Anna Sibilia

David Steiling 

Future Fantasies

What Lies Beyond?

Technology is an obsessive interface in today’s society, everyone is plugged in and constantly checking their presence on the internet or other connective networks. Be it social connections between real and digital friends, an organization of professionals on a website to broadcast their talents, or a series of numbers that represent valid identity and monetary value, information and connection is everything. Some people use to to compare egos and others use it out of necessity, but for most individuals involved, the life we live is filled with the flow of data. Eras past without too much technological influence are now seen as antiquarian and ancient, almost barbaric in their ways -though some were, to be fair, and the very notion of living a life without some sort of crutch is completely impossible for those being reared in such a technological age. 

This dependence on such things is what makes the satire that focuses on the addictive nature of everything electronic so biting and accurate. It is the driving commentary behind movies like TiMER, where people are so addicted to technology that they will let it dictate their life partners and romantic compatibility. The movie even spares a disclaimer that the TiMER isn’t based on fate, but on chemicals and genetic makeup, which seems contradictory to an emotion that seems routed in intuition, personhood, and integrity as well as the physical factors and needs of the individuals involved. It is asinine to assume that just because two people share compatible genes that they should end up together, so it begs the question of whether people are so invested in the idea of the TiMER that they will blindly adhere to it, or whether they don’t see how something like a digital countdown watch will dictate their romantic future. 

Another notion is that anything less than connected is unusable or outdated; when everything becomes outmoded quickly, there is much to be desired for something that cannot keep up with the current updates. This goes back centuries though, as even the cultures from different parts of the world used to look on their neighbors as ‘uncivilized’ for not following the same constraints and societal patterns as them. Religious organizations used to think that anyone outside of their faith was barbaric and sacrificing children in the name of false gods, much like how the peoples of the past are portrayed in ‘I think We’re all Bozos on this Bus’ portrayed them to be. 

The common notion from these messages is that as humanity continues to invent, we become a slave to our creations; we keep innovating and updating them, so it is only natural to do the same to ourselves. This can be problematic though for not everyone has access to such wonderful things, and others simply do not wish to be part of the spiderweb of data lest it trap them in its strings. Yet we are taught to want this and that, and keep investing in these new ideations; it helps both the economy, as well as helping spread a better product. Though the closeness to the truth is still very real: we are so entangled in this part of our world that sometimes we forget to take part in the moment or focus on another task. I will not preach too much about a higher morality here though, I too am addicted to this facet of life: I checked my tumblr about eight times while writing this over the span of twenty minutes.