“0.4” by Mike Lancaster: discussion of a major theme
Athough Kyle was shy to stand in front of a crowd, during that day Kyle gathered more courage that empowered him to help Danny’s presentation successful (Lancaster, 2011). The presentation was based on how life and humankind has changed radically due to the coming up of technology. The story unveils as Danny and his friend decide to impress the villages with their hypnosis trick, the character presented their imaginary world where there is no internet, telephone connection, no single person in sight, and not even vehicles. The book is is rather creepy and fascinating and helps us to question the human race by asking ourselves whether we are the true people we claim to be.
Technology is one of the prevailing themes in the book, and this distinctive theme was build and expressed in a peculiar way via audiotapes. The actors started by presenting how technology has triumphed over nature (Lancaster, 2011). Technology has become the central cause of evolution in all species, rather than natural selection and genetic drift which have become weird way of thinking. Technology nowadays is not giving organism an opportunity to evolve and adapt their environment conditions, and this has proven to be very treacherous.
Teenager Kyle Straker discovered the way in which technology has made human beings experienced up–gradation hence converting their mind into hive-mind. Kyle was thinking that the world, where information can be easily access through the links, will cause unpleasant harm to human beings who desire to have a critical thinking mind than having hive-minded. Kyle elucidated on how technology has become a monopoly factor in controlling human life through the fact that many people receive and sent information using technology. People rely and trust on the information they found on the internet, or from other sources such as media, this made Kyle get worried about how human beings are getting upgrade through technology. “I’ve started to doubt the wisdom of drawing one’s opinions from the same data well every day.” (Lancaster, 2011). Kyle is sympathizing with today’s generation because we have stoped remembering things due to confidence and trust toward links, we have also upheld and uplifted the notion of specialization. We, therefore, need one another for effective performance of tasks. Consequently, this made Kyle question human race life by imagining that if one day we wake up and find no, internet, telephone connection, no single person in sight, and not even vehicles what might happen?
The other main ideas that Kyle presented was alienation that was clearly depicted in dystopian fiction. Kyle is worried about how people have created the community linking via electronic means with the aim of solidification relationships in the real-world (Lancaster, 2011). People believe that without the social linking’s the world is a ridiculous place to live. Kyle is warning us that we are not running the social media, but it is rather controlling us hence alienating human race.
In conclusion, it is very ironical that technology is leading us into more problems rather than alleviating us the world from problems that threaten to engrave the contemporary society. Technology is controlling and alienating the human race. It is nerve-wracking that even after thousands years, people have failed to comprehend how technology has proven to be detrimental to humans rather than making them critical thinkers, self-reliance for a sustainable flow of knowledge. The 0.4 is warning human race of an engrossing dangerous scene that would likely face them as much as they continue to be over-reliance on technology, thus, Kyle was right when he revealed that the we left the future behind.
References
Lancaster, M. (2011). 0.4: It’s a Brave New World. UK: Egmont Childrens Books Ltd