A Brave New World: A dystopian high-tech future

How digital devices are building anxiety in our kids

From the Sunday Tasmanian, September 18, 2016

TIME’S UP ON SCREENS

How digital devices are building anxiety in our kids

TASMANIAN parents are being urged to help their children unplug from mobile devices amid concerns our hyper-connected world is adding to their anxiety and impacting on mental health.

One of the nation’s leading mental health services for schools says the saturation of online games, information and social media is resulting in young children suffering “FOMO” – the “fear of missing out”.

The Principals Australia Institute, which delivers the mental health program KidsMatters and MindMatters in schools, has observed increased levels of anxiety in children and urges parents to let kids understand “it’s OK not to know”.
SNIP

Modern life is killing our children: Cancer rate in young people up 40 per cent in 16 years

The Telegraph, Science (UK)

Excerpt

Modern life is killing children with the number of youngsters diagnosed with cancer rising 40 per cent in the past 16 years because of air pollution, pesticides, poor diets and radiation, scientists have warned.

New analysis of government statistics by researchers at the charity Children with Cancer UK found that there are now 1,300 more cancer cases a year compared with 1998, the first time all data sets were published.

The rise is most apparent in teenagers and young adults aged between 15 and 24, where the incident rate has risen from around 10 cases in 100,000 to nearly 16.

Researchers say that although some of the rise can be explained by improvements in cancer diagnoses and more screening, the majority is probably caused by environmental factors.

Dr Denis Henshaw, Professor of Human Radiation Effects at Bristol University, the scientific adviser for Children with Cancer UK, said air pollution was by far the biggest culprit, accounting for around 40 per cent of the rise, but other elements of modern lifestyles are also to blame.

Among these are obesity, pesticides and solvents inhaled during pregnancy, circadian rhythm disruption through too much bright light at night, radiation from x-rays and CT scans, smoking during and after pregnancy, magnetic fields from power lines, gadgets in homes, and potentially, radiation from mobile phones…. SNIP

Anti-Choice Groups Use Smartphone Surveillance to Target ‘Abortion-Minded Women’ During Clinic Visits

May 25, 2016, 6:52pm
Sharona Coutts

Women who have visited almost any abortion clinic in the United States have seen anti-choice protesters outside, wielding placards and chanting abuse. A Boston advertiser’s technology, when deployed by anti-choice groups, allows those groups to send propaganda directly to a woman’s phone while she is in a clinic waiting room.

Excerpts:

Last year, an enterprising advertising executive based in Boston, Massachusetts, had an idea: Instead of using his sophisticated mobile surveillance techniques to figure out which consumers might be interested in buying shoes, cars, or any of the other products typically advertised online, what if he used the same technology to figure out which women were potentially contemplating abortion, and send them ads on behalf of anti-choice organizations? SNIP Flynn’s targeting of women seeking abortion presents a serious threat to the privacy and safety of women exercising their right to choose, as well as to abortion providers and their staff, a Rewire investigation has found. But due to weak and patchwork laws governing privacy and data collection in the United States, the conduct appears to be perfectly legal. SNIP

Technology is making us blind: The dangerous complacency of the iPhone era

Following is an oldie (2014) but goodie from Salon.com which is quite relevant to recent postings on “A Brave New World”.
Don

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The rise of smartphones and social media has ushered in a new age of techno-optimism. And that’s a big problem
Charles Howarth
Nov 30, 2014

Excerpt

The technology pages of news media can make for scary reading these days. From new evidence of government surveillance to the personal data collection capabilities of new devices, to the latest leaks of personal information, we hear almost daily of new threats to personal privacy. It’s difficult to overstate the implications of this: The separation of the private and public that’s the cornerstone of liberal thought, not to mention the American Constitution, is being rapidly eroded, with potentially profound consequences for our freedom.

As much as we may register a certain level of dismay at this, in practice, our reaction is often indifference. How many of us have taken to the streets in protest, started a petition, canvassed a politician, or even changed our relationship with our smartphone, tablet or smartwatch? The question is why are we so unconcerned?

We could say that it’s simply a matter of habit, that we have become so used to using devices in such a way that we cannot imagine using them any differently. Or we could, for example, invoke a tragic fate in which we simply have no option but to accept the erosion of our privacy because of our powerlessness against corporations and governments.

These are, however, retrospective justifications that miss the kernel of the truth. To reach this kernel, we have to excavate the substratum of culture to uncover the ideas that shape our relationship with technology. Only here can we see that the cause is a profound ideological shift in this relationship.
READ ON….

Elon Musk’s Brave New World: Become cyborgs or risk humans being turned into robots’ pets

Elon Musk envisions a future “Brave New World” where, in order to keep up with advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, future humans (those who can afford it that is) will have to have a “neural lace”, embedded within their brains, becoming cyborgs, or super humans, in order to keep pace with the technology. An interesting concept worthy of the best of SiFi writers but consider that such technology would not come cheap. No coverage through medical insurance, ensuring that only the elites of the world will be able to afford having a neural lace implanted within their brains.

Essentially what Musk is envisioning is an Olympian super race – part human/part AI, essentially populated by only those who can afford it – the 1 % of the world’s population who now owns half the world’s wealth. As for all those who cannot afford joining the lofty Olympians with all their neural lace emplants, what future for them? A high-tech serfdom perhaps?
Read on…,