The Human Electric
“The technology has become like a phantom limb, it is so much a part of them.”
Electricity is the most important medium of our time. Thanks to electrical tools, we have global connectivity and artificial intelligence. Scientists can see into deep space, collide subatomic particles, edit genes, and program neurons. Electronic technology is modern magic. But the shadow side of this profound enlightenment is dark: obsolescence, isolation, misinformation, surveillance, and mind games. Few people understand electrical engineering, and many struggle to keep pace as end-users of consumer electronics. Our growing symbiosis with electronic technology distracts from our physical reality and relationships. Machine intelligence seeps into our subconscious, forming new archetypes. We are undergoing a bifurcation of humankind: from Homo sapiens to Homo electricus.
“A citizen who spiraled down into insanity could spend teratau in a state of confusion and pain, with a mind too damaged to authorize help, or even to choose extinction. That was the price of autonomy: an inalienable right to madness and suffering, inseparable from the right to solitude and peace.”
“We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.”
“If you’re trapped in the dream of the Other, you’re fucked.”
Vladimir Putin (The Operational Amplifier), 2017. Oil on canvas, 18” x 18” x 1.5”
“With respect to potential computer intrusion by hostile actors, we did not find direct evidence that Secretary Clinton’s personal e-mail domain, in its various configurations since 2009, was successfully hacked. But, given the nature of the system and of the actors potentially involved, we assess that we would be unlikely to see such direct evidence.”
“It’s not just the collection or theft of that data,” Carlin said. “It’s also manipulating what it is that you see.”
“Interesting things happen along borders —transitions— not in the middle where everything is the same.”