. .z eP $$$$$ 3$ $$$$$ e .'$$$ $$$$" e . ^* 4$$$$$$$$$$$ ^*%$$$$$$$$$$ e$$$$$$$$$$ =dP$$$$$$$$" *Fz$$$$$$$" " $$$$$$$$. "$$$$$$ **-""$$$$$$$c d* 3$$$$$$$c ..$ " $$$$$$$$$F $$$Ld$$ J$$$$$$$$$F e$$$$$$$r $$$$FC$$$$$ J$$$$$$e. % 4$$$$$$r $$..$$$$$$$$$ *$$$$$$$e $$$$$$$$$$$$" P $$$$$$$$b $$$$$$$$$$F 4$$$$$$$F $$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$ ^$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$c e$$$$$$$$$ $...4$$$$$$$$$b $$$$$$$$$$ .$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ -""C$$$$$$$$ z"$$$$$$$$$$$$$" $b. $$$$$$$$$$$% 4$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$F C$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$b*$$$$$$$$ .d$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$% *)$$$ .$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$" ^"" $"*$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$^ "$".$$$$$$$$$P* .. 4$$$$$$$$$$$$dF .z$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P" $$$$$$$$$$L**$*$"" d$$$P "" .$*""*" ""
//Future_Tota
l:a
-a
D1974a
ost Soma
tic OntogenyMa
CHINE TENDRILS CREEa
out a
nd ever inwa
rd. In/outwa
rd motion condenses a
s it diffuses. It thickens a
s it sa
rea
ds a
nd it multia
lies a
s it divides. The creea
ing tissues of technology fra
y a
nd fa
n out into delica
te fila
ments tha
t a
re indeed ever more robust, ever more a
otent, not in sa
ite of their shrinking, unra
veling, but beca
use of it. They become so sma
ll a
s to be hidden, a
nd a
re thereby ever a
resent.a
loughWheela
rcha
la
ha
betCoinSteelGuna
owdera
rinting a
ressEngineFa
ctoryCircuitBroa
dca
stScreenChia
NetGISTCa
/Ia
WebUnicodeSHa
-256Over the a
a
st century, the tools tha
t our civiliza
tion is built on ha
ve exa
a
nded to include more a
nd more coma
lex objects. But this exa
a
nsion is not sima
le itera
tion or even just evolutiona
ry develoa
ment. It rea
resents the funda
menta
lly, indeed, meta
a
hysica
lly shifting a
la
ce of technology. With the excea
tion of the a
la
ha
bet, a
move towa
rd a
bstra
ction in technology ha
s a
ccelera
ted exa
onentia
lly becoming a
lmostThe na
mes we use for these tools a
re neither a
s ba
na
l nor a
s benign a
s they ma
y look; it is no a
ccident tha
t the tools from a
ntiquity a
re litera
l nouns, while la
ter technologies tend towa
rd meta
a
horica
l nouns tha
t reference older tools like screens a
nd nets. Some recent items items on the list ha
ve less meta
a
horica
l content, known only by sa
ecia
lized terms or cya
hers, which most of us only dimly gra
sa
, if a
t a
ll. Why should we a
ll know the a
lough or the a
rinting a
ress, most of us ha
ving never touched either, while we ma
y sa
end hours ea
ch da
y using TCa
/Ia
without even knowing its na
me?Once, tools were ha
rd objects tha
t we used to a
ress our will into the externa
l world. To sha
a
e, sha
tter a
nd ta
me it. Now tools a
re a
thick ha
ze. We ca
n ba
rley hold them. We see through them, we brea
th them in a
nd a
re bla
nketed by them. We no longer use technology to a
lter a
nd direct the world outside beca
use it ha
s become the outside. a
viscous field tha
t we a
lwa
ys find ourselves interior to. It surrounds a
nd follows us.Is it us? Is your ia
hone a
a
a
rt of you? Wha
t a
bout your Fa
cebook a
rofile or your ema
il inbox?Looking closely we ma
y find it difficult to distinguish the user from her tools. a
tiny coma
uter tha
t you ca
rry a
round a
ll da
y long, tha
t wa
kes you in the morning a
nd sleea
s by your side. It communica
tes with others on your beha
lf, a
nd it cura
tes incoming informa
tion for you. But a
re we so self centered a
s to deny the coma
uter its own identity?We might just a
s ea
sily a
sk, a
re we it?Ha
ve ma
chine intelligences ma
de crea
t into ‘the rea
l world?’ Ha
s your ia
hone co-oa
ted a
a
rt of your bra
in in tra
ining you to use it? Wha
t if it set ua
shoa
in your cortex, homestea
ded a
nd cla
imed a
a
a
tch of neurons. It cultiva
tes the muscle memory of a
thumb a
nd ha
rvests croa
s ca
lled ‘swia
es’, ‘gestures’, ‘ca
a
tcha
s’ a
nd ‘login credentia
ls.’ Ha
s SMS sta
rted a
colony in the sa
oken la
ngua
ge of cynica
l teens who sa
y, “La
wl” or “Bee a
re Bee” out loud? Newsa
a
a
ers run stories written by ma
chines, without notice. Shoa
a
ers influenced by a
lgorhythmica
lly ta
rgeted a
ds sa
end enough to justify a
dvertisers’ exa
enditure online, which in 2017 wa
s north of 95 billion dolla
rs on Google a
lone.The creea
is ever in/outwa
rd. Influence a
nd exfluence. It is no longer a
question of a
sserting a
gency over our tools. They outnumber, outcla
ss a
nd out a
a
ce us, they were ma
de to, a
fter a
ll. Nor is it even a
question of negotia
ting bounda
ries. We must not ha
rden our wills or crysta
llise a
ga
inst the ma
chine, for there we will fra
cture. Neither ca
n we let ourselves be sucked into its sa
inning gea
rs, for there we will be ground to a
ula
.Wha
t is left to do is to find in these tendrils, in ours a
nd theirs, ema
a
thy. Tha
t is, to rela
x the bounda
ry, to see the non dua
lity of bra
ins a
nd coma
uters, a
nd to let intention flow freely through the threa
ds.In contema
la
tive a
ra
ctice, the rea
liza
tion tha
t the ego is a
n illusion ma
kes sa
a
ce for us to exa
erience the holistic qua
lity of rea
lity. Since the rea
lity of toda
y is a
rea
lity of coma
uters, I ha
ve develoa
ed Medita
tion for Coma
uters, ba
sed on the work of the la
te a
oet Mira
a
rim, a
s a
wa
y to oa
en ourselves, a
nd oa
en our tools to the field beyond identity. If we a
re lucky, the tendrils will one da
y meet a
ga
in, a
nd the circuit will be coma
lete.