“Research on simulating the human brain is marching forward. Corporations are attempting to build devices that talk to their users in a “realistic” fashion.
These computers would continuously update profiles of their owners, seeking to read their emotional states and preferences and respond to them.”
The above quote comes from the article, “The virtual world is being built: refining the Matrix” by Jon Rappoport.
From the NLP and Time Line Therapy® point of view, here lies one of the problem as stated by the above quote. Since there is nothing out there to make real human relationships smoother, we’ll replace them with machines. And if you don’t like it you’re backwards!
Well, number one, the presupposition is wrong. There is something out there to make human relationships smoother. It is called NLP and Time Line Therapy®. But there is more.
In 2002 in the movie “S1mÆne” a key actress in a movie walks off the set threatening not only the movie but the entire livelihood of the producer. As a result he finds an alternative solution: he creates digitally a substitute actress for the unreliable star. Not only that the movie is a success, but also everyone thinks the new “actress” is a real person.
In the movie “Her” 2013, an ordinary average man, suffers a bad breakup of his marriage and still recovering from this negative significant emotional event falls in love with the artificially intelligent operating system of his computer.
Now you will say – these are just movies. Well, yes they are and you cannot ignore the technological advances made with an incredible speed nowadays. Even the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) says that the movie is “set in the not-too-distant but distinctly fantastic future.”
It seems that there are many people who entertain the belief that it really is difficult to have real relationships with other humans (belief that it is just that – a belief and as such it can be changed easily with Time Line Therapy®).
Humans seem to be unreliable, complicated and unpredictable. Instead, machines can be programmed to reflect their users. Speaking of ego, selfishness and narcissism to the max!
See, if you believe you’re nothing more than an automaton, a limited biological machine and you cannot create the relationship you really want in your life, you will go for an electronic replacement. The machine is very sophisticated. It can get to know you better than you know yourself. It will never criticize you – in fact will always pat you on the shoulder telling you how great you are. It will be there to serve your very needs. It will never talk you down or make you feel bad about yourself. It will never hurt your self-esteem.
But it will also do something that can be described only as massively damaging. It will never allow you any personal growth. Never an ounce of personal development. It will keep you trapped in an fake ego-bliss state. It does not feel robotic at all – the machine will be your mom, your dad, your counsellor, your friend and companion. And this is supposed to lead to happiness.
I have to admit – it is tempting because it is easy. Key word EASY! No hassle, no irritation, no difficulty. Only praise and “support”. Your ego will feel great.
Though, there’s one major obstacle. One major stumbling block. The capacity of an alive human being for a wide emotional range is too subtle, and too varied to embed in a machine that is supposed to stand in as a friend and companion. Therefore in a computer virtual simulation of a person, by necessity there is just one solution – reduce the range of the human user. Make it conform to the computer. This is happening already for some time. Watch movies, watch television shows and video games like CSGO, which you can even go online to obtain CSGO skins for the game, listen to politicians. It’s all about reduction, simplification, and you need help because you cannot do anything on your own. Empty generalizations. Slogans. Cliches.
You see, the individual human being with individual thinking and choice is too complex for this new machine age. His/her range of feeling and thought must be diminished if “we” all were to integrate with machines in the new technetronic era. Eventually, we will all interact with talking computers and feel better than ever before. We’ll end up believing that our emotions (reduced as they are to basics) are being mirrored by the computer and appreciated.
It’s A Machine!!!
Do you see this already happening in the world? Look around. People are more into their phones and tablets than relating to other people. Life happens in the virtual world on the internet. Don’t take me wrong – I love technology. I have all the new gadgets and I enjoy using them. I really do. I think they’re great. I love the technological revolution. What I am saying here is that life as we know it will be gone and sooner or later the new man/machine interaction will lead to absolute boredom and limitation. As good as it feels, being told every day how great you are will lead to boredom (especially if deep down you don’t really have anything to hang your hat on since you don’t know it to be true). And the final question leads eventually to what it means to be human.
Don’t think that there are not many people who don’t want this kind of life though. They feel at odds with society anyway, so such a relationship becomes a blessing. Instead of working out their personal issues (and again NLP and Time Line Therapy® are the tools to use because … it is easy!!!) they would go for a virtual girl/boyfriend.
Relationships are meant to be messy. They’re meant to provide growth for ourselves. Whenever we cannot impose our will and desire upon other people there is trouble at the horizon and we end up frustrated. But at the same time, if we manage to overcome the difficulties (and NLP and Time Line Therapy® are essential tools in this respect) what a growth for ourselves. What development and wisdom we acquire.
And if you think this is fantasy, take a look at the following:
A student at Stanford University is developing a Google app that “reads other people.”
From SFGate, Jan 22, 2014, “Google Glass being designed to read emotions”
“The [emotion-recognition] tools can analyze facial expressions and vocal patterns for signs of specific emotions: Happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, and more.”
So if you wear the device, you don’t have to figure out on your own what other people are feeling. The “glass” will tell you while it examines the person across from you in a grocery store and who blankly looks at the vegetable shelf. Above your right eye, you see the word “neutral.” Phew. What luck! But now the person seems to smile, and immediately the word “happy” appears.
I am not kidding folks. And in this way we’re supposed to get better in our communication. All “assisted”, nothing we do. The human mind out of the way. The personal choice out of the way.
The number of things that can go wrong? Count the ways, if you’re able.
I will let Jon Rappoport describe it in his exquisite way and it is worth quoting:
“I’m personally looking forward to that guy across the table saying, “Hey, you, schmuck with the Glass, what is your app saying about me now? Angry?” That should certainly enhance the communication.
The machines won’t say, “I’m sorry, I can’t identify that emotion, it’s too complex.” They’ll say “sad” or “happy” or “upset” or whatever they have to say to give the appearance that they’re on top of the human condition.
Lots to think about.
Be well.
So how can we turn up the brightness of our future? How can we be certain that we will reach Read more
At the Tad James Co. we believe that we can assist people to empower themselves by learning the right skills Read more
At the Tad James Co. we believe that we can assist people to empower themselves by learning the right skills Read more
