Shut Up You GEEK...!
Doin’ it geeky style!
If we were talking about present day, many would laugh at the idea that “Geeks do it better”. We geeks have got a reputation (deservedly, or not) for being bad at it… However, if history is anything to go by, we geeks also have a way of levelling the playing field using technology. Remember when only geeks had smartphones, used computers, were tech literate, stayed indoors, spent all their time online, and perpetually had their noses buried in screens? Believe it or not there was a time the world laughed at us geeks for being like that… and then the whole darn world discovered technology, making that description above apply to pretty much anyone literate who is able to afford a smartphone.
Every single thing that’s common now was once used only by an elite group of members. In the distant past that group was just a bunch of rich folk who could afford luxuries, but for the past 20 years, that’s been us geeks. We geeks are the first adopters of new technology, which then spreads to everyone else. And to think all this happened when being a geek was considered uncool; when the word “Geek!” was usually used as an insult! Think about that. You were able to influence the world despite being uncool, imagine how influential you are now that being a geek is cool? The final frontier, waiting for geekdom and technology to conquer it, was love, sex and social interactions. We’ve already dispensed with social interactions for a large part of the world’s population – almost all of it being digital and on social networks. Remember, I make no moral judgements when I say that – I don’t claim social networks to be “better”, I’m merely stating that they’re pretty much the only form of socialising for an increasing number of young people, for better or worse. Next stop? Love and sex of course. In the era of instant gratification and being spoon-fed stuff that an algorithm has decided that we might want to like and share, it’s hard to be anything but self-centred. If it wasn’t apparent before, it’s crystal clear now that we love ourselves more than anyone else, and we’re not even ashamed to admit it.
Add to this the
fact that parents of millennials have ruined them by convincing them that they’re special and unique, and we end up with what is essentially the death of the ability to truly love someone else. Love may not be important to many of us, but sex certainly is. Everyone dreams of a fantasy partner, but we don’t want to deal with the baggage that all humans bring to the table. With a lowered tolerance for flaws, and an inability to accept and overcome shortcomings of others, what choice are we really left with?
The mythological story of Pygmalion springs to mind. He wanted a perfect woman, made a statue of what she would look like, then fell in love with his statue. Aphrodite granted him his wish and the statue came to life when he kissed it. He lived happily ever after with her. This is what we all secretly want, and technology is fast closing in on a way to make this possible. Of course I say “technology is fast closing...” as if it has a mind of it’s own, when I mean to say geeks. We lead the forefront of technology, some of us build the technology, and then many of us encourage it when we throw our money at it as early adopters. The general public comes later (pun not intended). There really is nothing we are going to be able to do to stop this, however, because when the blood rushes to the wrong places, logic goes out the window. We will get our love bots, there’s no stopping that, but will they be more like Pygmalion’s statue or Frankenstein’s monster? ...especially once they catch on about how easy we are to control when we want to get off. I don’t have the answers, I don’t think anyone does. But I would still love to hear your opinions, so give me a comment.
If we were talking about present day, many would laugh at the idea that “Geeks do it better”. We geeks have got a reputation (deservedly, or not) for being bad at it… However, if history is anything to go by, we geeks also have a way of levelling the playing field using technology. Remember when only geeks had smartphones, used computers, were tech literate, stayed indoors, spent all their time online, and perpetually had their noses buried in screens? Believe it or not there was a time the world laughed at us geeks for being like that… and then the whole darn world discovered technology, making that description above apply to pretty much anyone literate who is able to afford a smartphone.
Every single thing that’s common now was once used only by an elite group of members. In the distant past that group was just a bunch of rich folk who could afford luxuries, but for the past 20 years, that’s been us geeks. We geeks are the first adopters of new technology, which then spreads to everyone else. And to think all this happened when being a geek was considered uncool; when the word “Geek!” was usually used as an insult! Think about that. You were able to influence the world despite being uncool, imagine how influential you are now that being a geek is cool? The final frontier, waiting for geekdom and technology to conquer it, was love, sex and social interactions. We’ve already dispensed with social interactions for a large part of the world’s population – almost all of it being digital and on social networks. Remember, I make no moral judgements when I say that – I don’t claim social networks to be “better”, I’m merely stating that they’re pretty much the only form of socialising for an increasing number of young people, for better or worse. Next stop? Love and sex of course. In the era of instant gratification and being spoon-fed stuff that an algorithm has decided that we might want to like and share, it’s hard to be anything but self-centred. If it wasn’t apparent before, it’s crystal clear now that we love ourselves more than anyone else, and we’re not even ashamed to admit it.
Add to this the
fact that parents of millennials have ruined them by convincing them that they’re special and unique, and we end up with what is essentially the death of the ability to truly love someone else. Love may not be important to many of us, but sex certainly is. Everyone dreams of a fantasy partner, but we don’t want to deal with the baggage that all humans bring to the table. With a lowered tolerance for flaws, and an inability to accept and overcome shortcomings of others, what choice are we really left with?
The mythological story of Pygmalion springs to mind. He wanted a perfect woman, made a statue of what she would look like, then fell in love with his statue. Aphrodite granted him his wish and the statue came to life when he kissed it. He lived happily ever after with her. This is what we all secretly want, and technology is fast closing in on a way to make this possible. Of course I say “technology is fast closing...” as if it has a mind of it’s own, when I mean to say geeks. We lead the forefront of technology, some of us build the technology, and then many of us encourage it when we throw our money at it as early adopters. The general public comes later (pun not intended). There really is nothing we are going to be able to do to stop this, however, because when the blood rushes to the wrong places, logic goes out the window. We will get our love bots, there’s no stopping that, but will they be more like Pygmalion’s statue or Frankenstein’s monster? ...especially once they catch on about how easy we are to control when we want to get off. I don’t have the answers, I don’t think anyone does. But I would still love to hear your opinions, so give me a comment.
Shut Up You GEEK...!
Reviewed by SURVIVOR
on
September 15, 2018
Rating:
Reviewed by SURVIVOR
on
September 15, 2018
Rating:
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