“Technology is the exteriorization of our nervous system.”

When I saw this blog entry, and watched the short video with it, it struck a chord with me.  As a life science teacher one of the units we cover in class is of course, the nervous system.  The network of nerves, to make it simple, connects all organ systems of the body and influences every action or reaction taken by the body in growth, fighting disease, metabolism, reproduction, etc.  I thought the comparison of technology was very insightful, and honestly, not one I had really thought of.  The technology we use in this course for example, connects us all, no matter where on the planet we find ourselves, whatever vocation we are in, whatever interests we have and so forth.  I have seen examples of how we struggle with the technology and getting it to work right, and how when it does work, it can be amazing.

The nervous system connects each cell to billions of other cells, and does so at an amazing pace every second of every day.  When a connection is broken, new pathways develop that re-connect the pathway. This really is an absolutely incredible visual of how we, as humans, stay connected to the world whether we want or need to, good or bad.  When a connection is broken that we need or want, we attempt to re-connect by building new pathways of communication.

Another interesting facet is how we are attempting to make Artificial Intelligence mimic actual humanity.  True, the trend has been to focus on more domestic tasks but recent research has sought to extend AI into more cognitive and emotional aspects of humanity.  In Block 1 I mentioned several films that reflected those objectives, albeit in fantasy form.  I would say however, that recent developments are pushing back on the fantasy as researchers get closer still to re-creating humans with cybernetic characteristics and abilities.  In the spirit of the aforementioned article and video, perhaps the more understanding we have of our own innate communication and networking capabilities as humans, the closer we get to achieving the form of AI that truly represents who we are as humans.  In a theological sense we are turning the doctrine of creation on its head.  Rather than God creating man in His own image, we are trying to create beings in OUR image; to some that would seem a rather presumptuous undertaking.

I have included the url for the article and video here again for reference.

https://t.co/2tmt3kvJs5

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