Clemson English 102 Webbed Argument Analysis

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Crystal Ball: Does the Future
Really Need Us?

by Victoria Garner

Does the future really need us? The arguments and points posed by authors Neal Stephenson and Bill Joy should make us wonder about the roles of humans in the future. As technology advances, it seems to get the best of us. We accept that it is novel and that the human race is excelling in the technology field, but we fail to realize and acknowledge the disadvantages of technology. It is not as if some of the creators of these "smart devices" don't come across the aftermath of their prestigious invention? Is it that they are too wrapped up in getting paid and a desirable amount of recognition? Do they not think about the importance of the human race and the threat that their invention is posing towards us? Do they not care about the one thing that will keep them in and on top of business...people?

Joy and Stephenson are concerned about the aftermath of the technology that we have all learned to love and embrace. Are we needed in the future? Take into account the many jobs that machines are programmed to do. They have been placed in fast food restaurants - taking the place of many cooks. They have been placed in grocery stores - taking the place of many cashiers. Not only that, but what about our relying on computers to actually think for us - using spell and grammar check for our papers. And does anyone wash their own dishes anymore? Technology has made businesses run smoother, but it has also knocked a number of people out of their employment positions.

In Joy's "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us", it is stated that "the dream of robotics is, first, that can do our work for us, allowing us lives of leisure, restoring us to Eden"(244). Joy feels that we, the human race, will be replaced by our robots, or destroyed by species that are genetically engineered. The choice is basically ours. We have already put ourselves in the position to become extinct, or obsolete, by supporting machines that I feel that even though technology has established a sense of security among humans, the future will definately need us. We, humans, erect these life-like machines; therefore, they are accident prone (considering that we are known for making mistakes). The future will need us to ameliorate and upgrade the "smart devices" that man has created. So another question is raised: "Are we allowing ourselves to get to the point where there is a possibility that we will become extinct?" It is up to us to make it known and act upon the fact that technology is given too many priviledges that will affect the lives of humans in the future.

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