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Research Area:
Cybernetics: Communication systems and the interfacing of them. Man to man, man to machine, machine to machine, culture to culture and combinations of the above.
As we rely more and more on artificial intelligence, research into the field of cybernetics will grow. The experience of technology becomes a large part of our lives. The characteristic of user interfaces has changed drastically. Take cell phones for example, in a few years the graphical and textual layout has had numerous changes which has related to fast technology improvements in touch screen technology and software changes. Computer programs have had to change to provide the user with a new a new friendlier experience. Gaming consoles too have changed especially in the manner of how the gamer interfaces with the gaming consol. The generic handheld control whereby all the gamers’ instructions were conveyed through a wired handheld remote has changed numerous times. The options available have also increased, from wired to wireless, handheld finger control to full body interface, to no controls but still interfacing via cameras.
The manner in which people communicate with each other has changed with the introduction of sms and then the large scale introduction of social networking. This provides a large field of study in the field of communication system and psychology.
Ecological technology. Slowly we are seeing the introduction of technology that is connectable to each other and functions together.
We are also interested in research that looks at current research in a new light. From a cybernetic perspective, the researcher is included in his/her research. While positivist research methods attempts to be objective, post-modernistic thinking shows that the researcher is too part of the researched. Thus the term “re-search” can be applied whereby the researcher is included in his/her work.
Technology and Emotional Immaturity
In the technological attitude we say, in effect, “I want whatever I want whenever I want it.” This means that technology is constrained by no standards other than those internal to its own practices (Heidegger, 1977).
Westphal (2004:24) summarises Heidegger by saying that “technology threatens to become the only thinking, to become the sole criterion by which we operate”.
The great thinkers of the past were philosophers and theologians, while the great minds of today are engineers and entrepreneurs; has technology replaced metaphysics (Westphal, 2004)
Heidegger, M. (1977). The question concerning technology and other essays. Trans. William Lovitt. New York: Harpes & Row.
