As
humans
develop their
technology, each new one
tends to bring about some sort of
cultural paradigm shift, since each one
alters people's interaction with their
environment.
Examples:
-
telegraph allowed the first
instant transcontinental communication
-
radio allowed the
simultaneous receipt of the same
audio transmisison by
millions
- the
aeroplane allowed
rapid intercontinental travel
-
etc.
&c.
Each new technology brings about some new human
issue, because of how it
changes
individual's lives. Several new
technologies are
developed
exclusively to act as a
counter-
irritant to previous developments. In turn, these will throw people's
senses off in some new way, creating a need for new
remedies.
So how does this cycle get fixed?
The
answer would seem to be to develop some kind of
machine that allows the
user to
choose their own
media mix. Though far from
perfect, the
computer is this machine. It gives you
music or
TV or
images as you see fit.
The computer is not a medium. It is a conveyor of other mediums.
It's been
argued that computers will move into other
sensory functions, and become a total
synesthesia machine, in which the
world is what you want it to be...
What is not considered in that thinking is that new issues of dehumanization would come up, and maybe going outside would become a new technological development.