Maybe there’s some evolutionary force pushing us toward a complete exteriorization of our individual psychic landscapes, a mutual exposure. Clearly, we are wiring ourselves in, each to the other. We seem to be creating, through media and communications technology, what some have called a species-wide nervous system.
Predictor: Sirius, R.U.
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for Wired magazine, R.U. Sirius (real name, Ken Goffman), the co-founder of Mondo 2000, and St. Jude (Judy Milhon), a columnist for Mondo 2000 and member of the cypherpunks, write about why people share so much of themselves (sometimes too much): ”Of all the motives for self-exhibition, the most persuasive way may be the simplest: The desire to loiter in the global village square, murmuring, ‘Hello. Have a look inside. This is who I am.’ We’re social creatures, after all, and prone to hunger for some acknowledgement by the media through sheer volume of opportunitty, not getting yoru 15 minutes makes you feel pale, insubstantial… disappeared. Finally, as John Barlow and others have suggested, maybe there’s some evolutionary force pushing us toward a complete exteriorization of our individual psychic landscapes, a mutual exposure. Clearly, we are wiring ourselves in, each to the other. We seem to be creating, through media and communications technology, what some have called a species-wide nervous system … The mass value system has come around to supporting hipness. There we may have the thin wedge for some higher level, like they say, discourse: Big planet behavior may be about to drop into our hands. Too bad we’re still toting the luggage from the burg we just left.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Relationships
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: The Medium is the Message and the Message is Voyeurism
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.02/voyeur_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney