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by Daniel Taylor
February 23, 2009
from
OldThinkerNews Website
The Technological
Revolution
“Although technological powers will be vast and progress will likely
be made, the normal level of social resistance and political
stalemate is likely to oppose change. Thus, it may take an
occasional environmental collapse, global wars and terrorism, or yet
unknown calamities to force the move to global consciousness.”
William E. Halal
Emerging Technologies and the Global Crisis of
Maturity
"By 2035, an implantable information chip
could be developed and
wired directly to the user’s brain."
The technological revolution that will re-shape humanity and our
world is well underway. A cacophony of crises, both real and
manufactured, are being heralded as birth pangs of a new global
order.
Some analysts say that we can no more fathom the political,
technological, and social world that will emerge as,
“…chimpanzees in
the forest can comprehend what goes on among humans in a nearby
village.” [1]
We witness piecemeal examples of the steady buildup to this catalyst
every day in the media.
However, they fail to connect them in a
coherent picture to demonstrate their interwoven nature. The “big
picture” gets lost to many. We leave it to the “experts” to
interpret these events and developments, but they often present
solutions that come directly from the establishment.
To begin, let’s take a look at the technological revolution.
Nanotechnology, biotechnology, information science and cognitive
science (NBIC) are converging to form what has been called the
largest leap in technological progress in human history. The
Transhumanist movement is eagerly anticipating this revolution.
Some
foresee the fusion of the human brain with computer circuitry as
leading,
“…to a truly revolutionary upheaval for the human race.”
[2]
Brain-machine interfaces; cloning; genetic engineering of food,
plants, and animals; artificial intelligence; nanomaterials; these
all stem from the NBIC convergence.
Some countries are currently serving as testing grounds for
technologies that are expected to be implemented globally in the
near future. For example, South Korea’s “U-city” or “ubiquitous
city” called
New Songdo - hailed as the city of the future
- is
nearly fully functional.
The city is wired from the ground up with
RFID sensors and other advanced computing devices to automate
traffic, surveillance and e-government. The marketing campaign for
the city is heavily focused on consumer convenience aspects of the
technology, reminiscent of the sci-fi thriller Minority Report. The
U-city model, being tested in New Songdo, is anticipated to be
exported world-wide.
There is a reason this technology is being
tested in South Korea.
As the New York Times
reports,
“Much of this technology was developed in U.S. research labs, but
there are fewer social and regulatory obstacles to implementing them
in Korea,” said Mr. Townsend [a research director at the Institute
for the Future in Palo Alto, California], who consulted on Seoul’s
own U-city plan, known as Digital Media City.
“There is an
historical expectation of less privacy. Korea is willing to put off
the hard questions to take the early lead and set standards.” [3]
Some believe that ubiquitous computing technology, also known as the
“Internet of Things”, is heralding the beginning of a “unified
global intelligence.”
This global intelligence will consist of a
vast network of places, things and people that have been given a
virtual representation in a computer network.
William E. Halal,
professor emeritus of science, technology and innovation at George
Washington University writes,
“Even with the turmoil that is sure to follow, this will mark the
serious beginning of a unified global intelligence, what some have
forecast as the emergence of a “global brain” - a fine web of
conscious thought directing life on the planet.” [4]
Brain-machine
interfaces
The current and ongoing technological revolution has - as shown with
the above example - a whole array of implications attached to it.
Advancements in brain-machine interfaces provide one of the most
startling examples.
Fred C. Ikle, former undersecretary of defense
for policy under the Reagan administration, and author of The
Ultimate Threat to Nations: Annihilation from Within, is
anticipating the development of advanced brain-machine interfaces.
It is this development that Ikle sees as the most revolutionary.
He
writes,
“In my judgment, the greatest, most profound transformation of the
human condition will not derive from the prolongation of life, or
from the anxiously debated - and probably vastly overrated - possibilities of human cloning and “designer babies.” Instead, I see
an effective synthesis of the computer with living human brains as
the agent that will lead to a truly revolutionary upheaval for the
human race.” [5]
These interfaces, Ikle writes, could spark a race between
superpowers to create a super-advanced think tank.
This
brain-computer symbiosis would come from a group of individuals
connected to a central computer.
“Its purpose would be greatly to enrich and expand what advanced
computers can do by creating a symbiosis between, on one side, a
computer system designed for this purpose, and on the other side,
the judgmental capacities and essential emotive functions of the
human brain.
The contribution of the living human brain would
probably not come from one individual “hooked up” to a computer, but
from computer linkages to an expert committee or group of policy
advisors. Such a symbiosis would be far more advanced than the
latest brain-computer links.” [6]
Transhumanism
Brain-machine interfaces lead us inevitably to
the Transhumanist
movement, which sees technologies like this as heralding a new era
of human enhancement.
Most researchers anticipate these technologies
to be developed at first to serve a medical purpose - such as
restoring sight, allowing paralyzed individuals to move robotic arms
using their minds, etc. The initial focus on providing aid to
disabled individuals is giving technologies like brain-machine
interfaces public acceptance and support because of its benevolent
nature.
Eventually, however, these technologies will be used for
enhancement purposes and not out of any specific medical necessity.
The June 2002 conference Converging Technologies for Improving Human
Performance, organized by the National Science Foundation and the
Department of Commerce, discussed this
NBIC (Nanotechnology,
Biotechnology, Information science and Cognitive science)
revolution.
The lengthy report demonstrates the intense attention
that is being given to these rising technologies.
The report calls
for the training of a new generation of scientists to aid in the
coming convergence.
“Education and training at all levels should use converging
technologies as well as prepare people to take advantage of them.
Interdisciplinary education programs, especially in graduate school,
can create a new generation of scientists and engineers who are
comfortable working across fields and collaborating with colleagues
from a variety of specialties… education projects need to be
launched at the intersections of crucial fields to build a
scientific community that will achieve the convergence of
technologies that can greatly improve human capabilities.” [7]
The
Knowledge NBIC Project, funded by the European Union, is
conducting research into the political and social implications of
the NBIC convergence.
One of the project’s recent reports details
the potential applications of these enhancement technologies,
“…people may come to think of themselves as ‘always already
disabled’, that is, on the verge of falling behind in a social world
where regular neurochemical upgradings are expected as a
precondition for adequate performance.
The first stirrings of this
general problem have already entered public view in controversies
concerning the use of drugs to enhance competitive athletic and
academic performance.
The political responses so far suggest that
this… agenda may well be subject to considerable regulation but it
is very unlikely that its advance will be stopped altogether.” [8]
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense report
DCDC Global Strategic
Trends Program 2007-2036 is also anticipating the use of this
technology.
“By 2035, an implantable information chip could be developed and
wired directly to the user’s brain. Information and entertainment
choices would be accessible through cognition and might include
synthetic sensory perception beamed direct to the user’s senses.
Wider related ICT developments might include the invention of
synthetic telepathy, including mind-to-mind or telepathic dialogue.
This type of development would have obvious military and security,
as well as control, legal and ethical, implications.” [9]
The RAND corporation has its sights on this technological revolution
as well.
RAND’s 2001 report,
The Global Technology Revolution - Bio/Nano/Materials
Trends and Their Synergies with Information Technology by 2015
covers these issues.
Among other trends, it foresees expanded
globalization, reduced privacy and potential societal unrest as a
response to revolutionary technologies.
“The results could be astonishing. Effects may include significant
improvements in human quality of life and life span… continued
globalization, reshuffling of wealth, cultural amalgamation or
invasion with potential for increased tension and conflict, shifts
in power from nation states to non-governmental organizations and
individuals… and the possibility of human eugenics and cloning.”
[10]
The Scientific
Planners
“Man’s conquest of Nature, if the dreams of some scientific planners
are realized, means the rule of a few hundreds of men over billions
upon billions of men.
There neither is nor can be any simple
increase of power on Man’s side. Each new power won by man is a
power over man as well.”
CS Lewis
The Abolition of Man
The influence of wealthy and important interests in shaping current
and past events cannot be ignored when studying what the future may
hold.
Elites have always sought to project their dominance into the
future, and this modern world is no different. Trends can either be
products of an organic process or a deliberate method.
As we progress into the future, prominent analysts see a trend
toward global government and a “global consciousness” as a natural,
logical, and organic process of evolution. What these experts often
fail to mention is the fact that it has been a prime directive of
institutional schooling to prepare and condition youth to accept
world governance for decades.
In 1954
the Reece Committee, chaired by Carroll B. Reece, produced
its findings regarding the influence of tax-exempt foundations in
the field of education.
The Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation,
Carnegie Foundation and others were discussed during the Committee
hearings. A predominant theme in the Committee’s findings was the
desire of the foundations and those behind them to
create a system
of world governance. The use of propaganda and social engineering
were identified as the means to achieve this goal.
The Reece Committee cited a report from the President’s Commission
on Higher Education, published in 1947.
The cited report states,
“In speed of transportation and communication and in economic
interdependence, the nations of the globe are already one world; the
task is to secure recognition and acceptance of this oneness in the
thinking of the people, as that the concept of one world may be
realized psychologically, socially and in good time politically.
It is this task in particular that challenges our scholars and
teachers to lead the way toward a new way of thinking. There is an
urgent need for a program for world citizenship that can be made a
part of every person’s general education.
It will take social science and social engineering to solve the
problems of human relations. Our people must learn to respect the
need for special knowledge and technical training in this field as
they have come to defer to the expert in physics, chemistry,
medicine, and other sciences.” [1]
Futurists and government analysts often
point to
global warming and
terrorism as defining crises of our
time, as a natural part of the “global crisis of maturity.” Today,
these issues are often presented as a justification for a system
of world governance.
William E. Halal writes,
“Intercultural conflict, weapons of mass destruction, and threats of
environmental collapse are likely to force the move to some form of
global community as the best means for managing such nagging
problems.” [2]
Again, what we are not being told is that these issues were
identified by powerful interests many years ago to serve as a
pretext to prepare the way for “global solutions.”
In a 1991 report
titled “The First Global Revolution”, published by the
Club of Rome,
we find the following statement:
“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea
that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages,
famine and the like would fit the bill… All these dangers are
caused by human intervention… The real enemy, then, is humanity
itself.” [3]
In order to gain a deeper perspective, let’s take a look at the
earlier 1976 Club of Rome report “Rio: Reshaping the International
Order” which details a strategy to create a system of economic and
world governance.
The report states,
“At the highest level, the level of world affairs, international
institutions must form the prime movers of planned change.”
“The achievement of this global planning and management system calls
for the conscious transfer of power - a gradual transfer to be sure
- from the nation State to the world organization. Only when this
transfer takes place can the organization become effective and
purposeful.” [4]
Halal continues in his Futurist article, praising the Club of Rome
for its anticipation of these events,
“The major conclusion from this analysis is that the world is facing
a global crisis of maturity, the most salient example being the
near-collapse of the global banking system in October 2008.
Warnings
of massive transformations have been anticipated for decades by the
Club of Rome and many others.
Today, however, the acceleration of
change seems to be producing a mounting series of severe global
disruptions - energy shortages as oil supplies peak, impending
climate change and environmental decline in general… continuing
terrorism… as globalization inexorably strains old systems to the
breaking point.” [5]
As these crises develop amidst the rising technological revolution,
we are entering an “Age of Transitions” in which the elite of
society - who have foreseen, and in many cases manufactured these
crises - hope to emerge on top.
The Great
Transition
“It will be necessary to replace today’s cumbersome social systems,
religious dogmas, heated emotions, partisan ideologies, and other
commonly outmoded forms of thought and consciousness that now form
the major obstacles to progress.”
William E. Halal
Emerging
Technologies and the Global Crisis of Maturity
There are several futurists, think tanks and high level government
analysts that are both eagerly anticipating and warning that there
will be great social conflict during this “great transition”.
They
are nearly uniform in calling for a casting aside of “outmoded forms
of thought” to pave the way for a new era. By holding on to “ancient
ideas” of government and religion, people are holding back the
progress of the great technological revolution and a resulting
“planetary civilization”. Some have compared the potential impact of
this transition to the social and political impact of the Industrial
Revolution.
This new revolution, however, is on a much grander
scale.
Some call it the “Age of Transitions”, others the “Global Crisis of
Maturity”.
Zbigniew Brzezinski called it the “Technectronic Era”.
However it is labeled, it brings with it major change and upheaval
to humanity.
Fred C. Ikle, author of The Ultimate Threat to Nations
- Annihilation from Within, sees a widening gap between the “two
souls” of society. One is dedicated to the scientific outlook that
has been freed from religious and political bindings, while the
other clings to the “stubborn past” of tradition and religion.
Ikle
sees this expanding gap as a great danger to all governments
world-wide.
Ikle writes,
“This widening chasm is ominous. It might impair the social cohesion
of societies, and of nations, by drawing the human psyche in two
directions: to the personal and national identity that resides in
acquired beliefs, memories, and traditions of the past; and to the
promise of greater wealth and power offered by untrammeled
technological progress…
In the scientific sphere, we are neither
emotionally tied to our cultural and religious heritage, nor pining
for a final redemption. But when animated by the world’s old soul,
we seek to protect our identity by clinging to ancient artifacts
from our ancestors and hallowed legends from the distant past.” [1]
William E. Halal stated in the March-April 2009 edition of The
Futurist that,
“Some new form of global order is needed to avert
disaster.”
He continues,
“The transition could happen anytime, but
it is hard to conceive of a future in which today’s systems could
survive much beyond 2020, let alone 2030.”
Halal writes,
“It will be necessary to replace today’s cumbersome social systems,
religious dogmas, heated emotions, partisan ideologies, and other
commonly outmoded forms of thought and consciousness that now form
the major obstacles to progress.” [2]
Halal cites prominent pollster John Zogby’s new book
The Way We’ll
Be as he discusses the rise of a new “global generation.” His
description of this generation fits current economic trends that
point to dramatically lower standards of living, but frames this as
a “sustainable” lifestyle.
The “First Globals” as he calls them will
be,
“…intent on living sustainable lives
in a unified world.”
Zogby
writes,
“…we are in the midst of a fundamental reorientation of the American
character… away from wanton consumption and toward a new global
citizenry in an age of limited resources.” [3]
Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist and futurist, believes that the
globe is moving towards what he calls a “Type 1″ civilization.
This
civilization, according to Kaku, will be technologically superior
and constitute a world-wide system of governance, a global language,
culture, and global economy. The transition may not be smooth,
however.
As kaku has repeatedly stated, there will be resistance to
the rise of this “Type 1″ civilization.
In a 2006 interview Kaku
stated,
“It’s the most dangerous of all transitions because there are some
people who don’t want to be in type 1.
They instinctively in their
gut know that a type 1 system will be a system of different
discourses, of different ideas and clashes of ideas and so on and so
forth and these people who don’t want this transition are the
terrorists.
In their gut, the terrorists know that we’re headed for type 1. They
can’t articulate it, they don’t know the larger outlines of it, but
in their gut they don’t like it.” [3]
In an earlier 2005 BBC interview Kaku said,
“…look at the economies. NAFTA, European Union, Trading blocks, the
birth of a new economy is taking place.
Now there are people who don’t like this transition, who feel in
their gut feel more comfortable being in a Type minus 1. They’re the
terrorists. They in their gut realize that a Type 1 civilization has
flowing ideas, challenging orthodoxies, new bigger, wondrous ideas
popping forth. That’s Type 1.” [5]
As the world faces unparalleled economic turmoil, America’s decline
is marking a historical geopolitical time period.
The re-ordering of
the globe is underway. The “Global Crisis of Maturity” - as
envisioned by the elite - is ushering in a new world order as
advancing technologies dramatically alter society.
It is vitally important that everyone, especially young people, gain
their own understanding of what we are facing.
The school system may
prepare you for the future, but only in a manner that is
self-serving to the establishment and kept within safe confines to
prevent organic change. This study must involve not just a study of
potential technological developments, but an understanding of the
nature of power and the elites that wield it.
Social engineers and
opinion molders will be working overtime to shape society during
this “Age of Transitions” as societal norms are broken and reshaped,
and the political battlefield is thrown into chaos.
Citation
The Technological Revolution:
[1.] Ikle, Fred Charles. The
Ultimate Threat to Nations: Annihilation from Within. Columbia
University Press, 2006. Page 33
[2.] lbid 1, Ikle.
[3.] “Korea’s High-Tech Utopia, Where Everything Is Observed.”
The New York Times. October 5, 2005 - http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/05/technology/techspecial/05oconnell.html?_r=1
[4.] Halal, William E. “Emerging Technologies and the Global
Crisis of Maturity.” The Futurist. March-April 2009.
[5.] lbid 1, Ikle.
[6.] lbid 1, Ikle. Page 32.
[7.] Mihail C. Roco and William Sims Bainbridge, National
Science Foundation. “Converging Technologies for Improving Human
Performance” - Arlington, Virginia 2002. Page 21 - http://www.wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies/1/NBIC_report.pdf
[8.] Project coordinator: Nico Stehr Ph.D. F.R.S.C. “Knowledge
Politics and New Converging Technologies: A Social Science
Perspective” - http://www.converging-technologies.org/docs/Knowledge%20NBIC%20D1.pdf
[9.] “DCDC Global Strategic Trends Programme 2007-2036.”
[10.] Philip S. Anto´n, Richard Silberglitt, James Schneider. “The Global
Technology Revolution: Bio/Nano/Materials Trends and Their Synergies
with Information Technology by 2015.” RAND Corporation.
2001.
The Scientific Planners
[1.] United States. Cong. House
Special Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations and
Comparable Organizations. 1954.
[2.] Halal, William E. “Technology’s Promise: Highlights from
the TechCast Project”, The Futurist, Nov-Dec 2006.
[3.] Alexander King & Bertrand Schneider. The First Global
Revolution. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991. Page 115.
[4.] Jan Tinbergen. RIO: Reshaping the International Order: A
Report to the Club of Rome. 1976. Page 100.
[5.] lbid 2, Halal.
The Great Transition
[1.] lbid 1, Ikle. Page 16.
[2.] lbid 2, Halal.
[3.] lbid 2, Halal.
[4.] 2006 interview with the Conscious Media Network - http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=641879988
[5.] BBC Hard Talk Extra. Gavin Esler interviewing Michio Kaku.
April 22, 2005. - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/4483221.stm
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