Ok, time to step out of my roll as contrarian and tell you how I really feel about technology and its relation to our current condition, despite my emotionally loaded statements.
Too be honest I don't have much faith in humanity's ability to fix this mess, the problems are too deep and unfortunately far too big. Now regardless of the probable outcome, I believe it is our duty to try as hard as we can to fix the problems, and live as if it were possible. World peace and equality don't exist, but the idea does, and the idea becomes more real with more effort, somewhere.
The production of affordable technology has been one of the main causes of the Earths crisis, especially as most of it is unnecessary and developed to serve only the most basic entertainment needs. However, the technological advances discussed in this article are an indicator of technology finding its way home. Expression opposed to distraction.
I believe that every thing on this planet comes from one source, and the entire earths evolution is an energy developing the most sophisticated way to express itself. Human beings are the latest model, the most specialized. A dog can express itself by barking, a human being can do much much more, how we do this is what separates one from another.
Recent technological advancements have given us even better forms of expression, this is something to cherish. 40 years ago I would've had to choose, musician or painter, writer or photographer. I think I utilized all these mediums just last week, turning abstract thought into many different types of physical materials, that another human being can enjoy and interpret. Expression is now made accessible to everyone, we can feel exactly what someone else was feeling 20 years ago when we listen to their music. I get goose bumps when I listen to Fela Kuti's "Coffin For Head Of State" written shortly after his elderly mother was killed by Nigerian military. The bass tones have obtained immortality.
The age of the remix has made this kind of expression accessible and easy to so many. At the present, this isn't happening, why do something meaningful when I can remix a popular electro tune and sniff my ego to divinity. I think this stage we are in is some kind of weird post analog fall out, where things have been too good for us to realize the potential of the tools we have in front of us, everything is still so fun and so instant. No one values substance, right down to the drugs we do. Most party kids will spend $40 bucks on a gram of heavily cut cocaine so they can make their hearts beat faster for an hour, instead of spending ten dollars on a hit of acid and embarking on an adventure for the next 14 hours. The conservatives are so right, moral standards have slipped.
Hopefully the recession will encourage people to really think about what they choose to create, I have been inspired to hopefully design for Subway instead of McDonald's.
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