Excellent essay. A number of people over the years have pointed out that aspects of the medieval worldview are returning. The Internet of Things bewtiches everyday objects, making them "smart," so they can talk and listen to us. We speak like wizards into the air to make our invisible lackeys do things. And, as you say, Apple's project is to make us see no division between matter and spirit, the physical and the mental -- which is how medieval peasants saw their universe.
The theologian Marika Rose proposed some years ago that the medieval picture of the universe, in which God's love flows except where impeded by sin, has returned with "surplus value" taking the place of love, and impediments to the free flow of capital taking the place of sin.
Btw I too am creeped out by the phony-eye thing. I wonder if in some future decade everyone will have a screen they project of themselves. If so I suppose the witty interplay of your "real" self and your projected self will become part of fashion.
I love this essay. It's not only a wicked review of the latest gadget with which Big Tech seeks to manipulate us. It's also a profound work of cultural history, which links this gadget to the religious origins of modern science and art. Holy cow. You set the bar too high for the rest of us, Margaret!
Thanks JH! I do love the story of perspective, which profoundly links art+science, and now tech. I wrote about this in my Space book and will be retelling it also in my new book about the concept of "dimension" in math, physics, data science, culture and now in AI systems.
Excellent essay. A number of people over the years have pointed out that aspects of the medieval worldview are returning. The Internet of Things bewtiches everyday objects, making them "smart," so they can talk and listen to us. We speak like wizards into the air to make our invisible lackeys do things. And, as you say, Apple's project is to make us see no division between matter and spirit, the physical and the mental -- which is how medieval peasants saw their universe.
The theologian Marika Rose proposed some years ago that the medieval picture of the universe, in which God's love flows except where impeded by sin, has returned with "surplus value" taking the place of love, and impediments to the free flow of capital taking the place of sin.
Btw I too am creeped out by the phony-eye thing. I wonder if in some future decade everyone will have a screen they project of themselves. If so I suppose the witty interplay of your "real" self and your projected self will become part of fashion.
I love this essay. It's not only a wicked review of the latest gadget with which Big Tech seeks to manipulate us. It's also a profound work of cultural history, which links this gadget to the religious origins of modern science and art. Holy cow. You set the bar too high for the rest of us, Margaret!
Thanks JH! I do love the story of perspective, which profoundly links art+science, and now tech. I wrote about this in my Space book and will be retelling it also in my new book about the concept of "dimension" in math, physics, data science, culture and now in AI systems.
Great post, I learned a lot
Avram Miller: https://twothirdsdone.com/2023/06/09/what-would-steve-jobs-have-thought-about-the-vision-pro/