Saturday 14 February 2009

Informative Indulgence Part 6

Wow, part 6 already.
Friday the 13th has come and gone, hopefully it wasn't too much of an ordeal for all you suspicious folk out there.

So yesterday we looked at one option that you might / might not class as a possible solution to all our shit!
Today is the second, and quite different approach, but still one that I am dissecting myself.

First of all, if you haven’t seen the second Zeitgeist film, ‘Addendum’ yet, then I recommend checking it out here first - / (and whilst you’re at it, check the first one too if you haven’t seen it either.)
The reason being, is that various solutions are brought up in Zeitgeist 2, and the film will do a better job of portraying and explaining it that I can!

Ok, so essentially, this second ‘solution’ is what has been called ‘The Venus Project’.
It’s mastermind is a guy called ‘Jacque Fresco’ and he claims to have it pretty much figured out. It’s the other end of the spectrum if you like, as this Venus Project is pretty much as futuristic as it gets.
The website for the project is here.

A video promo begins here.

Wikipedia info.

A basis for this is essentially a ‘technocratic society’ in which it is technology that is viewed as the solution. Government would not be as we know it, but instead the majority of decisions would come from the scientists etc that are skilled in certain areas pertaining to the appropriate technologies.

It’s pretty much as futuristic as you can imagine, and as Zeitgeist 2 points out, there are technologies in existence capable of making life a lot, lot easier for us. It’s just they haven’t been mentioned into the public eye.

It’s definitely an interesting proposition. The idea of a ‘Resource Based Economy’ and the idea of abundance, meaning that using technology, there would be so much material, food, water etc for everybody to have, that there would be no need for a monetary system any longer. Machines are described as doing pretty much all the work that they are capable of doing, freeing up the human life to accomplish other feats.

I personally swing both ways on this option as a solution to our problems.
I have many different points, probably that will be mentioned at a later stage, but for now;

Pros – well, I love motorbikes, what can I say, and there are other technologies which I have learnt to implement in my life and do enjoy, eg my computer, listening to music etc,
And as opposed to Zerzan’s proposed ideas of anti-civilisation, the above poses a possibility that I can still ride a motorbike, listen to some savage tunes and be on a laptop, who knows, maybe even all at the same time.
In other words, I have come to appreciate man’s inventions and technologies of various genres.

Cons – This whole idea still has a government implication, a computer government, or cybernetic. I just can’t help but think of that as something like answering to the robots in ‘I-Robot’. I.e. the thought of government is still in the picture.
As interesting as the cities and architecture looks, it does all look a bit model like for me. There’s little character in those perfectly curved globules and floating cities, for me. It all looks a bit pre-fab and generic.

And perhaps the most interesting for me, is that this is all bit on technology, or essentially the ‘silicone chip’. Yes, sand.
The bible has had it jotted down on its pages for centuries, ‘He who builds his world on sand, will truly fall’. And not just the bible, this has been apparent in other religious and ancient proverbial scripts too.
Haha, and what is this? A world built on sand.
Although, my counter to this point, which I thought of the other day, ‘How did the Egyptians build their world on sand? Like the pyramids? They’re still standing today! (But their civilization is not I guess …)’

Anyhow, there is some info on what is possible at least. Have a look at it and choose for yourself the pros and cons etc. The last quarter of Zeitgeist 2 will sum it up best, but of course bias to the ‘pro’ option.


To close;
‘First man. Then machine.’ – Honda


Some more fire coming tomorrow. Get ready ...

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