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The Virtual Triad

Society and Man under the Sign of Virtuality

 

The essay under consideration deals with technological developments within the next 25 years and their impact on society. A theoretical model of analysis is outlined, which is constituted by the three interdependent processes of virtualization, cyborgization and bionization. In the course of these processes the ambivalent relationship between man and machine will change significantly, and the daily lifeworld will increasingly be dominated by the new technologies. The essay concludes with the recommendation that these specific developments should be put at the heart of academic research and social discourse. Only if possible social impacts are analysed and discussed in an early phase, will society as a whole be able to benefit from the new technologies.

 

Daniel Diemers, St. Gallen/ Switzerland, 1997

 

Link to full essay:     PDF

 

Futurist Competition Europe 1997