This document outlines a journey from being beasts to becoming superheroes to gods using technology. It argues that as technology allows us to be present anywhere and anytime through things like telephones and computers, we are building "superconductors for our minds" that transcend biological limitations. However, privacy issues arise when sensual data is converted to symbols that computers can understand and share. The document suggests we must resolve this tension between privacy erosion and enhanced presence. It speculates that the trajectory of technology development may lead humanity to become "Homo evolutis" that deliberately directs its own and other species' evolution, achieving a god-like state of being everywhere through advanced communication technologies.
28. Our beastly reality:
We try to replicate “being there”
at some other place and time
PRESENT
SUB-PRESENT
“Like being there”
“Worse than being there”
Audio fidelity
Cognitive fidelity
Conversational fidelity
Source: Joe Burton, CTO, Plantronics
29. Our superhero desire:
Better than “being there”
PRESENT
SUB-PRESENT
SUPER-PRESENT“Better than being there”
“Like being there”
“Worse than being there”
Audio fidelity
Cognitive fidelity
Conversational fidelity
Capability fidelity
Character fidelity
Source: Joe Burton, CTO, Plantronics
39. “I think we're going to move from
a Homo sapiens into a Homo
evolutis: a hominid that takes
direct and deliberate control
over the evolution of his species,
her species and other species.”
—Juan Enriquez
Biologist