The Onion takes a bite out of The Apple
by Bianca Bernstein
The Onion is a hilarious and astute site dedicated to the fine art of satire. Someone recently sent me a link to one of their articles, entitled 'Apple Unveils New Product-Unveiling Product’. It definitely deserves a read, even if for nothing more than its entertainment value.
This article is a great parody. What is a great parody? Those which present humour at surface value and critical social commentary at a deeper level. Sometimes the humour is lightly sprinkled over the serious underlying issue, and other times lavishly drenched. It is the serious component however, that is the reason for the parody’s existence. In the case of the Apple article, the apparent absurdity of the concept at first humours us, and then makes us think more deeply – of our sometimes extreme dependence on automated devices to survive in this day and age. This is complemented by another worrying aspect: what are the limits of automation? What is the saturation point of this technology-hungry world? When does it all become too much?
It is generally accepted that automation no longer warrants large amounts of awe. We have, in fact, integrated automated devices into our lives so casually that we have somehow failed to notice the true gravity of the situation – a ‘situation’ with many repercussions.
Repercussions. What are they? More often than not, a foreign concept when thought of in terms of all the apparent positivism bestowed upon us by technological advancements. But it is at this point that it is important to start asking questions, such as “Where do we draw the moral and ethical line when we know that almost anything is possible?” as well as “How does our desperation for technological advancement affect personal and general social and cultural development?”
These are questions I’d like answered. Any takers?
Comments
post a commentWell, the logic is pretty much indisputable, if we are indeed in a finite system. However, I counter that mankind does not necessarily have the ability to destroy itself, nuclear disaster nonwithstanding. On an infinite timescale colonisation of other planets is a likely possibility, presenting complications to total annhiliation.
The only real question is whether we can discover the means to survive faster than the means to destroy.
Posted by Craig on 2007/03/16
Well, both the means to survive and to destroy are the product of an exponentially expanding store of knowledge - the standing on the shoulders of giants phemonenon. It took several thousand years to go from wheels to cars, then a couple of decades to go from cars to aeroplanes....
This means that once we are in space, there should be plenty of potential to find new ways to survive.
But Chengde's second point was that it is mathematically impossible for an exponentially-accelerating system to survive - leading to the now familiar conclusion that it will somehow self-destruct.
Prof Raw?
Posted by Toby on 2007/03/16
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My one-time freind the philosophical poet Chegnde Chen once provided an answer in the form of the car crash theory. It goes something like this:
We drive cars and expose ourselves to the risk of death only because this risk is acceptably small over the course of our lives. If were otherwise immortal, it would be suicidal to get into a car. This is because, when introduced into an infinte system, a possibility becomes a certainty - like a drop of dye in a clear liquid.
Ok - park that.
We humans have invented technology that is capable of destroying us - mainly in the form of large exotic bombs - because at the end of the day the inventors didn't believe they would be used to do so during their lifetimes. But as a race we have the potential to reproduce infinitely... so if you apply the axiom of the car crash, you'll end up with the happy news that we are guaranteed to blow ourselves up at some point.
Bit heavy for a friday afternoon? Not half. I'm not sure if i believe it, but it makes sense on paper. We need the cleverest man in the building - "Craig!!"
Posted by Toby on 2007/03/16