Being human in the Digital Age.

• Author: ATKINS, MICHAEL
• Position: Brief Article

As a life-long dilettante interested in how we connect the dots (which runs the gambit from how we exercise power to why we like pets), I have been convinced for some time now that we are entering a new world: a world where most of the rules have been changed and technology is running ahead of our ability to cope.

I come home from a recent conference entitled "Being Human in the Digital Age" with most of my concerns validated.

It is like predicting the Maple Leafs will lose in the Stanley Cup final. There is no joy in Mudville.

For those of us in the hinterland looking get in, the Digital Age means getting on the map, getting in the game, finding out where the jobs are and trying to get a seat at the table.

There is not a lot of concern about biotechnology, genetic engineering, or the ability of robots-to replicate themselves.

Our thought is merely how do we create a tax policy that is so attractive these people and companies will come live with us.

For those on the bleeding edge, where the innovations come hourly, where some countries get it (India) and others do not (Germany), where Moore's Law is the speed limit and Napster challenges the concept of copyright, there is growing awareness that our society is out of control.

We are capable, mostly as a result of the incredible power of computers, to figure out almost anything we choose to know.

What is new is that we are creating robotic, digital, and genetic organisms that replicate themselves.

The concept is no different than the Lovebug virus, which most of you have met.

It has caused problems worth hundreds of millions of dollars around the world.

This one little problem was caused by a couple of kids in Manila who 25 years ago would have been stealing hubcaps, not disabling computers around the world.

In our homes we eat food that is genetically engineered. There is no law demanding such foods be labeled, and certainly no prerequisite to actually tell us what has been done and what the consequences might be.

What exactly is going on in our bodies with a piece of corn that is now manufactured to be bug-resistant?

Is it better or worse than yesterday's pesticides?.

It is of course outrageous, but so far few people are concerned the emperor has no clothes.

The public either does not get it or they just trust whoever is in charge to look out for them.

We are creating antibiotics which have the unintended consequences of creating stronger, larger, more dangerous viruses.

We have massive...