The Not So Fast Digest
Note: This digest is brand new and a work in progress. I will be refining its format and improving its appearance in coming weeks. The ideas here reflect the perspective of my book, Not So Fast: Thinking Twice About Technology, forthcoming this fall from the University of Georgia Press.*
Week of July 25-31, 2016
Headline of the Week
"It’s just amazing that in
this, the year 2016, a presidential candidate has to explicitly say that they
believe in science."
Other
not-very-surprising headlines of the week
"To put it bluntly, we are in the midst of a revolution of the cyber threat—one that is growing more persistent, more diverse, more frequent and more dangerous every day."
Flirtey drone delivers 7-Eleven slurpies and donuts in first commercial drone delivery to a residence (KurzweilAI)
The two companies plan to expand drone delivery tests in Reno and expect drone packages to include “everyday essentials” such as batteries and sunscreen.
If successful, the British experiment will
essentially create a high-altitude floating highway between 200 and 400 feet
above the ground. Are we ready for this transformation of air space?
Olympic Drug Cops Will Scan for
Genetically Modified Athletes (Wired)
Next
month at the Rio Olympics, officials will roll out a test for a doping method
that athletes might not even be using yet—genetic manipulation of the body’s
own cellular machinery, or gene doping.
"I
mean, it’s like this indefinite continuum of getting closer and closer to being
able to capture what a person’s natural experience and thought is, and just
being able to immediately capture that and design it however you want and share
it with whomever you want.”
“The Silicon Valley vibe is like democracy, or
religion: If everyone believes in it, it sort of becomes true.”
A new study finds a link between organizational
after-hours email expectations and emotional exhaustion, which hinders
work-family balance.
Americans are more
worried than enthusiastic about using gene editing, brain chip implants and
synthetic blood to change human capabilities
EPA
Determines that Aircraft Emissions Contribute to Climate Change Endangering Public
Health and the Environment (EnvironmentalProtection Agency)
Aircraft are the third largest contributor to
greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. transportation sector, and these emissions
are expected to increase in the future.”
Among the threats cited as drivers of this mass extinction are illegal hunting, deforestation and habitat loss, the expansion of agriculture and livestock into wildlife areas, and the growth of human populations.
Effective warnings are a growing need as
expanding global populations confront a wide range of hazards.
Think piece of the week
Werner Herzog on the
future of film school, critical connectivity, and Pokémon Go
"The question — is this
technology good or bad? — is an incompetent question."
*Disclaimer 1: When I say The Not So Fast Digest is
"a digest of the week's news," I mean news that has come to my
attention during the week in question, or that is relevant to issues that arose
during the week in question. Most of what is posted here will, in fact, be news
of that week, but some items will have appeared earlier; I always have a lot of
catching up to do. Posts of news that has not yet occurred will be rare.
Disclaimer 2: Note that the purpose of this blog (and my book)
is to provide a counterpoint to the climate of technological utopianism that
prevails in the culture today. This should not be construed as a blanket
rejection of the value of all technologies. Rather it should be seen as an
effort to encourage an attitude of reasoned skepticism toward the claims of the
enthusiasts.
