Having a computer implanted into our brains sounds kinda cool. Cool in the sense that we would have something there to help us think, something there to give us access to the internet wherever and whenever we need it. In a world driven by competition, having a neural implant would certainly give the user a leg up on those around them. Without having to study, school would be easier; without having to know a trade, work would be a breeze. But as I've found in the first few chapters of Feed, having a direct connection to the "Feednet" has several downsides—loss of intelligence and privacy, to name two.
Having something there to answer all of our questions prevents us from learning. It's sort of like being young and asking our parents the meaning of a word. Mine usually told me to find out the old fashion way—dust off a dictionary and look it up. If they did tell me, I might remember it for the remainder of the day, but I would be lucky to recall it down the road. Somehow, the physical action of flipping through the pages of a dictionary and finding a word forces our brains to store the information away. For Titus, who's had access to Feednet since birth, functioning without a feed is difficult; when he wakes up in the hospital without access to Feednet, he can't even identify the action of a boat's rudder when examining the painting of a sailboat.
But there are more downsides than simply loosing intelligence; as Titus's and his friends trip the moon shows, with access to Feednet brings a loss of privacy. As soon as they step off of the shuttle, they are blasted by advertising from local stores. The ads, however, aren't intended for a mass audience. Instead, they are directed at an individual based on his or her particular interests. As Violet explains, companies gather statistics on what each user searches for, what they buy, what they bookmark, etc., and then sell the information to local stores, who then spam users with recommendations on future purchases. This massive loop leads to the overall loss of one's privacy.
Feed has shown us that the future of technology brings many detriments to humanity, including a loss intelligence and privacy. If society envisions the use of such neural implants, it is almost a sure bet we will end up like the characters in the novel. Hopefully this will not be the case.
I agree that having a computer in your brain that can help you and inform you at any moment does sound kind of enticing. But I do agree that the downsides would out-weigh the positives. The example you gave of losing privacy, and I agree that this would be a major downside. We already hear the argument that Facebook and other addictive technologies that we do not have implanted in our brains is detrimental to the youth's sense of privacy. I feel that having a media source that is already mixed with your biology would create problems that are not even seen in this book. To be honest, I am not even sure that I would want these feeds when I consider that a trip to the moon becomes the only time when I can be alone, or when my ability to learn and question is lessened because I am spoon fed everything I know about the world.
ReplyDeleteCynic that I am, I'm betting that the wealthy will get something like a Feednet with an ad-blocker (something John points out in his blog that Anderson's characters miss).
ReplyDeletePoorer folks might get a brain-computer interface with advertisements or some sort of contracted labor for the company after finishing college (that's a cyberpunk theme that none of our works have covered: new indentured work).
I hope I'm wrong. In any case, I love my privacy and want a keyboard mediating between me and constant contact...you poor Millennials are always in touch, and I suspect there will be a price to pay. I'm sure that was one of Anderson's motives for this novel.