Paul Saffo on Cyberbia and the future

So far, at least, the technology is not autonomous to be in charge. That will be the worry for people 20 to 40 years from now. It is people who are in control. The main lesson is that we invent our technologies and then we turn around and use our technologies to reinvent ourselves as individuals, communities and cultures. We're right in the middle of that now. Take cyberspace as an example. We had this wonderful utopian vision of a new home for the mind. What we've reaped isn't cyberspace. It's cyberbia. It's this vast, bland wasteland of vulgar people and trivial ideas and pictures of half-naked starlets. But despite all the uncertainty, has there ever been a more fascinating moment to be alive?

As a global society we are performing a great experiment on ourselves. Half of the world population wants to race faster into the future. Go visit China and India. They're ready to go. And half of the world wants to drag us into the past. The problem is both sides have guns. I think there really is a reaction. A lot of people are saying enough is enough.