Using the concepts of Memes, Design, and Culture, please construct a 3-page DramaTech in which you act as national-level consultant to the Dominican Republic for the purpose of helping that entity create its projected 22nd Century before 2050.
You should quickly review which sections of your previous readings have relevance for this assignment, and you should bring your work into a synergistic relationship with your term paper project.
November 15, 2010
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Scenario: By using a future oriented development plan, the Dominican Republic has achieved a higher standard of living than most countries in the region and the world. Seen as the pearl of the Caribbean, it is difficult to ignore the advantages that the Dominican Republic has over other countries in the region. In addition, the Dominican Republic along with other Latin American countries to bring Haiti out of the pervasiveness of poverty. Haiti, the first Latin American country to become independent in 1811 has not faced a major humanitarian crisis in 20 years. What’s more, the partnership between Haiti and the Dominican Republic has led to a further blending of cultures as more Haitian move to the Dominican Republic and vice versa. Who would have thought that the countries which at various epochs were at war or conflict now strengthen one another?
To continue with the successful development the Dominican Republic will continue to promote a sustainable innovation driven society. Through its use of sustainable technologies and state of the art architecture, a plentitude of people living in less tropical places in the world would love to have access to its beach front property. Unfortunately for late comers, immigration to the island has become increasingly difficult. Through the use of satellites and biometric identification methods illegal immigrants face greater difficulties than before. Also, most of the best available property is owned by wealthy Dominicans. Luckily for visitors, a large number of very attractive locations remained available for tourists to visit. Tourism, the industry which provided the surplus capital that allowed for universal higher education to spread throughout the island continues to be a major industry in the Dominican Republic. As an extension to its fancy resorts and hotels, the Dominican Republic developed a large number of theme parks and stadiums. Currently no Latin American country is as attractive to tourists as the Dominican Republic.
AJSC – National-Level Consultant:
Having achieved the national goal of universal open higher education and having a per capita income level of 45,000 dollars a year, our goal now must be to continue with our previous success and design an environment in which Dominicans are happier and living longer than before. Also, accidents continue to be a major cause of tragedy in our society. Having eradicated poverty and with a average life expectancy of 115 years, it is our goal to further increase life expectancy to 130 years by the year 2075. To meet our goals, cancers research, body regeneration, and natural disaster prevention need to continue to improve.
The Robots, Androids and Cyborgs (RAC) Council believes more needs to be done against anti-machine activists. Since the introduction of advanced AI, terrorism has increased globally as a reaction to the increasing number of intelligent machines being produced and developed. After the introduction of the knowledge enhancer and connectivity brain implant (KECBI), which allows for individuals to have an automatic basic understanding of most traditional knowledge fields as well as to virtually link with databases and communicate with anyone globally without the use of other equipment, more and more humans have decided to become cyborgs and have been increasingly attacked by individuals who consider such modifications “unholy”, “decadent” and “violating what it means to be human”. The Dominican Republic must continue to support the RAC Council in promoting understanding, cooperation and peace between different reason capable organisms. Information within KECBI is constantly reorganized through a remotely updated algorithm highlighting memes that are of current relevance and importance.
Minister of Education and Knowledge:
I am aware of these problems, yet why are you so sure that this is the avenue to follow? There has been a strong reaction by the Catholic Church and other conservative groups who feel that if we do not place limits, there will increasingly be knowledge inequalities and erosion of what traditionally constituted a human being.
AJSC – National-Level Consultant:
Since most of the implants can be used best by individuals who were implanted at an earlier age, and not everyone has access to implants (by choice or by financial limitations), as we move away from a credentialist society into a society that individuals are assessed regularly solely for their job performance, our economy would suffer if parents cannot purchase implants for their children when they are young. If we do not meet this need, the government would have to expand in order to provide the longer schooling required for children without implants. The needs of these two groups are very different. Individuals with access to advanced technologies are taught to use their knowledge repositories, why they must obey the law and to act ethically. We need to continue to subsidize implants so that they are accessible to everyone in society.
Stakeholders (Citizens, Congress): Results from a recent poll show that a large number of individuals support implants being subsidized. They are also concerned with a mass failure of the implants which could in the worst case scenario kill everyone using an implant. It is necessary to develop both different types of implants with similar capacities to KECBI and continue researching potential health consequences. If support for these issues is perceived in the poll, it is likely that new legislature in support for subsidies will be introduced.
Minister of Education and Knowledge:
The University of the Dominican Republic which develops an index of memes that are relevant to Dominican society is also supportive of the government promotion of KECBI and its subsidy at a national level. Developing new technologies at an exponential rate, the Dominican Republic is experiencing a singularity of innovation. The president of the university recently argued that “It is becoming increasingly difficult keep up with the rapidly changing world without the use of KECBI or similar knowledge implants. To avoid a tragedy of culture and to steer the country adequately into the 22nd century, implants must be made available to everyone in society irrespective of their economic condition. Failure to do so will result in increase alienation from a sector of society and conflict as more individuals attempt to return to a less technological world.”
AJSC – National-Level Consultant:
We need to continue to move forward together as a country. Subsidizing KECBI will allow us to most adequately meet the challenges of tomorrow without limiting our growth and development by spending our time and energy diffusing the conflict generated by the reaction against new technologies. We are divided between a large number of scenarios and possible futures, yet those that promote unity rather than division are likely to bring greater aggregate returns. We must also continue to help Haiti, and if possible allow all Haitians access to KECBI technologies. (The United Nations and its department of Open Knowledge also partnered with KECBI to reduce its costs and increase global access to the technology)
