"Do not try to bend the spoon—that’s
impossible. Only try to realize the truth", an enlightened boy posited to
Neo, the main character.
"What truth?" he replies.
"There is no spoon."
We don't (yet) plug into a simulated experience
like humans do in The Matrix, but we
do create avatars of ourselves that think like us, feel like us, and act like
us. My question is: when does the avatar start thinking for us?
What if I were to propose to you that we have
already begun the process of forming, living in, and assimilating into the
matrix (or what I am going to call "the Network") here in the real
world? Social media has created a whole 'nother universe that parallels our own
which is slowly starting to become the catalyst for real world interactions. In
this five part series, I would like to pick apart the uses of social media in
order to evaluate its purpose in society and its potential for molding the real
world around us. You don't need me to convince you of the power of the social
network. You probably ran across this blog post through someone in your
network. Its ubiquitous nature is undeniable, but its power has largely gone
unchecked or unevaluated. This is my attempt…
Before I begin in detail I would like to set
out a few presuppositions before you. First, I am assuming that the brain works
in a network. Each synapse in your brain correlates to a certain idea,
construct, or action and is connected to other synapses via electrical and
chemical firings that are prompted by external or internal stimuli. (Where this
impetus comes from no one [that I know of] knows) Likewise, I am assuming that
the electrical wiring that makes computers—and consequently, the
Network—function also fires between nodes in a similar manner.
Input --> connection^x --> pattern --> output.
The now infamous Edward Snowden leaks revealed
something interesting about the nature of digital imprints. The NSA, he said,
can gather bulk data on users including their social media posts and create
webs of associations and patterns of activity. Now, if webs and patterns can be
formed by persons' activities does it not stand to reason that these
patterns—which will most likely replicate themselves over time due to the
nature of behavioral patterns—could be interpreted to predict behavior?
Furthermore, could these patterns of digital connections essentially mirror
brain activity? For example, let's just that synapses X, Y, and Z are being
used to form idea A^1. Now if that same idea is expressed within the network
then a pattern will also manifest in electrical impulses in the electronic
world. Let's call that pattern A, B, and C = A^2. Therefore, it would stand to
reason that X+Y+Z = A+B+C. The only difference is the realm or world that the
pattern takes place in—either the real world or the Network. 
If real world experiences are indeed mirrored
in the Network then a ghost—or a digital imprint of those recorded
activities—exists permanently within the ether of the Network. If enough of
these patterns form and replicate over time then they could form a metapattern
that could essentially predict behavior in the "real world" given
certain stimuli. The advantage that the Network has is that it functions with
the might and power of the processing capabilities of the servers on which they
are housed. Due to the multi-billion dollar backing of the Network by The
Corporation—for all practical purposes—these connections are made instantly.
Therefore, for the avid social media user their lives are being mirrored; interpreted
and processed; and conclusions and predictions drawn—all in real-time.
Are there any benefits to this process? Surely.
The advantages are that if someone is self-criticizing enough then they can
monitor their patterns and alter them based on their desired outcome (their
ideal avatar of themselves). The disadvantages are more numerous. Not many
folks take the time to look backwards and evaluate their words and actions.
Mostly they continue along their own linear timelines and make decisions based
on the illusion that they have a choice. (Behavioral patterns and inclinations
are predetermined even if individual actions are not.)
If every move you make is recorded on the
Network then a ghost of yourself is imprinted there that—thanks to privacy policies
and content agreements—exists apart from yourself. In short, a ghost of you
exists in the digital world that has a life of its own. You don't control it.
(Even scarier—someone owns it.)
In a recent interview on The Daily Show with
Jon Stewart, Michio Kaku a theoretical physicist and all around smart guy
noted that the Obama administration has approved a $1B project to map the
connections of the brain to make a person's personality available to future
generations after their body has died.[1]
If a stationary map can be made of the brain then why could not some catalyst
charge give it the impetus to repeat its patterns? It could think. You could
think. Outside your body.
Now, humans are meant to be in community. No
person exists outside of the connections they've made with other living beings
or the "outside world". If your personhood is stored and firing in a
digital file that produces a personality and we are a compassionate society
then you would think that we would try to connect your newly extrabiological and
transcendent presence into a community of like-minds (see what I did there?).
I think that social media is the first step in
mapping these connections in a community. By creating patterns of our
actions, affections, and platitudes we are creating a digital imprint or ghost
in the Network. We are creating idealized portraits of ourselves to interact
with other people's idealized portraits of themselves. In this way we are
creating a rudimentary parallel world where these ghosts interact. One day this
process holds the potential to hold our consciousnesses and allow them to exist
solely in the ether. We can't plug in yet, but the mapping has begun.
I do think that the ghosts are starting
to act on our behalf. Do I think that our digital imprints have somehow gained
consciousness and are purposefully affecting or daily decisions? No, not yet.
However, in the little under a decade or so that social media has exists think
about how many electrical (neural) pathways have been created between people,
ideas, activities (history), and a plethora of other experiences. These
pathways (or patterns) have already begun to be processed. How do you think
that advertisements are tailored just for you? I recently read an article that
said that megachain Target's algorithm can predict when a woman is pregnant
before even she knows based on her activity.[2]
If Target can do it think about what the higher sciences can do. Furthermore,
how many “real life” arguments have you had thanks to a wrong “like” here or
messaging the wrong person there? Why did it matter? Because your pattern is
you.
In this five part series on social media I want
to explore the reasons why I (and we) use this Network and if it is worth being
plugged into the matrix. In the interest of transparency I will warn you that I
am writing this as a sort of meta-external-processing in which I am going to
try to figure out whether I want to continue plugging in. This is my journey
evaluating and attempting to check the power of the Network before it has the
power to say, "I am" (and I am not).
The Network seems to offer four basic
functions: Entertainment, External Processing, Networking, and Medicine.
PART II coming next week...
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