SHOSHANA ZUBOFF
" ...managers
want everything run by computers..."
In
the essay By Shoshana Zuboff she writes about the growing wave of industries
that are becoming more dependent on computers. More and more businesses
are relying on machines to not only do work for them but think for them
too. She states several ways in which the employers can use the technology
at hand. She also talks about how the employees might react to this
enactment of using more technology in the work place. In the essay
Zuboff says, “ The managers want everything run by computers. But
if no one has a job, no one will know how to do anything anymore” (372).
This is a real threat to society. If employers solely depend on computers
people will forget how to do what they were once masters of. If the
world is too reliant on computers and machines that common tasks are forgotten
the world is then completely run by machines. Computers are very sufficient
in the work that they do but they are machines and machines can go haywire.
What will happen to the world then? Bugs, viruses or just malfunctioning
can occur in technological devices. The Y2K bug is an example of
one problem that can occur in machines. Apparently in the year 2000 millions
of computers around the world will shut down due to a programming error.
If Earth were utterly dependent on those machines that will shut off then
chaos may arise. Eventually that problem will be fixed but
there are always others lurking in the shadows, perhaps waiting for a time
when we will be defenseless; a time when we are supported completely by
computers.
Image Map
For
more information on Y2K click here
For more
information on Shoshana Zuboff click here
You Need More Proof?!
In case you don't recognize this picture allow me to inform
you of its purpose on this page. The picture is from the movie Terminator
2 where computers took control of most of the world while turning on
their human creators. Granted that computers may not attempt to destroy
humanity but is it really out of the question. Technology is a powerful
tool that enables one person to do the work of several that are without
such assistance. Machines are getting to the point where they can
run other machines. Will I have a job in 20 years? I don't
know. I do know that I do not want computers with control over such
things as law enforcement, legislator, or anything where judgment calls
may affect the outcome of a decision or product. When I stop and
think about that then I don't want computers in charge of anything because
in every job the worker must make decisions every day. It is hard
to decide where to put limitations on what the technology should be used
for. However I do believe that machines and computers and technology
as a whole should be a tool for humankind to use. I can't recall
the name of a certain essay, but in it the author talked about how technology
was a garden tool. Technology in the garden of life is a tool.
If you can picture the world as a garden and humanity as the gardens inhabitants
then I can actually see technology improving the way of life in the garden.
I can picture Adam in the Garden of Eden using a hoe to cultivate the land
he eats from. The hoe is a type of technology. It is also an
illustration of technology. Technology is a tool but in Zuboff's
essay she is discussing the possibility of technology doing the running
and organizing. For the garden example this would be technology using
the hoe. It may be as bad to where humanity is the hoe doing the
work for technology. I hope I have scared you or at least made you
think a little bit about what possible problems we may encounter in the
near future. Please open your eyes. Let some light in to your
dreary world and pay no attention to what I am saying. Think only
of what could be.
This page created by Mischievous Matty