I recently watched The Social Network (dir. David Fincher) and I have to say I enjoyed this fictionalized and stylized account of the founding and phenomenal success of Facebook. Not only did the film contain some memorable scenes, but there were many instances of amusing dialogue; including the following line uttered by Justin Timberlake in his role as Sean Parker:
Once we lived on farms and in cities - now we're gonna live on the internet.
The line was spoken with zeal and in triumph by a young master of the digital universe; someone who clearly viewed the shift from a rural existence to an urban and then to a virtual lifestyle as progressive, if not, indeed, as an opportunity for human transcendence and transformation.
This techno-utopian vision of abandoning the actual world and entering into some kind of online paradise is simply a Platonic fantasy, however; i.e. rooted in a long tradition of moral idealism. And although there are transhumanists who wilfully subscribe to such an anthropomorphic conception of life's becoming based on a linear and perfectionist model of social and biological evolution, others are beginning to wake up to the dangers of surrendering ourselves to the future as an act of blind faith.
They realise that the more we mediate our lives and our relationships via technology, the more we numb and atrophy our own senses. And they realise also that whilst we have spent our time emailing pictures of lol cats to one another, checking status updates, or masturbating to pornography, the rich and powerful have been busy claiming even more of the actual world's resources for themselves.
Where salvation is promised, lies the greatest danger ...
Once we lived on farms and in cities - now we're gonna live on the internet.
The line was spoken with zeal and in triumph by a young master of the digital universe; someone who clearly viewed the shift from a rural existence to an urban and then to a virtual lifestyle as progressive, if not, indeed, as an opportunity for human transcendence and transformation.
This techno-utopian vision of abandoning the actual world and entering into some kind of online paradise is simply a Platonic fantasy, however; i.e. rooted in a long tradition of moral idealism. And although there are transhumanists who wilfully subscribe to such an anthropomorphic conception of life's becoming based on a linear and perfectionist model of social and biological evolution, others are beginning to wake up to the dangers of surrendering ourselves to the future as an act of blind faith.
They realise that the more we mediate our lives and our relationships via technology, the more we numb and atrophy our own senses. And they realise also that whilst we have spent our time emailing pictures of lol cats to one another, checking status updates, or masturbating to pornography, the rich and powerful have been busy claiming even more of the actual world's resources for themselves.
Where salvation is promised, lies the greatest danger ...
