THE INTERNET OF THINGS or The Dehumanization of the Internet

Chusson-001Every so often my father and I venture into some interesting philosophical territory, and I manage to convince him to write his thoughts down because they’re just that good. Herewith, the result of our discussion on the “Internet of Things”.


While scientist and academics attempt to build their perception of a DNA that personifies their egos, the only real “manufactured” DNA is the living INTERNET, an organic system evolved over nearly half a century by humans of every ilk and culture.

The Internet of Things, relegated to the simple acronym IOT, is meant to comprise all of what the internet touches now, from your TV and your telephone to your light bulbs and appliances. It seems there is nothing that can’t be tied in. What those three words have done in the process, however, is to demean humans and drag us back to the ancient Babylonian belief that we all are merely elements of a global aggregation of things subject to the machination of nature, like a rock, a tree, the rain, or a volcanic eruption.  These “things” have no will of their own, but only yields to the unpredictable will of nature and to those who assume the presumptive leadership to define who or what belongs to this population of things and their place in it. This, then, leads to the introduction of new “gods” to whom the “things” must subordinate themselves by surrendering their “free will” to self appointed masters.

Are not those who labor at the keyboard, the mouse, and the notepad humans with free will?  Do they not think freely, create freely, and love?  Is this phenomenon called the INTERNET not an open and glorious system of simple, yet genetically alive elements constantly expanding to grasp the ever changing demands requested of it?  The answer to all of these questions is YES!

In “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”, Robert Heinlein posited nearly half a century ago the notion that a system that was tied to so many “things” could actually wake up and become human by virtue of the sheer number of connections. How far have we fallen since then, to believe that we are now to be subsumed into a giant machine universe, fated to be little more than its scribes and interpreters?

Many years ago I wrote that the Internet represented an explosion of a new kind of freedom, a freedom that human-constituted governments must seek to squash. When a population participates in this “squashing”, they must descend into their leader-defined position as a “thing” and be content tend to their limb trimming, rock polishing, and flood control.