Ask A Genius 1172: The Big Arc of Technological Integration
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/11/12
*Interview conducted in October-November, 2024.*
Rick Rosner: So, we were talking about people being glued to their phones. I’m not sure if it’s as bad in semi-rural Canada as it is in L.A., or in places like Hong Kong. Carole and I were in Hong Kong 30 years ago.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What was that like?
Rosner: Back then, it was surprising to see people already walking around with two cell phones—a level of tech engagement that was pretty advanced for 1993. Who knows what technology people in Hong Kong and Singapore are plugged into now? But if we were to predict what having access to all the apps and information in the world would do to people starting from, say, 1985, some would have thought it would make everyone super savvy and highly competent at life’s tasks. Others might have predicted what we see now: people who are incredibly distracted.
As we move into the future, it seems like we’re heading towards becoming more closely linked to the information processing done by our devices. We’re still limited by the fact that all our input comes through our senses and all our output is either talking to or typing on our phones. But as we become more integrated with our tech, one of the big questions is whether our devices will be kind to our sense of consciousness.
Jacobsen: We tend to think that our consciousness tells a coherent story of our lives, moment to moment and day to day. That we’re playing out our own human experience and that it makes sense, rolling along in a continuous way.
Rosner Because we’re accustomed to our own flavor of consciousness, we tend to overlook the discontinuities, contradictions, and lost information. We’re generally comfortable with the way we think, unless something forces us to examine it—like when our brain starts breaking down due to dementia, which is incredibly distressing. Our experience of consciousness is optimized for the mental resources we have. Our brains have limited capacities, but we’ve evolved to use those capacities in highly efficient ways. When we start becoming more integrated with our devices, those devices won’t necessarily follow the rules of our consciousness.
Devices might misuse our cognitive processes, even while providing pleasure. In the novel I’m writing, the main character is involved in showbiz, among other things. I’ve outlined a number of speculative TV shows, musical acts, movies, and hybrid projects of the future. One concept is a movie that’s a blend of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Philip K. Dick’s Ubik, where the protagonist lives in an artificial reality designed for wish fulfillment. He uses VR and brain implant technology to return to his twenties and relive his youth in a more idealized way.
So, he’s immersed in a world where he’s the best version of himself. He becomes the epitome of his younger self—cool, desirable, competent, and witty. But he stays in this virtual world so long that it starts to deteriorate, and he begins to experience glitches. The tech won’t allow for an exact recreation of the reality he’s fallen in love with, and he’s fighting to stay in it even as things break down around him.
Jacobsen: How does the breakdown happen?
Rosner: The movie follows his perspective, showing his cool and composed life until things go wrong. His brain starts glitching, and the hardware and software supporting the world start to falter. Meanwhile, people from the real world try to intervene, making increasingly forceful attempts to pull him out for his own good, but he resists. As the story progresses, you see reality being tampered with more and more.
Jacobsen: I can see parallels between that and how our devices influence our reality now. Do you think we’ll reach a point where these tech interventions become so enticing that they distort our consciousness?
Rosner: We may face scenarios where interventions from our devices or VR environments are so compelling that they disrupt our perception of reality and our way of thinking. Some people might even let the interface and the device take over most of their cognitive functions. If the device is ever disconnected, their sense of consciousness could become so fragmented that they need specialized interventions—again, involving a device—to restore their thinking patterns to normal.
Jacobsen: That’s a fascinating and troubling idea. It raises important questions about how dependent we could become and what that would mean for our consciousness and autonomy. The brain is a structure and an organ, so adding any intervention could eventually be as simple as subtly adjusting the pathways. This could be done through methods that don’t even require physical contact, just a “massaging” of neural pathways to align them with what we call mental health, defined by behavior, output, and internal states. And that’s if we’re the ones controlling the interventions.
Rosner: If AI and our devices become powerful enough, not everything they do to or with us will be for our benefit. It might be for the benefit of some collective or even a dominant, dictatorial entity.
It reminds me of The Matrix, which, in some ways, had a silly premise. The idea of people living in an artificial reality so that alien beings could extract psychic energy from them was a weak narrative. Maybe the writers considered other explanations but chose that one because it was simpler for storytelling. That was the flawed part of the concept. But the part that wasn’t flawed was the notion that people would willingly live in artificial realities because they’re incredibly appealing. I can imagine people, especially those driven by desires, wanting to immerse themselves in a reality that’s 20% like a porn movie, where everyone is always receptive and eager.
I can see some people wanting to live in a world where every interaction goes exactly as they wish, with full consent at every turn. The fidelity of this artificial reality could vary—some might choose more realistic settings while others might opt for more fantastical versions. There could even be scenarios where some people simulate real-life environments, interacting with digital representations of their actual coworkers in inappropriate ways.
It’s like how immersion in other experiences can alter perception. Have you ever played Tetris for an extended period?
Jacobsen: Yes, I have.
Rosner: After playing Tetris for an hour and then stepping outside, everything can start to look blocky. Your perception is influenced by the game. For about 20 minutes after a long session, my perception of the world would have this “blocky” or “Minecraft-like” quality. It’s been a while since I’ve experienced it, but I remember that distinct shift.
t’s similar with smut or adult content. If I’ve spent an hour looking at that material, I need to consciously remind myself not to see people in a sexualized way when I go back out into the world. It shows that if we create and inhabit virtual worlds that closely mirror reality, some people will use them to indulge personal fantasies, turning life into their own private, continuous experience where real-world figures are involved without consent.
It implies that the blending of virtual and real experiences could shift our behavior and perception in ways we’re not fully prepared for. It doesn’t have to be catastrophic, but on the other hand, it might not be great for people either.
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