Disconnect to connect (So let’s visit Tholos!)

Tholos visit

Monday Notes: Disconnect to connect

Google as Panopticon? And my right to be (digitally) forgotten? By looking to super-artificial intelligence we actually reducing the human. Because, Sometimes imperfection is perfection.But why not merging with AI to grow up our humanness to the next level?On the other hand, I trust more on a human being that carries a story, a life, pain and joy in they body.And I long for the old era, when things were far more simple. At the end, why we do all this? What are we looking for? The fact is that we are already in a symbiotic relationship with technology. But being on a smartphone’s screen for 5 hours daily scares me; maybe it was better before. Are we simply algorithms with flesh? And does psychotherapy mean debugging a defective human, like debugging software code? No, behaving like being intelligent, does not imply that your really understand the intimate meaning. Intelligent means having a body and a history. Nevertheless, we can’t be sure about the future. And we have to ask, how far we want to go? Do we want to create something that knows better than us? Is it inevitable? Do we need a Panoptes therapist? Is it possible to establish a therapeutic relationship with an artificial psychotherapist? Vulnerability is at the core of human existence, and maybe we need a reset.


Presensing (Present-Sensing) the Future

Beginning from setting the question “Angel vs Devil”, we move to a fused future. With respect to the human vulnerable nature, we have to use our imagination and think outside predetermined categories, to expand our views. Our ultimate guide to this inevitable journey to a symbiotic relationship is our craving for feelings, our emotional presence.

Group 1 (Inge – Philippine – Thomas – Alice)

“Angel vs Devil”

 

Group 2 (Annabella – Melina – Torge)

Fused future – Symbiotic relationships – Doing mistakes – therapy turns to a toilet rating

 

Group 3 (Cristiana – Franziska -Mar – Paul)

“It’s not either – or” How to think outside categories, expanding our view

Group 4 (Tom – Judith – Emily – Nathalie)

“Replacing humanity? Craving for <3”


Detailed Monday Notes:

(15 reflections compiled until Monday night)

“… the internet knows (almost) everything about you and will never forget your stupid questions or pictures you maybe had as a 14-years-old teenager. We are already in this era and this having information about everyone in the cloud or somewhere can not be undone, but what we can do is thinking about our behaviour and our acting.” –strawberrykid

Google as Panopticon? The right to be (digitally) forgotten.

“Reducing Humanity … When I imagine myself in a retirement home later on in life, it gives me a horrible feeling to think about playing and being around robots instead of real people and animals. A.. We don’t want perfect people without mistakes. We want authentic people and sometimes it is necessary to make mistakes in order to learn from them…” -somewhereinathens

By looking to super-artificial intelligence we actually reducing the human.

“… Google: The new god of our era? … If you want to know, how to cook: Ask Google. If you want to know, how to act in a challenging situation: Ask Google. The internet has always an answer for all your questions. … I want to have people around me, who are real. Who make mistakes. Who show emotions. Who be unperfect. Because sometimes unperfection is perfection. ” –chocolatelover

Sometimes imperfection is the perfection.

“… Couldn’t it be possible that as time passes, as technology evolves our understanding of being human changes?“because we are co-creating each other all the time.”…we should maybe sometimes take a step back and think of as many eventualities, good and bad, that come with our creations, but we should also be proud of what we are creating, we should be fearless, we should feel empowered because we are“increasing our humanness and our ability to connect with each other.”” –nowordsneeded

But why not merging with AI to grow our humanness to the next level?

“When I went to the therapist, I know that I wasn’t waiting any perfect and correct answer. In a way, I simply went there. Do you know this proverb “curiosity killed the cat”? Sometimes with technologies I feel like that. Why should I want create a robot therapist? For sure, is not what I am going to do with my life. If one day they convince me to buy one, to give all my information to a machine (I know I am doing it right now in a way) and my money to an enterprise instead of go with a faulty therapist, who is doing his job as good as he can, who has family, or maybe they died, who has a couple, or maybe is in a divorce, who cries and feels just like me… I will choose this one. Also is just because I prefer to spend my money in one person and not in an enterprise.” –almanzor

On the other hand, I trust more on a human being carrying a story, a life, pain and joy in they body.

“… I would have liked to life at the time before all that. The time of our parents were children without phone, laptop and all connected objects. This time was so much easier. People were more courageous because they could not hide behind their screen they had to speak face to face (or yes sometimes also by post). But no cyber harassment or something else so despicable.” –phiphiii

And I long for the old era, when things were far more simple.

“Sitting on my bed and being surrounded by a laptop, a notebook and my smartphone which is currently being charged by a power bank and is playing music on a portable jukebox via bluetooth, I am wondering how I feel about all of this. What do I think? It’s hard for me to sort out my thoughts and distance them from my feelings. The technical progress the world is experiencing, the digitalization and acceleration, all this has as much good as it brings bad with it. As an anthropology student, I am less interested in whether or not robots should be used to treat humans, to what extent a smartphone is an extension of one’s arm, or whether at some point it will no longer lie in our hands but will be implanted in our brains. My interest is more in why we do all this, why people tend to self-optimization and environmental modification, why they are willing to live their lives according to technological innovations, and why they long for ever faster, simpler and error-free ways. … Is it really the case that we need robot therapists and machines, extensions and applications or is it simply an economic interest to cut jobs and increase profits or is it the neoliberal urge for optitization and perfection? Who benefits? And which interests are advocated?” –acceptallrealities

why we do all this? That is the question.

“Why do people trust this kind of technology more quickly than in real life? In everyday life, no one talks to each other on a train, in the street, and if someone comes to us, we are afraid. While the Internet, most of the time, people don’t think about everything behind it. People are more suspicious of the people around them in everyday life than of a world they have seen very little and do not actually know. We may control the technology on some points. But it already controls us on many other points as well.” –minnieerasmus

The fact is that we are in a symbiotic relationship with technology.

“It was better before … Each week, my phone shows me how many hours did I spend on it, and it is huge, to be honest, usually 5 hours per day. I tell myself “this week I’ll be less on it and enjoy my time doing something else”, but my time average is always the same. Cyborg ? Maybe. How is it possible to be so much dependent to something ? Even, when we are in group we always have our phone on the table or in our hands. Society’s poison ? I don’t know. …I hope creating AI, robot, technology, is not a huge mistake which we won’t be able to rectify.” –erasmusblackout

But being on a smartphone’s screen for 5 hours daily, maybe it was better before.

“another concern is about the psychological effects that this therapy would have to the patients. How would we react to the evidence that we are nothing more than a bunch of data, an algorithm that can be reprogrammed easily? Simply the sum of parts, biology. We don’t like to hear that, we like to imagine that our bodies are alive because of their inner essence of life. Is this way of thinking about ourselves a mechanism for the survival? And what would be the consequence to wreck it? Maybe all of those who will not be able to bear such a conception of human life will develop new psychopathologies, that would be the last straw!” –columbedda

Are we simply algorithms with flesh? And does psychotherapy means debugging defective humans?

“… The programms can only read and see our emotions and microexpressions but they can´t understand us and guess the reason why do we feel this way. The robotherapist doesn´t know what human life and daily routine is and can´t say you: “I understand”, what they actually have to say to the patients. The hiring robot can´t see the competences that are valuable for the jobs, because there is no clear established pattern which facial expression needed for a particular job. 500 Facebook friends can´t make you as happy as one real friend whom you can trust everything you have… I ask myself sometimes: Do people use technologies or they use other people through these technologies?” –itsright

No, behaving like being intelligent, does not imply that your really understand the meaning. Intelligent means having a body and a history.

“… We are creating robots as a human replacements. Not even as a replacement in factories and in labouring, where they simplify the workflow. But also as in the video shown as a human replacement for psychotherapists. I cant imagine myself talking to a computer and opening up about how I am feeling and achieve a level of trust. We have to ask us as a society, how far we want to go. Where will menkind end up, if robots not only take over hard work, but also communicate, calculate and think for us? When they are like us.” –pleasemindthegap

Nevertheless, we can’t be sure about the future. And we have to ask, how far we want to go?

“Imagine: You find advertisement of a big shopping chain in your family’s mailbox, with the main focus: pregnancy articles. Addressed to your daughter who – to your knowledge – wasn’t even sexually active. Imagine, living in a conservative state in America, confronting the store manager, and later ending up apologizing because your daughter tests herself and finds out that she’s actually pregnant… ” –sweetashoney

Do we want to create something that knows better than us? Is it inevitable?

“The therapist Panoptes is an interesting concept. On the first look an all knowing psychologist seems almost perfect. But I am asking myself is this is really the case? Do we really want psychologists to know everything about us? Regarding that going to the psychologist in the first place is a hard step for every patient in the first place, I doubt that the fact the psychologist knows everything about you in a matter of seconds will be a calming thought. …” –orangensaftpur

Do we need a Panoptes therapist? Is it possible to establish a therapeutic relationship with an artificial psychotherapist?

“Let’s just reset ? … Our way to live is dictate by the different technologies that surrounded our everyday life. We are used to hear that it was better before, but I can just defend us by saying that it’s not our fault. I think that we are aware of the huge place of these little objects can have in our lives. Still, we have always lived like that. And the society is not helping us by increasing this dependence and making us more and more unable to try or improve our competences. The fact is that, we don’t know how to live without all these facilities. … I don’t think that the Panoptes concept is a good idea. It’s even scary. The fundamental principle of a psychotherapy is the evolution of the patient. How he tells about himself, when he feels it’s the right time… Psychology is a scientific field. Still, it’s a matter of emotions and feelings during the therapy, the discussions and the relationships with the patient. … To know that the person in front of them is working not just by trying to make in application what she learned, but also by thinking as a human being with feelings and thoughts just like them. “The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases” – Carl Jung” –erasmusouth

Vulnerability is at the core of human existence, and maybe we need a reset.


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