Clemson English 102 Webbed Argument Analysis

Select the Browser's Back Button to return to the Forum Page

Realistic Thoughts of a Pessimistic Believer

by Matthew Ables

This semester in English 102 we have examined the question of “does the future need us?” By this question I mean, does humanity have a place in the future, with all of its new and complex technologies and with its scary advancements in GNR (Genetics, Nanotechnology, and Robotics)? Who really knows? We have heard Bill Joy’s pessimistic prophecies. We have talked about the question in class. We have made numerous websites that examine the question. Now it’s my turn to give my opinion, now that I’m informed enough to do so. Only I have a slightly different spin on everything, because although I semi-agree with Bill Joy in taking the negative view of where things are going, I also have the amazing privilege of not worrying about it because of my faith.

        I am a Christian, and because of that I don’t have to worry about where this world is going because I “do not belong to the world (John 15:19).” I’m not here to preach, but I have to explain where I’m coming from. When you give your life to Christ, you are “crucified with Him”, which means you “die to the world.” Which means that the world, with all its sinful limitations and bondage, has no hold over you any longer. Also, the desires of the world (money, reputation, sex, etc.) begin to take the back seat to what God’s will for you would be. I know all of this may sound weird to some, but what it comes down to is what St. Augustine was talking about way before I was around, and that’s that we do not belong to the City of Man, but to the City of God. So whatever happens here on Earth shouldn’t really matter to Christians because we are looking forward to the Kingdom to come and “storing up our treasures in Heaven.” I will try to show you how all of this fits in with this question that I’m trying to answer for you.
        So does the future need us? It seems like everything we have read about the subject of technology and how it is going to affect humanity has told us that the future doesn’t really care if it needs us or not. It seems like things are still going to come down to the point at which humanity has to fight for it’s very right to exist. No matter how great the media makes technology sound, I am now seeing what the negative effects of these new technologies are going to be. The ethos of Bill Joy, the pathos of The Matrix, and how logically it makes sense in my own head now that I’ve thought about it, has made me aware of our precarious position and convinced me that something needs to be done if the world as we know it is to be preserved. However, I don’t know if any kind of safeguarding against the terrors that may be unleashed will be implemented. There are many reasons why.
        First of all, we individually feel too small and insignificant to make a difference. We say to ourselves, “if we’re in any danger, won’t the scientists and experimenters know of the dangers way before we would.” This may be true, but are they smart enough, is their will strong enough, can they resist the temptations long enough to put a stop to their research and development? We feel as if, even if we cried out as loudly as possible “the world is coming to an end!!!” nobody would take notice. That feeling is probably justified because if someone like Bill Joy, with his huge sphere of influence, can’t make a difference, what can we do?

To get back to those pesky scientists…why can’t they resist making these things even though they may mean the end of the world? Many reasons. It could get them a lot of money to be the first to come out with something new. It could get them a lot of prestige and promotions. Even if they’re not in it for selfish reasons, they could genuinely feel that it will help humanity more than harm it. But could they be mistaken in their thinking on that? Most likely they just can’t resist the simple (yet complex) basic calling in every human to see how far something can go and to seek out Truth. It’s a primal urge to take the last advancement and advance on that. To venture out and find something new and exciting. Will curiosity kill the cat?
        Also, people will resist believing that their newest gadget could be the predecessor to the end of humanity as long as they possibly can. They’d rather live in their beautiful, happy little world without facing up to the dead serious facts. It scares them, so they refuse to think about it. That’s if they’re informed. Most people aren’t even informed on what’s currently happening behind the scenes. They hear about cloning and smile at the thought of getting their pet dog that died last Christmas back, but they don’t think about some loony resurrecting Hitler to start a new world order. They hear about robots and look forward to the day when they won’t have to vacuum or cook dinner, but they never hear about how it will devastate the job market and disrupt the economy. Or how Artificial Intelligence could take over the world. They probably thought that The Matrix was just an absurd Sci-fi flick. They hear about genetic engineering and marvel that it could end world hunger, but they will never hear about a White Plague until it’s the Special Report on CNN announcing the evacuation to bomb shelters or a quarantine. Informing the public is most likely the only possible safeguard against these things at the present moment. Yet, that’s not even happening fast enough.
        So does the future need us? That depends on the second part of that question-“need us for what?” It may need us, like in The Matrix, to feed off of. Or what if we become the robots’ slaves? It may need us for body parts or to do experiments on. The robots may keep us in zoos, just to have some entertainment. Think I’m going off the deep end? Maybe not. If there’s one thing I’ve seen it’s that anything is possible. Something may not be probable, but there are always exceptions and always the possibility of something going completely different than what’s expected.
        Most likely, in my opinion, if something is not done very soon to put a stop to research on genetics, robotics, and nanotechnology (assuming that stopping it is even possible at this point), there will not be a need for us in the future. There may be a need for a certain “kind” of us, but not humans as we know them. Maybe there will be a need in the workplace for genetically engineered humans, since they will be so much smarter, more disciplined, endurable, loyal, and the list goes on. Maybe there will be a need for humans who have begun uploading their consciousness to a new body every time the old one gets worn down. At what point does a human cease to be human after they have added so many mechanical body parts and have gotten all the information in their brains by downloading it (like in The Matrix) rather than learning it? Isn’t that considered cheating?
        It looks like a dismal future for us humans. Even if scientists had the desire to stop advancements for the sake of humanity, or if the government shut them down, wouldn’t there be some rich lunatic or some psycho 3rd world leader that would continue that research underground? People are very devious and many people just don’t think about consequences while they are caught up in something. If things continue as they are, I have a pretty pessimistic view of what the future will be like. However, I know that God is in control. “Oops” isn’t in His vocabulary. He doesn’t make mistakes and nothing happens without His permission. So I suspect that He will take care of us like He always has. The Bible says that in the end days there will be pestilence and death and fire and suffering. I can see God using these fast-developing technologies to His purposes of that. I’m a Christian, and it’s because I’m a child of God that I’m not too worried about what’s going to happen to me. “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:17).”

Back to Top

Anatomy of an International Debate

Wired 8.04: Why the future doesn't need us.
Archive | 8.04 - Apr 2000 | Wired Magazine http://www.wirednews.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html

Wired 8.04: A Tale of Two Botanies
Archive | 8.04 - Apr 2000 | Wired Magazine http://www.wirednews.com/wired/archive/8.04/botanies.html

Wired 8.07: Rants & Raves
Archive | 8.07 - July 2000 | Rants & Raves Wired Magazine http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.07/rants.html

Executive Bios: Bill Joy
sun.com http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/ceo/mgt_joy.html

Valley to Bill Joy: 'Zzzzzzz'
Lycos Home Wired News Wired Magazine http://www.wirednews.com/news/technology/0,1282,35424,00.html

Debating Humanity's Demise
Lycos Home | Wired News Wired Magazine http://www.wirednews.com/news/culture/0,1284,35106,00.html

Why the future needs Bill Joy
Why the future needs Bill Joy A Response to Bill Joyís "Why the future doesnít need us" Bill Joy is worried that robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/BillJoyWhyCrit.htm

cluebot.com | Why Bill Joy is Elitist, Myopic, and Wrong
search cluebot.com: cluebot.com - http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/30/2058257&mode=thread

Special Focus on Bill Joy's Hi-Tech Warning - The Center for the Study of Technology
Special Focus Bill Joy's Hi-Tech Warning (By Center Researcher Jason Specht) Latest News DISCUSSION: Why Bill Joy is Elitist, Myopic and Wrong (Cluebot) http://www.tecsoc.org/innovate/focusbilljoy.htm

Bill Joy Hopes Reason Prevails
Lycos Home Wired Magazine http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,39864,00.html

In Search of Cyber Humanity
In Search of Cyber Humanity by Patrick McGee 2:00 a.m. Oct. 28, 2000 PDT CAMDEN, Maine -- In his groundbreaking book The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ra http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,38846,00.html

Oh Joy, Another Futurist Rant
Lycos Home | Wired Magazine Oh Joy, Another Futurist Rant by L http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,35539,00.html

Pop!Tech: Praises and Protests
Lycos Home | Wired Magazine Pop!Tech: Praises and Protests by http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,32099,00.html

The Rise of Dot-Communism
Lycos Home | Wired Magazine The Rise of Dot-Communism by Theta http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,31922,00.html

Sep/Oct 00: Not by Reason Alone
September/October 2000 Michael Dertouzos ï The Peopleís Computer Not by Reason Alone In a recent Wired magazine article http://www.techreview.com/articles/oct00/dertouzos.htm

ZDNet: Printer Friendly - Rage Against The Machine
http://www.zdnet.com/filters/printerfriendly/0,6061,2628553-35,00.html

HotWired: Unabomber's Manifesto: Index
Wired News Wired Magazine The Unabomber's Manifesto http://hotwired.lycos.com/special/unabom/list.html

Hans Moravec home page
Hans Moravec Mobile Robots since 1963 Hans Moravec Robotics Institute Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/

Peek at new book: ROBOT by Hans Moravec
Preview of a new book by Hans Moravec Current readers may wish to visit the book supplement instead. mere machine to transcendent mind Available now http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/book97/index.html

The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil
The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil http://www.penguinputnam.com/kurzweil/

The Kurzweil Companies http://www.kurzweiltech.com/companies_static.html

Social Life of Information Home Page
Informative site for new book on cyberspace [March 2000] http://www.slofi.com/

Foresight Institute
preparing for nanotechnology http://www.foresight.org/

Can Robots Rule the World? Not Yet
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/12/science/12ROBO.html

BBC News | FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT | Robots rule OK?
Computer power is rapidly turning science fiction into science fact, but some US experts are voicing concerns, the BBC's Peter Day reports. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/from_our_own_correspondent/newsid_88...

ABCNEWS.com : WNT: What if Machines Get Too Smart?
- Here at the start of the new millennium, technology seems poised both to extend human life and to enrich it in ways we can now only imagine. http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/CloserLook/wnt000811_CL_manmachine_feature

Privacy's Yin and Yang
Wired Magazine http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,37610,00.html

Promise and peril of technology:
Promise and peril of technology: Between innovation and annihilation Page 1 In a recent Wired Magazine story , SunMicrosystems co-founder BillJoy urge http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/crh112.htm

The future is already written
The future is already written Inventor`s technology predictions are out there -- or are they? By Karen Thomas , USA TODAY Words and music : Ray Kurzweil http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/crg994.htm

Bill Joy, Killjoy? by Robert Wright
The Earthling in Slate: This week I was fast-forwarding through my daily tapings of the Charlie Rose show when I saw a guy who looked like the grim reaper. http://slate.msn.com/earthling/00-03-17/earthling.asp

The Future Needs Us: A Rejoinder to Bill Joy - Terry van der Werff - Global Future Global Future Reportô March 14th, 2000 Dr. Terry van der Werff, CMC Speaker Consultant http://www.globalfuture.com/wired-joy.htm