I will be reviewing this book in three parts. This first post will be a summary as well as critical analysis of the first 1/3 of the book.
Summary: In the book You are not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier, Lanier discusses the internet and how we as humans play a role in it. Although Lanier criticizes the internet for much of the first 3rd of the book, he in no way hates the internet. Lanier believes the internet is a beautiful thing, and that it was made with good intentions. However, he disagree's making the internet God and letting the technologists create programs that predetermine what humans want to do. Lanier believes the society of today lowers its standards of intelligence so machines seem smart. Also, Lanier comments on the nations education system as well as facebook, declaring, "what computerized analysis of all the country's school tests has done to education is exactly what Facebook has done to friendships. In both cases, life is turned into a database."
When examining the humans and computers, humans are the independent, while the technology is dependent. Lanier notes the fact that without humans, computers would be useless. Some people in the technology world believe that in the future, technology will be so intelligent as to make copies of itself. It will eventually become so powerful that it will take over the world. Lanier, as well as myself, disagree with this notion. Human beings dictate how a computer works, or even whether it works or not. To get online, I have to turn on my computer, log onto my desktop, and then log onto the internet. How is something that I take three separate steps to come into existence going to take over the world. I think computers will always be dependent on human beings, at least while I am alive. I cannot forsee robots running the world anytime soon.'
Lanier also writes about how school tests and Facebook have turned our life into a database. I think this is definitely changing how teachers teach, and of course drastically transforming the social scene, especially for the youth of America. Creating a test that fits every single kid in the country is absurd to me. But the worse part of this scenario is how the results of these tests judge the school districts and therefore the kids. A certain child is defined by how well they have done on a test, as well as many other factors. Age, gender, and place of living all play a significant factor on how people are judged for college acceptance and employment. This information is tossed around on the comnputer, making us all statistics.
Facebook in my opinion is one of the coolest, and on the more serious side, impactful technological inventions of the twenty-first century. People are able to re-create themselves using photo's, status' and open information that hundreds and in some cases thousands of people can view. Lanier notes that this really is not a true representation of that particular person, but a sly, self-given interpretation of ones self. I believe Facebook will continue to have a gigantic impact on society as a whole.
