The fourth and final week of the E-learning and Digital Cultures course looked, like Week 3, at the concept of ‘being human’ – but from
the perspective of how technology works to redefine our notions of humanity.
The videos provided an interesting introduction to the topic, particularly
‘Robbie’ which imagined a robot with which what many would describe as ‘human’
attributes, floating around in space at the end of his ‘life’. I found this
moving and quite sad – but I’m not convinced that artificial intelligences with
‘human-like’ thoughts and feelings are the future. Maybe we are imposing our
own ideas and values onto these?
The readings, which looked at the concept of transhumanism,
were eye-opening. Despite claims of a utopian future characterised by
individual autonomy and a projected end of death and suffering, I felt deeply
distrustful of the idea that perfection could be achieved. When reading Nick
Bostrom’s piece on transhumanist values1, I found it hard to believe
it was sincere – it seemed like a spoof. As Hayles2 points out, it
focuses on individual choice and autonomy without acknowledging the wider
implications of society, and doesn’t look at what will happen in terms of
population increase if people are able to live longer.
Despite claims to the contrary, the concept of transhumanism
has echoes of Nazi-esque eugenics and cult religion. Many of the ideas seem
far-fetched, and I think they are unlikely to be realised in the near future,
if at all. The idea that human limitations can be transcended and the ‘evil’ of
death destroyed I found alternately silly and terrifying.
The articles exploring educational
perspectives were much more palatable and relevant to the online learning
context. The EPSRC document on technology enhanced learning3 argues
that learning needs to exploit the potential of technology the way other areas
of life and work have been doing for years. Broadly speaking I agree with this
idea, although I took issue with some of the generalisations made, such as that
“almost everyone in the UK has a powerful computer in their pocket” – really?
This report, like so many readings from the course, barely acknowledges the
digital divide between those who have, enjoy and are competent at using
technology and the huge numbers who have difficulty affording and using such
equipment.
Carr’s piece4 explores
the sobering idea that modern use of technology, particularly the Internet, is
changing the way we learn and think. In particular he focuses on a growing
inability to concentrate on deep, close reading of longer texts in the face of
the mass of information available at our fingertips, which we tend to click
through and skim-read. This isn’t necessarily a completely bad thing but it
serves as a reminder of the impact technology has on our learning.
Having finished the reading for
this course, my next task is to complete the assignment, which involves
creating a digital artefact relating to one or more of the topics covered.
After that I’d like to have a proper think about what I’ve got out of this
course and examine my views on MOOCs as a whole.
1Bostrom, N. (2005). Transhumanist values, Review of Contemporary Philosophy, Vol. 4. http://www.nickbostrom.com/ethics/values.html
[Accessed 21 February 2013].
2Hayles, N. K. (2011). Wrestling with transhumanism. Metanexus. http://www.metanexus.net/essay/ h-wrestling-transhumanism.
[Accessed 21 February 2013].
3EPSRC (2012). System upgrade: realising the vision
for UK education, EPSRC Technology Enhanced Learning Research Programme. http://tel.ioe.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/TELtaster.pdf.
[Accessed 21 February 2013].
4Carr, M. (2008). Is Google making us stupid? The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/.
[Accessed 21 February 2013].
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