What does technological development have in store for us?

Our nature is grounded in the basest of human feelings. Still, until recently I had no idea just how big the problem actually was. I’d spent twenty years of my life writing books about war, space exploration and artificial intelligence, firmly believing that humanity kept progressing morally as well as technologically.
Still, my experience writing LitRPG has forced me to change my mind.

In order for my books to be believable, I spent a lot of time playing online – and the truth lurking behind some of the players’ avatars horrified me. The anonymity of the Internet tends to reveal what’s usually concealed by the veneer of civilization.

As I worked on the Phantom Server and Neuro trilogies, I still harbored some faith in humanity. But as I approached the task of writing Edge of Abyss, I did so in the firm belief that each human heart conceals a slew of vices which can break loose the moment a person tries on a virtual mask and acquires a taste for anonymity and impunity within game worlds.

We might actually invent full-immersion virtual pods quite soon, allowing us to experience whole new worlds first hand. The sheer thought makes my blood run cold. There’s a high danger of us losing what’s human about us, ultimately degenerating and eventually becoming extinct. And when we do realize the danger, it might be too late to do anything about it.

This is basically what my Respawn Trials series is about - https://www.webnovel.com/book/13492271305995905

What do you think?

FIrst, before I answer the question, thanks for a stimulating discussion.

Mainly I think technology will have clear distinctions between cyborgs, androids, AIs, video games, augmented reality, and so on. Rather I think it will almost be soupier in nature, with an weird blend of different technologies for immersion.

Consider a tabletop game, that traditionally has pen, paper, and maybe a cardboard dungeon: already a lot of our old technology in some areas are being updated, even though it's really the same game. I don't think board games will ever really go away, simply be forced to adapt to a climate where augmented reality, virtual reality, and some odd slipstream in between will force the old form to change.

Even in robotics, I've written one type of thing where it's not super clear if she's a cyborg, android, ai, or something else: she's an AI brain in a metallic skeleton, with 3D printed silicone human-like flesh. It kind of messes with traditional ideas of where cyborg ends and androids begins.

More things like this.

Additionally I feel that the distinction between fiction and reality will blur as well.

    agreed. But what I really was asking - what will happen to humans? Do we change? Do we evolve? Do we still have the same feelings we have now? Will we get tired of the progress, of having children and live our lives as we're living them now?

      Magic_Dome_Books Well if you look at history, humans have always been “evolving.” Those vices have also always been there, but it’s society as a whole which regulates or accentuates certain vices or ven virtues. While I agree with the idea of anonymity bringing out the bad at least in video games, and social media already shows the effects of what technology does to people, it’s not always as clear cut as that. People can also do “good things” under anonymity, gaining courage to stand up. I’ve seen both sides. But even they act like total jerks, there’s a point where’re they’re written off because it’s seriously annoying. Individuals retain similarity to one another while being different. This has a balancing effect. The pendulum can shift over time, but neither side will ever be wiped out. This is just my perspective.

      As for not having children or living the way we are now, the also changes but the fundamentals still exist, of wanting a family, someone to love. And in terms of living, that also changes such as with how jobs and careers change and expand. We are able to do more, and our level to gain fulfilment from life fluctuates. This is also a societal thing as some groups of people around the world are happier than those in developed countries wirh technology that only makes them want more. In a sense, ignorance is bliss. But humans are naturally curious and strive for the unknown and greater heights, sometimes to a detriment to our moral and the one-mindness’s fault.

        Magic_Dome_Books Gotcha! I think that eventually progress will take its own course, and we largely wont have much of a choice in the matter.

        A good example, was watching a lecture on sex robots: what I anticipate in the next ten, is little shows these will feel the same way debating about how treating video game characters felt: it kind of misses the point. We have dating sims these days, ignore graphics for a minute. Try imagining a similar genre existing back when the first Adventure was on the market. And yet now, we have people debating whether we need sex robots: when that's like one genre of robot.

        We seem to be more capable of halariously keeping our focus narrow about technology, and that's why we fail to predict both the negative and positive changes, that I honestly feel are inevitable. So even if we get tired of it, there is nothing that can be done.

        Even my favorite writer (at one point) admits he couldn't have predicted social media.

        Basically what I'm trying to suggest is even if we don't like the direction technology is headed, the only real option in the future will be some form of opting out. And I don't even agree with all forms of Neo-Luddism, assuming being a Luddite means what people think it does.

            The author Gordon R. Dickson wrote a novel in 1970 called “Hour of the Horde” in which the humans where called upon to fight with the more advanced galactic races to beat off a race that moved from galaxy to galaxy like a plague of locusts.

            A main part of the plot was the “advanced” aliens who thought themselves superior because they had “evolved” themselves by cutting off parts of themselves they thought more primitive and barbaric. So in order to determine if they should fight or flee they used computers to model how the fight would go. But because of that they forgot that just being willing to fight to the death for the survival of your species is also a variable.

            A painting that was started at the beginning of the novel and was used at the end to bring the metaphor that if we don’t acknowledge our roots and the violence that made us a viable species, we’ll lose the vigor that made us successful in the first place.

            Lot of wisdom (and also lots of silliness too) in those old sci-fi novels of yore.

            Write a Reply...
            Web Novel Novel Ask