We will someday see the [cyber]species that we make as being as beautiful as a butterfly … Our chief chore is taking on the duties and responsibilities of gods … I believe technology is unadulteratedly good in our world, just as life is good on our planet.
Predictor: Kelly, Kevin
Prediction, in context:Christopher Scheer wrote the following about Kevin Kelly in a 1995 essay for The Nation in which Scheer expresses concerns over the impact of technology: ”I see it all the time now – people talking about technology and glowing, as if they are getting a glimpse of some divine manifestation parting the clouds. Wired executive editor Kevin Kelly seems to see it, looking out the window of his ‘future-friendly’ magazine’s unpretentious warehouse loft into a brooding, gray San Francisco sky that promises me only a good drenching on the long walk back to the subway. ‘Technology is beautiful,’ he says, and it’s only going to get more so. ‘We will someday see the [cyber]species that we make as being as beautiful as a butterfly.’ But the middle-aged Kelly is not seeing a blue Krishna or a fey Jesus hovering over the Mission District, he’s finding a divinity in himself – and in you. ‘Our chief chore is taking on the duties and responsibilities of gods,’ he says, explaining that the ultimate expression of ‘humanness’ is the act of creation, whether it be the creation of love, art, technology or new species. ‘We are gods, so we might as well get used to it:’ he avers, quoting Whole Earth guru Stewart Brand. Progress, as Kelly sees it, is the development of more and more ways for us to fulfill our inherent promise as creators. As editor of Wired, he is a high priest in the cult of human potential, with technology as his holy scepter … ‘I believe technology is unadulteratedly good in our world, just as life is good on our planet,’ says Kelly, who believes it is misguided romanticism to think we’re not quantum leaps happier than the noble savages of yore. But what about all the damage we’ve caused to the planet with our technology? ‘The solution to bad technology is better technology,’ Kelly affirms blithely.”
Biography:Kevin Kelly was the author of the book “Out of Control” and the first executive editor of the highly influential Wired magazine. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Human-Machine Interaction
Name of publication: The Nation
Title, headline, chapter name: The Pursuit of Techno-Happiness
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?Did=000000001832569&Fmt=3&Deli=1&Mtd=1&Idx=42&Sid=1&RQT=309
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney