Last night, when we launched the Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds project, our friend P.W. Singer could not be with us, although he was projected onto the wall during a video we showed of "LIVE FROM DOHA," (produced by Dancing Ink Productions with the Brookings Institution from the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar last February). While we gave our presentation, P.W. was on The Daily Show talking about his book, WIRED FOR WAR.
"You just blew my f&%$#%* mind!" bleeped John Stewart, who framed the work brilliantly and gave P.W. a chance to talk about robots at war and the cultural differences of robot-perception: American enemy robots are always zapping something, Japanese people tend to glorify robot dominion.
People are always talking about "my generation this," or "my generation that," the "slacker" generation, the "greatest" generation, the flower-children, the "whiner" generation, the baby-boomers, generation X, generation Y, the "beat" generation. I've never had much of a sense of generational belonging. When I see a Rubik's Cube I think back to the eighties, it's true. But I've never had a sense of shared culture, a feeling about what it is, exactly, that connects people of my own generation aside from the fact that we're the same age.
I recently found myself at a party hosted by a couple in their late fifties. Most of the guests were the same age. We went around in a circle and each person stated what they hoped would be the most memorable characteristic of their generation. Mostly, they talked about the spirit of rebellion and protest in the sixties, with some people feeling that it was a true and authentic expression of that period and others recalling it as delusional. As the circle closed in on me, I feverishly struggled with my inability to define my own generation. That, however, was not the question. The question was, for what characteristic would I want my generation to be remembered. My answer, in brief (that night I'd had a bit of champagne and my answer might have been more monologue than bullet-point): I want my generation to be remembered not just for philosophical leadership on the relationship between human consciousness and machines, but for hardcore investigative work on the subject, particularly within the digital culture.
Watching P.W. Singer on The Daily Show filled me with a sense that the hope I stated that night for my generation actually might also end up being our defining characteristic. Had he been a complete stranger to me when I watched the clip, I would have become an instant fan. But I've known him for several years, and he is very firmly of my generation. I could not have gone as far as I did when conducting a six-month investigation for "Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast," had it not been for the perspective that P.W. offered, and the help he gave me during that time, nor would I have ended up in Doha.
"When will they turn against us?" John Stewart asked.
"I always thought that's what happened with Stephen Colbert," deadpanned P.W. Singer.
I still remember when video killed the radio star, and now, we've all got to be camera ready.
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