Book Name: Digital VS Human
Author: Richard Watson
Publisher: Amaryllis
Rating: 5/5
Book Blurb: This is one book you need to read to prepare for the world of tomorrow.
On most measures that matter, we’ve never had it so good. Physically, life for humankind has improved immeasurably over the last fifty years. Yet there is a crisis of progress slowly spreading across the world. Perhaps this is due to a failure of vision; in the 1960s we dreamed of flying cars and moon hotels; today what we’ve ended up with are status updates and cat videos.
To a large degree, the history of the next fifty years will be about the relationship between people and technologies created by a tiny handful of designers and developers. These inventions will undoubtedly change our lives, but the question is, to what end?
What do we want these technologies to achieve on our behalf? What are they capable of and — as they transform the media, the economy, healthcare, education, work and the home — what kind of lives do we want to lead?
Richard Watson hereby extends an exuberant invitation for us to think deeply about the world of today and envision what kind of world we wish to create in the future. In a fascinating and accessible way, Digital vs Human examines the possible effects of technology on every area of our lives.
Review: Digital VS Human is a masterpiece. It will be difficult to find an equally great work on such a contemporary topic. The book is very well researched and the author must be an expert in his field to come up with such a grand book.
The first lifelike robot Sophia has already been built and Cambridge Analytica’s whistleblower has suggested our decisions can be easily manipulated provided enough data is available. Therefore, Digital VS Human is a timely work to learn about what the future may behold or may look like.
The preface itself tells you you are reading a work by a master:
“Whatever happens, we should never lose faith, because the future is always wide open. the future is shaped by the choices that we make, and these choices can always be challenged and changed even at the last minute.”
Digital VS Human touches upon a variety of topics such as Society and Culture, Media, Economy and monetary aspects, Healthcare, education, Family, and relationships. Perhaps the future will involve the use of technology in almost all aspects of our daily lives and beyond. It is interesting to learn about some fascinating scenarios that the author discusses.
The online social life which has sadly become a substitute for most people giving them illusions of a happy existence is discussed in great detail.
The greatest feat of the author is that he has kept the book pretty simple, minus the tech-lingo and this makes it an easy to read. You don’t really need to be an aeronautical engineer to understand the text. It’s that simple! And it is not an easy task to deliver in a layman’s language given the topic the book discusses. But as Sir Rutherford has said: “An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.”
“It could be argued for example, that Facebook creates happiness- but Facebook employs very few people. It is in the self- actualisation business, and allows people to express themselves themselves.”
Technology has its advantages but perhaps today it can also be argued whether technology is making our lives a bit complicated rather than what it was originally meant for- to simplify and make our lives easier.
Digital VS Human is a seminal work in its genre and is a must-read.