Articles, Social Change, Technology

I can’t sleep.

At moments like this, I find myself reminiscing about how we used to live; sleep, wake, sleep, wake. I’ve always been nostalgic, but I guess I’m still having a hard time adjusting even though I have implanted and installed a solid understanding of the change. Despite the inefficiencies that we resolved, a hint of conflict lingers inside me.

It’s amazing that it’s been almost 3 years since the UN-owned organization, formerly known as Google, achieved a global mandate to cross-compute the human genome with the archives of Wikipedia, TwitterBook, and other vast data sets. That’s nearly 40 years of details from more than 17 billion people and at least 2 billion animals, plants and other organic entities. We finally had the power at our fingertips, after years of intellectual prophesy. What would result from flipping the switch? Nobody knew. But we were open, and we were eager.

Our thoughts and actions were absorbed, scanned, processed and spat out. Every sentiment. Every inclination. Even the unconscious motivation behind each Tweet was deduced, exposed and analyzed. Pictures were scanned and facial expressions were recognized, judged, compared and contrasted. Most of human knowledge, behavior and emotion were digested into a digital process destined to produce unprecedented ramifications.

The result was shocking at first. Religious entities were unable to reconcile but their numbers were insignificant. It sounded, at first, like a joke. But the math added up.

Logic prevailed. It was not a question of “if” but rather “when”. It took a mere 3 days for the grid of Antarctic server farms to inform us of the recommendation, and only 6 more before it was implemented by the heads of states across the world. There was no sense in waiting. The result was indisputable despite natural reactionary protest. The leaders got together and quickly signed a document (as per the instruction of the machine).

With the exception of various health-related issues (mitigated by RNA interference and other related techniques), the transition occurred without significant social disruption. For more than a decade, cultures across the globe have grown accustomed to abiding by data-driven ideas and direction, and so there were few incidents of dissent. The promise of the changewas immense and irrefutable. Who were we to question the data?

There were, however, tremendous adjustments made in all economic markets. They were favourable, as predicted, but they were time-consuming and temporarily stressful nonetheless. Resources were reconfigured, re-optimized and redeployed. Agriculture was definitely hit the hardest, mainly in terms of logistical costs and re-planning. Overall, the computation ensured a relatively smooth conversion, equipped with instructions and support for all. It was quite an adjustment, but well worth it. That’s undeniable. It has been calculated. It has been done.

I can’t believe that it’s been 3 years. They have gone by well and fast for me, but I’m still experiencing occasional sleep issues. I know that this new system is right – because the data says so. It’s more efficient and beneficial for both the individual and the collective. General health-related issues have been contained and we’re adjusting well as a whole.

But alas, I lay here awake, in the 32nd hour of the day, 4 away from Newmidnight, in doubt.

Excerpt from AMR’s Journal,
Montreal, United Townships of Quebec,
Solember 12, 2038 – 32:14 SM.

Nota bene: This post is a follow-up to this post.