IGM Connectivity

Inter-Galactic Memo

To: All Personnel

Fr: W. Leavitt

Re: Connectivity

6-19-10



Has anyone else noticed the radical speed with which our culture is allowing itself to be changed by emerging technology? We are in the midst of so much upheaval, from so many fronts, that I suspect most people are not comprehending the nature of the paradigm shifts. Plural. And neither do I.
Today, for the first time in known human history (I include that caveat because we have no idea what the level of technical civilization was prior to the Flood) we are in a state of unending, consistently mind-boggling, emergent technology. We have no time to assimilate, consider, or become familiar with implications before we are again inundated with the next wave. And as far as I can tell, no one is monitoring any of this, other than a few über techno-geeks writing for obscure online magazines. And my son.
What brought this situation to my admittedly scattershot attention, was a recent event on my Facebook account.

In fact, let me regress for a moment. I am a 60 year old American male, one of the last people born in the 40’s. I was old enough to remember the first television we ever got. I am one of the last of the Beatles and Beach Boys generation. And I have a Facebook account.

Back to the future.
So, a few days ago, I got an email, inviting me to be ‘friends’ with someone. Most of us have experienced that annoying little game. (How many times have you received friend requests from people you do not know?)
It took me a minute. Her name was familiar, but did not ring any bells for a moment. Then it hit me. René. She was my first girlfriend when I went to Glen Burnie High School, in Glen Burnie, Maryland, in 1966-68. For those of us addicted to calculation (which does not include me), that is 44 years ago. And now we are in a position to reconnect. I almost always say yes to friend requests . . . and I don’t even know why. To be polite? Maybe it had something to do with that song, Walk Away René, which was popular when we were going steady. (Who did that? Was it the Left Bank?)
In the old world, people we knew half-a century ago, would be long-gone, forever and properly relegated to the obscure past, half memory, half fiction. In no sense are any of us the same people we were at seventeen, even though that kid still lurks in the hinterlands of our subconscious. So why bother?
I think the reason may be deceptively simple; because we can. Because technology makes it too easy. We do it, and don’t even question why. Well, some of us do. A lot of us. And for my childrens generation, it is much worse. They are immersed in the world of cyberspace. My grandchildren will no doubt be living in Tron.
So I clicked on the SUBMIT button, or whatever it is, and let René back into my life, if only peripherally. I liked René. She was cute, and insecure. A little too skinny—could’a used a few pounds . . . And she broke up with a senior to go with me. And then I broke up with her. Why? Who knows? I was young and stupid, and insensitive. And I took things like girlfriends very seriously, despite my total lack of cool, and my ultimate cluelessness. I was the only high school jock in history who wasn’t popular—not that I cared.

Another regression: I didn’t ‘date’. I was terrified of girls, and mesmerized by the mystery at the same time. Consequently, I either had a ‘girlfriend’, with whom I was hopelessly in love, or nothing at all. I didn’t do casual. I fantasized about marrying every one of them, and living happily ever after, in a cave, while I protected them from dragons and evil boys. Oh, what? Like you didn’t?

Back to the future.
So what do we talk about? How many bases we got to? (Just one—repeatedly.) Obama? Religion? Our lives? And what possessed her to ask in the first place? What kind of morbid curiosity would compel someone to reconnect with a high school boyfriend after all this time? (well, other than Gloria, who seems to make a habit of it. ) It’s not like I stayed in the area, or that we kept in touch. I haven’t seen, or talked to, or much thought about René for over forty years. Which is not meant to be a criticism, I was just getting on with my life, as I’m sure she has been. And admittedly, I’m sure I posses that same morbid bent. I’m still looking for Kay.

The point: Everything is changing, before our eyes. Connectivity is becoming a proper noun. I Googled Gadianton Robbers last night, and only got to Gadian—before the suggestions popped up and Gadianton Robbers was the first one. That’s a pretty obscure reference, and Google not only had it, but had it number one. Go ahead, try to Google something that doesn’t hit. Try and find a name on Facebook. (XKCD has a great cartoon about that. I’d send it with this IGM if the content wasn’t questionable.)
As an example, did you know that most photocopy machines (post about 2003) now have hard-drives in them? It speeds up the process. The first scan sends all the info to the hard drive, which then sends it to the copy brain, making it unnecessary to scan again and again, saving time. Think about all the documents you’ve scanned as a matter of course. All the personal information. Copy machines are storing it all. Who has access to it? No wonder people are trying to opt out of the grid, get off the net.
I can’t help but wonder where it’s all going to lead. Of course, it’s all fodder for a writer of speculative fiction, good and bad, but still . . . what happens when everything we are, and everything we know, and think, and do, is public knowledge, accessible to everyone? And how will it change the social dynamic when we all have ten thousand friends, and have not met any of them?