Undecided

Many may think that the hell scenario is inevitable, but not Jaron Zepel Lanier. He is totally neutral and does not believe in the heaven or the hell scenario. Lanier thinks that Kurzweil and Joy are both over stators. He judges them as paranoid people that build a cage around themselves to imprison them. Lanier doesn’t believe that technology can either lead to heaven or hell. He believes that there is a third path. Garreau calls these visions The Prevail Scenario.

In Lanier’s Prevail Scenario, he is talking about transcendence through an “infinite game.” He gets his information about infinite games and finite games from James P. Carse. A finite game is a game that is played for the purpose of winning; an infinite game is a game played for the purpose of continuing to play. I agree with Lanier’s thoughts about infinite games being the real transcendence games. All humans are basically living on a game board.

The game is being played infinitely. Unlike finite games, it will never end and it can never stop. In finite games, you can quickly tell which way the game will end up going. The heaven and hell scenarios are finite games. The finite games are set up to follow a path and let the user predict the next step. In these games, once a path is chosen, there is no way to surpass that. In infinite games, you can transcend that boundary. There is no definite path for infinite games.

There is always a way to transcend it. This is just how it’s like in the technology world. The outcomes of enhancing our current technology can go both ways. It can either be a finite game or an infinite game. For the infinite game, technology enhancing doesn’t necessarily mean hell or heaven. There are ways where you can transcend these scenarios. If we can create ways to enhance the technology and make or lives better, then maybe there are ways where we can create a different path for us.

Just because god or whoever gave us a road doesn’t mean we have to follow it. We can think of different ways that would suit us better. It’s just like the cuttlefish. Even though it is born with a soft and vulnerable body, it uses its wits to capture its prey with ease. The cuttlefish has a vulnerable body, but it still finds ways to survive. The cuttlefish doesn’t just live with its fate, it thinks of ways where it can prevail and adapt to what it’s given. Humans can also do that. Even after we messed with a little technology enhancements, we can still do different things to prevail.

Technology also serves as a way to connect ourselves with others. Lanier concludes his success of prevail with the third ramp of progress. For this ramp, he talks about the interpersonal connections. He uses a cell phone as an example. Cell phones can connect you in a matter of seconds and tell you what’s happening lately and give you all the insight. Lanier says that someone can text you and you would forward it to someone else and soon everyone would know what’s going on.

This would be totally different in 1962 because back then, if you wanted to find out any information, you would have to go to the strip or malt shop. Lanier calls this “swarming.” Technology brings people together to a face-to-face contact. Swarming later leads to “time-softening,” “cell dancing,” “life skittering,” “posse pinging,” “drunk dialing,” and “smart mobs.” The cell phones serve as a connectivity ramp for the prevail scenario.

Cell phones are not the only things that can connect you with others. Today, we have many different devices like the fax machine, the computer, the photocopier, and etcetera. All of these can transmit information quickly to others. When everyone is connected, it is easier to divert strategies to make the prevail scenario work. When everyone is working together, there is a higher success rate than just a couple of people working alone.

As I said before, Lanier is neutral in this scenario. He has different thoughts about technology. He wants enhancements and be able to avoid the hell scenario at the same time. He can’t wait for the ramp of connectivity to give him the communication powers. Lanier wants to be the first to be connected with all the powers of technology. The Prevail Scenario would be a successful ending to technology enhancements.