Week Fifteen: Future Exercises (6pts for all 3 questions)

 

1. It is ten years from now, the holiday season of 2030.  You are thinking about a present you might be getting for the holidays.  What is it?  Talk about how you did your holiday shopping,  What is your job and how are you doing it?  What is your living situation and what are the major issues of the day?  Please make these questions relevant to any appropriate holidays you celebrate.  

1. I am living in a Seattle apartment with my partner and cat, shopping online for Christmas presents. I’ve been home from my job as a narrative designer on a videogame for a little. Most of it I could probably accomplish from home, but I enjoy heading into the studio to speak with people face to face. I’ve had enough of quarantine and so has the rest of the world. We’re still careful though. Only a select amount of people can be in the studio at any given time. There are still naysayers. A lot of folks have tried moving past the virus and have contented themselves with pretending things are fine. They are not fine. We’re still arguing over climate change, racial bias, and anything else you can think of. Instead of doomscrolling for the umpteenth time, I’ve gone online to shop. I want to give my partner something he’ll enjoy, but he’s a hard person to shop for. Luckily enough, there never seems to be a shortage on Amazon. Every year seems to get more heavily involved in the buying side of things. I think everyone relishes in the uptake of commercials intruding on their personal devices. We used to pretend that we hated them, but it’s gotten so normalized that I think pretty soon we’ll even be seeing them in our dreams. It’s getting easier to just transmit the things you want to say rather than say them, and they’re relying on the upcoming quiet to keep our attention on the market. They don’t ask for your permission anymore, they just pop up and proclaim the newest tech advancement will be on sale soon. I decide to get my partner a hat with a thick enough visor to block out any pop-up holograms from the street. 

2. It is 50 years from now, the holiday season of 2070, it's looking like it might be probably that you will live to see the next century.  What are the dominant technologies of 2070 and how have they changed the way people behave and relate?  How do you fit into this technology environment?

1. The dominant technologies are personal devices. Phones used to be the norm, but it’s hard to put an actual body part away. On the upside, it is a little easier to share information. At the flick of a wrist or shake of the hand, I can know everything you want me to know about you. Makes small talk ridiculous at this point. We just get right to the point and, oftentimes, there’s no real need to talk. At least, that’s how business is conducted these days with the young folk. My partner and I still tell each other stories about our day or reminisce about our past. I know the transmission between folks makes everything easier. I’d be lying to say I didn’t use the benefits myself. I often avoid the people I’d rather not speak to by simply waving my hands. Our words have become even more sacred things. To hear someone’s voice means that they care deeply for you or respect you too much to let the binaries work it out. I know some of the new tenants in my building, but I’ve never heard their voice. I know what they look like, the type of gossip they like to spread, and the complaints they take to our landlord. I don’t know the rhythm of their cadence, their accents, or even the way they pronounce their own name. I, of course, know their name and the correct pronunciation. Hearing it from a program in my head, however, is much different than hearing someone’s own lips form their name. 

3. It is 200 years from now, the year 2220. Nobody alive today is still alive, at least in the way we think of being "alive" now.  What are the main aspects of the technology environment?  How do humans fit into this environment?  How has the technology environment changed humans?  How do your descendants live, what do they care about, what does it mean to be an artist in the world of 220?

1. Things have only gotten quieter. The exchange of information no longer relies on any physical cue. It’s just a constant ebb and flow regardless of where a person is at in space. One moment, you’re alone in your thoughts. The next, you’re speaking to a complete stranger about the weather or what they think the next update will bring. Voices are more like a vestigial structure than anything. People still have them, but they’re reserved for grand moments like a proposal or graduation. People are busy. Stopping and talking can waste precious time spent enhancing their capabilities or earning enough money to make rent. It’s hard to think with so much info in your head- friendly or corporate. In other news, salesmen have made a big comeback. Smooth-talking your way into someone’s head is an art form in and of itself. Artists themselves push to make their voices heard. They are a bit of an outlier, especially the performing arts. It’s still a valued skill, but only to the very elite. Normal folk has a hard time sitting still for too long without feeling guilty about wasted time. It’s also kind of a cultural thing to hear someone else’s voice. The lower classes don’t vibe well with it and think it almost intrusive. The world turns a bit quieter now. Peaking behind the curtains, however, would result in an overload of information. Quiet, moving parts but so overwhelming you might as well be listening to several symphonies on full blast.