Snow Crash: The Plausible and The Implausible

Plausible
  I'm going to assume that the Metaverse is not only plausible, but where the future of the internet is heading.  Developing a Metaverse and the subsequent software to run it would be an incredibly lucrative business. I could see a large technology based organization like Apple creating a monopoly on it.
  With that said, I think that the social affects of the Metaverse shown in Snow Crash are also very plausible. Many people in Snow Crash use the Metaverse to conduct business. Because there are still geographical barriers when doing business, many chose to meet virtually to make very real deals. If the technology is developed where an accurately physically and emotionally representative avatar could be sent in the place of actually having to make travel arrangements to meet, I don't see any reason why it would not become the chief mode of communication in the business world. It would possibly expand the networks of trust that Fukuyama spoke of in Economic Globalization and Culture because it would make it increasingly easier to  meet face-to-face, in a very new way, continuously and to form relationships regardless of geographic barriers.
  People would of course have to get over the Sims like feel of things but just like the participants of the Metaverse in Snow Crash, as technology improved, so did the legitimacy of the avatars. I can  see this hierarchy of avatars being formed based on how much money an individual is willing to spend. Clubs like "The Black Sun" would inevitably pop up in the virtual world as it does in the real world only letting in the select few that made the list or in this case, had the right programming software.

Implausible
I find the privatization of everything, especially the police, highly unlikely and very troubling. The purpose of the police, in theory, is to help stop and prevent crimes from taking place. If multiple police entities are competing for crimes to solve, who is to say that they would not become racketeers creating crime in order to give themselves jobs. I'm aware that a similar thing does exist with private security, but even they have to yield to the police.
I also don't believe that Burbclave like entities could gain enough power to become as autonomous as those seen in Snow Crash. Even the most well connected of gated communities is not completely self sufficient. They have to interact with the rest of the world and follow the laws of the general population. I also think that as brought up in class, it would be very difficult for de jure segregation in housing settlements to happen as Stephenson envisioned with the Apartheid Burbclaves that had a sign stating " WHITE PEOPLE ONLY. NON-CAUCASIANS MUST BE PROCESSED" (Stephenson 32). Of course, this pretty much does happen today but it is more of a hushed process.

Snow Crash

After reading Snow Crash I feel that the largest implausibility in my mind is that a corporation such as the one Hiro works for would ever be allowed to exist the way society is. As we know, Hiro worked for the Central Intelligence Corporation. Hiro's job would be to gain intelligence and then post submit it and if anyone purchased his information he would get a percentage of the money. This would never be allowed by government's if the world remains structured the way it is. It has been seen over the last few years that when data is leaked, nations have to scramble in order to make sure that the damage is minimized and the nation's public image does not take a massive hit from other countries or even its own citizens. Information on any topic about a nation has become some of the most heavy guarded things that a nation can have and I'm sure there is no chance that this can be turned into a legitimized business model if nations remain the way they are today.

While the CIC is the most implausible part of Snow Crash for me, I feel that the most plausible thing from the book is the level of interconnectivity amongst people on the "metaverse". While I do not think it will necessarily be as expansive or as popular as is depicted in the book I sure that there will be some game or online community that will link people all over the world since there are already some forms of that today. People from all over the world play each other in Call of Duty and Halo and other popular video games all the time and I can easily see these becoming more widespread. In addition to more individualized connectivity I believe that states can connect in this way as well through competition. Over the last few years, more global tournaments for video games have appeared and they continue to grow in popularity. In the future I can see these events becoming nation vs. nation, sort of like the Olympics. This would allow more opportunity for nations to interact and cooperate and I do not think that this is far off at all.

Horizons

Out of all things that seemed implausible in the book, what I found to be the most bothersome to me was Ahni having complete mental and physical control over herself and being able to read into what people are going to do before they have even thought of it. Scientists have been attempting to find ways for humans to tap into the other portions of our brains for decades and it still hasn't happened, nor are we any closer to being able to do that than we were before. On the other side, at least we have been making serious advances into science exploration that may allow us to eventually settle in space. Although, an upside New York on a space platform is definitely not plausible at all either. Benjamin Radford of Live Science reiterates my sentiment in stating "There's no higher gear, no untapped potential that you don't already have access to. It's a myth. The fact is that people use all of their brains. Brain-imaging research clearly shows that the entire brain is engaged." So the whole idea that we may be bioengineered  to unlock some sort of secret potential within ourselves is farfetched. 

I found the World Council to be extremely plausible in the future. We have already seen countries coming together to form unions for a common cause and these same unions may grow in strength as globalization expands. As technology develops and allows countries to interact with each other more on a social and economical level, they are going to need a separate entity to settle disputes and enforce rulings in order for the world to continue functioning properly. We have already seen attempts at creating similar councils such as the United Nations. The way I viewed it was that the World council was as a final successful form that has evolved and gained power after many failed attempts at creating a council that could actually make a difference and hold power over many different countries. 

http://www.livescience.com/13279-limitless-movie-brain-potential-myth.html

Horizons Review

I believe it is very plausible for a group like the one in Horizons, to arise as extreme protectors of the Earth that could result in violent measures. For the future I think that the increase in eco-terrorism is definitely going to be an issue.  Considering the concern with the Earth and global warming is becoming an increasing topic all over the world. Environmental Degradation will need to be addressed. It is already having its affects and has already called for international cooperation. November 2015, the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held to talk about global concerns. Also, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF),Greenpeace, and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have already been accused of eco-terrorists acts. Additionally, since past movements of development and industrialization are definitely taking their toll on the environment and will continue to be exacerbated, radical environmentalist movements are not a question of if, but when will they expand and how large will they be.

Additionally, an implausible aspect of the future is the decrease in communication. I do not believe communication will decrease, I believe it will continue to grow. The advancements of technology will make it harder to monitor and aspects of social media are the rise. Especially in democratic countries, forms of free thinking and communication will not decrease so easily. Interconnectedness and communication are important parts of society and culture. Therefore the idea that communication will be harder is a very implausible thought.

Horizons: Plausible or not?

The most implausible thing about Horizons is the platforms that hover above the Earth. If its anything like the structure on the cover of the book it is inconceivable that that could be built by humans or anything like that would be built by humans. The cost of a single structure like that would cost more than the combined GDP of every country in the world. To put it in perspective, the International Space Station cost 150 billion dollars to build. It can handle about 12 crew members at maximum capacity. If every dollar of the world's (approximate) 87.25 trillion dollars was spent on building multiple ISS, it could make 582 space stations, which would store 6984 people maximum. This does not even come close to the amount of people who lived on the platforms in the book. Even if space engineering becomes cheaper, wouldn't the money be spent of the colonization of other planets? That could actually be profitable if humans were able to mine for resources on another planet, making the huge expense of space travel worth it. Building a platform in space does not have the same advantages and outside of tourism, its difficult to imagine how the project becomes profitable.

One aspect of the book I found realistic was the existence of a world counsel with significant enforcement power. I think globalization will lead to increased interconnectedness among states economically, and as technology improves international trade will become much easier. There will be a demand for a body that can hold both states and corporations responsible when they do not follow international protocols or if they break agreements with other states. A body resembling the world counsel will fill this need, and over time it will become more powerful as more and more states become reliant on it to solve their disputes. I do not foresee this body becoming as powerful as the world counsel as it is described in the book (able to execute genetically modified people); however, it is likely this supranational body would have enough power to seize assets or even use military force when necessary.

Eyes on the Future, Head in the Present

http://www cnn.com/2015/01/22/world/gallery/future-unknown-getty-creative/

   In this aesthetic representation of what members of popular culture imagine the future to be like, there is a strong undercurrent of that which society values today. Though we are removed from the Jetsons-like future detailed in William Gibson's fictitious account of the future, there is a desire for streamlined, monochromatic humanity with a drastic emphasis on environmental consciousness. As artistic mediums provide us the opportunity to analyze current concerns, the creation of this idealist future that seemingly avoided environmental plagues and humanitarian disasters reflects the current desire of society to stamp out these ills. The globalization of concern over environmental degradation and sustainability could get us to this future, but there is never any guarantee in our predictions about what tomorrow will hold. The series of images collected by analysts for CNN also suggest a strong dependence and development of current technological standards. Considering the capital and resources that the world has invested in the technology industry in past decades, this massive expansion of technological prowess seems a well-founded prediction for the future. The final image of the series is one which evokes a sensation of overwhelming surveillance; does this highlight our current concerns over the sovereignty of the individual, the right to privacy on a global scale? The degree to which these concerns will play out in the decades to come can only be determined with time, but the globalization of ideas and ideologies surrounding the future of environmental, social, political, and security standards has the potential to expedite the rate at which these positive changes suggested by the images in the gallery can occur.

Friendships and Cultural Homogeneity

I Followed My Stolen iPhone Across The World, Became A Celebrity In China, And Found A Friend For Life

This article is written by a Buzzfeed staff member named Matt Stopera who tells a story about an international friendship formed over his lost phone. He breaks it up into three chapters. Chapter one talks about how he lost his phone. Someone stole his phone at a bar and he had accepts the fact that his phone is most likely lost forever. Later that year, pictures start popping up on his photo stream. The pictures were of a man by an orange tree (later to be known as Brother Orange). Matt figures out that his phone was stolen and sold in China so he deletes the old iPhone believing that it will end there. In Chapter two of the story, Matt talks about how he posted his story on Buzzfeed. Twitter nation then takes it upon themselves to find this man. Once they did, Matt and Brother Orange began contacting through social media every day. They soon decided to meet in person. Chapter three talks about Matts arrival to Brother Oranges hometown of Meizhou. He then realizes how truly famous him and Brother Orange have become in China. They are treated like royalty. There are press conferences, endorsements, travel ambassador appointments, visits to temples and in general, a large amount of publicity focused on emphasizing the supposedly wonderful relationship between China and the United States. It ends with Matt telling the readers that a documentary has been made about his amazing experience.

I chose this article because it reminded me of the lecture we had on cultural homogenization.  In The Drawbacks of Cultural Globalization Reading Akande talks about how African culture has become culturally disoriented and its reaction are to

1)     exaggerated attachment to an often reinvented past in the name of tradition and culture; or 

2) attempts at wholesale adoption of anything and everything foreign (Akande).

This made me think of how incredibly eager the Chinese were to have Matt endorse their products and to come visit their businesses. I don’t believe that this story would have become as popular in China if it did not involve an affluent and influential western county like America.  At the same time, it brings into question whether this whole interest was really centered on economic and not cultural homogeneity like Fukuyama argues in Economic Globalization and Culture. This story helped put the relatively unknown town of Meizhou on the map and also helped Brother Orange himself with a tough economic situation. I believe that this article has aspects of cultural homogeneity and cultural heterogeneity. 

Globalization Under Attack, on the Soccer Field

Globalization Under Attack, on the Soccer Field

Binyamin Applebaum's article in the New York Times The Upshot section discusses how the English Premier League has continuously become more and more globalized. The article begins discussing how a 21 year old Englishman by the name of Harry Kane has taken the Premier League by storm this year leading his team in goals and having a great opening performance for the English National team. This would not be such a big deal if the percentage of English players occupying spots in the league. Out of the 500 players on first team squads in the Premier League, only 37% of the players compared to the Spanish league where Spanish players made up 61% and in Germany where Germans made up 59%.This is a massive drop compared to 20 years ago when the Premier League was made up of 69% Englishmen. This has caused Greg Dyke, the chairman of England's soccer governing organization to ask the government to place restrictions on foreigners getting work visas to play in the Premier League. Even though non-English players have allowed the Premier League to become the world's largest league in the largest sport the globalization may have potentially harmed the countries individual success on the field.

I find it interesting that something as sports can have an impact on how a country begins to make immigration policies. While Parliament and no political figures in England have stepped up and agreed with Mr. Dyke's request if there is any sport that would make it happen it would be soccer. Soccer is the largest sport in the world with no close second. Every year, soccer generate millions and millions of dollars of revenue for countries through tourism and the jobs it creates and if a country feels that it needs to make a move to stop globalization to continue to profit I can definitely see it happening. If a country is willing to slow down immigration for soccer then it can expand the idea because of job loss in other industries. While I don't necessarily agree with the idea of a country closing its borders because of a sport the fear it can cause in other industries can cause a country to impede the process of globalization.