Newsweek has an article online that has been the topic of much discussion:
Is technology changing our brains? A new study by UCLA neuroscientistGary Small adds to a growing body of research that says it is. And according to Small’s new book, “iBRAIN: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind,” a dramatic shift in how we gather information and communicate with one another has touched off an era of rapid evolution that may ultimately change the human brain as we know it. “Perhaps not since early man first discovered how to use a tool has the human brain been affected so quickly and so dramatically,” he writes. “As the brain evolves and shifts its focus towards new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills.”
Uranus is the planet of technological innovation, and ever since it was discovered in the late 1700s the technological revolution has accelerated exponentially. I believe it won’t be long before computers will be wired directly into our brain!!
Since Neptune entered Aquarius in the late 1990s following the Uranus/Neptune conjunction of 1992-1995, the boundaries between humans and technology (Uranus/Aquarius) have blurred (Neptune). When Uranus entered Pisces in 2003, instigating the mutual reception that has been in place since then with Uranus in the sign ruled by Neptune and Neptune in the sign ruled by Uranus, this blurring has increased exponentially. So really, for the last 15 years we have been wandering into uncharted technological territory. This period saw the explosion of the internet and the wiring of nearly every human being on the planet into the World Wide Web.
This hard-wiring of technology into our brains comes easier for those of us who are already rather electric in nature, with Uranus strong in our charts. For others it’s a more difficult process.
For many, the online and wired world is already more real than the world of nature. Can a more natural way of experiencing the world live in harmony with this technological alteration? Only time will tell.
posted October 24, 2008 at 5:54 pm
‘The Singularity is Near’ – by Ray Kurzweil. Try this link:
http://www.singularity.com/
Also, it will be coming out in movie form (thank God, because the book was too technical for moi) in early 2009. http://www.singularity.com/themovie/
posted October 24, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I foresee an organized backlash to this type of existence coming soon.
posted October 25, 2008 at 1:13 am
I am 6th house Aquariuas with Uranus in Taurus midheaven and many planets in earth. (1941) My Mom was an Aquarius who had a hobby of learning everybody’s birthdays and doing her own informal research on sun signs so seems I was born with astrology in my world. I was also born into a paternal family of farmers and gardeners and had a deep love for nature. I studied and practiced astrology and organic gardening together in the early years and during my first Saturn return in Taurus. I loved working with plants and growing things. Also learned to garden by the Moon. I went on to get really serious about astrology and esoterics in general including a lot of psychology and philosophy. Practiced Yoga and meditation too. In 1996 with Uranus in Aquarius I surprised everybody in the house by announcing that I wanted my own computer. I had refused the idea before, saying I didn’t need one because I had it in my brain. I volunteered to do a very large family newsletter for my Mom’s large extended family monthly in order to make myself sit at the thing and learn to use it. I had been watching the times when there would be a large gang up of planets in Capricorn (my 6th) but little did I suspect that computers and the internet would enter into the scene with them. Well after 12 years and Neptune through Capricorn and Aquarius my days have become more and more focused on and concerned with activities centering around the internet. Because I was a meditator and yogi and will say that I became very familiar with the working patterns of my brain over time I feel qualified to observe that yes! my brain operations and processings have changed. Has it physically changed? I don’t know but it certainly has functionally changed. When Saturn went into Virgo I noticed a strong draw to more involvement with the garden and house plants and have found it very restorative and regenerating. I’m also returning to a previous intense interest in ecology and concern with our water, air and so forth.
posted October 25, 2008 at 11:38 am
An interesting concept. Actually, direct wiring of the brain to a computer would be a rather inefficient way to do it. It would be easier to use a device to read the electromagnetic field inside the brain and that is where the technology is heading.
As far as an organized backlash to it goes, that will end up the same way that every other attempt to organize a backlash against technology has. It will look like it was run over by a steamroller.
As to the relationship between humans and nature? It won’t matter very much. Those who will care won’t matter and those who matter will not care.