina (movie) is an good example when AI get that real, we start to get emotionally involved. Empathy will be in and with technology.
Absolutely. I really need to watch that movie, I keep hearing more and more about it. But yes, the blending between the two might be more seamless than we can even imagine today. Perhaps they will grow and evolve together as you say!
I really think so. Elon Mush already invested in a startup to create the true bionic human, interlacing chips with our brains. His view is that will be the only change of survival of the human with AI getting smarter than humans at some point in time. And I'm truly think that we indeed will create AI that will become so much smarter than humans, for me that is a given; And this will be sooner than later :) Ex Machina: indeed watch it, I liked it a lot although I was sceptic when I saw the movie poster.
I believe that will happen at some point also, whether it's a good or a bad thing is hard to decide. You get into the nature of, "does it matter where the emotions that are generated comes from" at that point. Deep down the rabbit hole at that point.
Agree with you!
Excellent article. Thank you for sharing.
Upvoted and rEsteemed.
The Highly Independent School I work at doesn't even use buildings and relies only on natural lessons. The addition of DR (Digital Reality) is only used like a chalk board in a classroom; for sharing ideas.
Hopefully we don't have Orcs as teachers!! Thanks for the support Frank!
Orcs are fine, but the Trolls are some of my best instructors ; )
Up voted and now following!
Thanks @team101!
Virtual tricks and augmented reality combined.......epic master piece @voronoi
Thanks for the kind words @oluwoleolaide! Glad you enjoyed it.
Very welcome mate,love your intense Technologically inclined illustrations
interesting.. i'll add High-touch to my vocabulary
High fives were the 20th century... High touch is for the 21st!
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