Facebook Inc. has become Meta. A name change, the company says, is a step towards its ultimate goal of creating a ‘metaverse’ of virtual and augmented reality that will make for a more immersive experience of ‘content’. Now, as an introvert (and a lazy person), I quite like the idea of being able to be somewhere else without having to go there. But, Mr. Zuckerberg, the Zuck or whatever you like to call him, says that meetings will no longer be just grids on a screen but it will feel like making actual eye contact with other participants. That put me off.
I love tech. I enjoy browsing, if not buying, new gadgets that have become available. I love that I no longer have to take my phone out of my pocket to take a call, read a text or change a song. I love that. Technology brings a lot of comfort and convenience. It is an incredible time to be alive. But is there a limit? Is there a point after which innovation becomes mundane? Does there come a time when we’re doing it just because we can and scrambling for viability and usability?
Elon Musk has claimed that with his incredible Starlink satellites he will provide internet to the farthest reaches of Africa with data travelling at incredibly high speeds. The company has also, through its country manager in India, laid out an outlook that is, at first glance, almost philanthropic. The company wants to provide its lightning fast internet services to rural areas where normal broadband services are difficult to come by. Great! We can finally connect all those happy people to the misery of the internet.
Now, now, calm down. I understand acutely the need to connect to the internet especially in the current circumstances with almost everything being done online. I’m sure most people living in these disconnected places will love to have a man bring a weird machine into their village that magically connects them to the world with magic invisible light from the sky. This is not me being condescending towards the people who desperately need the internet – especially the children who have been consistently missing out on their studies in the past two years. This is me calling out the messiah complex with which both Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg lead their lives. They are leading us into the future holding aloft the bright white flame of progress – or maybe it’s just a bright red light-sabre.
At least Musk has tried to hide his megalomania behind what is, undoubtedly, a noble intention. Zuckerberg, on the other hand, with all the accusations being levelled at him and his company, especially in fomenting riots and hatred, oh, and selling of data, has decided this would be a good time to embark on a mission to not only allow people into public spaces from their own homes but also, if I have understood the functionality correctly, I may be wrong (I hope I am), into the private spaces of others. We don’t yet know how far the metaverse will reach and what the privacy settings will be, but one thing is for sure, the internet is about to get much more intrusive.
As a teacher and an academic, it is a dream to be able to teach students from even the most remote part of the country or to attend lectures of the finest minds around the world with no one having to leave their homes. Make it immersive and... it would make one giddy just to think about it. But should we really believe that these billionaires have our best interests at heart? Musk wanted the night sky to be lit up by a constellation of his satellites not by the already dimming yet immense beauty of the cosmos. He has listened to the scientists and astronomers. His competitors may not. Zuckerberg gives us an incredible vision of the future that is out of the most fantastic world of science-fiction – a lot of which does not end well for Earth. Legal disclaimer: I am not saying Mark Zuckerberg is in any way trying to destroy the world with his new weap...I mean, new futuristic facility.
Speaking of the future, we may not have one in which to enjoy the fruits of Zuck’s and Musk’s efforts. With temperatures still rising and weather patterns changing, both rapidly, we may have to find a way of augmenting an underwater reality. The global temperature levels are expected to rise by 4.2-7°C by the end of the 21st century leading to more and more unpredictable weather and rising sea levels. In fact, Kolkata is likely to be the city most affected in India if emissions are not reduced with large sections of the city as well as surrounding areas submerged under water by 2050.
Perhaps we do not need a metaverse or space tourism. Perhaps what we really need is people-oriented tech research. Considering our troubles began with the Industrial Revolution originating in Britain in the 19th century, it may be worth our while to learn a few lessons about mercilessly marching towards a technologically more ‘modern’ world. Automation, a mining boom and the promise of an escape from the unpredictability of farming to the security of industry – much of it has not stopped in the last two centuries. The promise of a fixed income and a better life drove people from the countryside into towns that were not prepared for such an influx. Sanitation and hygiene was very much on the back burner which itself was put to use incinerating garbage – a practice that has still survived on a massive scale.
The Industrial Revolution set the tone for how we would view technology for the next two centuries. We embarked on a mechanisation mission on a global scale. Every available piece of land surveyed and mapped, adventures to the farthest reaches of the Earth often with colonial intentions and an unflinching focus on ‘modernisation’ without a concern for consequences – both human and natural. The combustion engine drove us to work and wonderful places; electricity gave us power over darkness; nuclear power gave us an infinite source of energy; and all of them collectively destroyed the world. By the time we realised the effects of carbon emissions in the 1960s, it was already too late and the billionaires at the head of the fossil fuel industry worked energetically to either put the blame on the individual consumer or to hide the truth entirely. We are in danger of allowing this to continue. For make no mistake, the energy industry still produces the most carbon emissions – no matter what the vegans tell you. We have become so used to having WiFi and our lights on that we seem to forget that an alarming amount of this electricity comes from burning coal.
Speaking of vegans, they are right. The meat industry does cause a ridiculous amount of pollution as does the food industry in general. The fashion industry and the tourism industry are not far behind. Do you notice a pattern? If you checked the links, you will have felt it acutely. The things that we take for granted, cause the most pollution. Therefore, most of us don’t really care that the delicious food we eat and the swanky clothes we wear today are destroying the world of tomorrow.
To be fair, it is not that we do not care, but that we do not know. The billionaires, who own the means of production of all these things, work hard to ensure we don’t know anything about how their industries pollute the world. Now, tech billionaires have not necessarily done all these things but they have made sure that we do not really know how they function in general. Indeed, Facebook has played a key role in spreading climate change denial and misinformation. They did little to stop it.
Billionaires do not have a great track record in dealing with the damage caused by their products. Facebook’s (now Meta’s) constant reluctance to stop hate speech on its platforms is a case in point. Musk’ plans to fill the night sky with his Starlink satellites was toned down only after a tremendous backlash from the astronomy community forced him to backtrack. His satellites are still ruining observations. He is just the first in a series of companies wanting to beam down internet from space. Jeff Bezos is bent on riding giant phalluses further into space as does Richard Branson. Musk wants to colonise Mars. Nobody knows what Zuckerberg is planning next. None of this seems to be of much help for 90% of the world’s population.
Billionaires have a habit of doing things in ways that protect their billions. Rarely are the actions of the super rich purely philanthropic. It is necessary, therefore, that these people are constantly viewed with suspicion. I do not mean that they should be treated as criminals in an old-school communist kind of way. But whatever they do and whatever they say should be checked and double-checked.
You might also feel after reading this article that I am rather anti-innovation. I am not, nor am I against technology and profiting off it. It does seem, however, after doing all the research that I have done for this article that it may not immediately be necessary to colonise Mars, popularise space tourism or, indeed, create a ‘superconstellation’ of broadband-providing satellites. If Musk’s true goal is to make the internet reach the darkest corners of his home continent, it is not necessary for him to send out so many satellites. Also, millions of people on that very continent do not need the internet right away. People are dying of hunger, civil wars and corruption. Large-scale deforestation is destroying unique animal species and their habitats. If Musk really cared about Africa, all of it, not just the bits that are modernised enough to need the internet, he had multiple other ways to help. He chose none of them nor did he make his internet cheaper for the people he claims to be the messiah of.
Space travel and innovation in space technology has given us many devices that we take for granted in everyday life. It is important that people continue to innovate and try new things so that important technological advancements are made to improve lives. However, forgetting the human cost and the human side of things in general is a flawed strategy that is bound to fall apart sooner or later. It is important that technological innovation is oriented towards the benefit of the general population – not only those who can afford it.
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