The convergence of man and machine represents one of the most significant and (historically) enduring futurist themes. It should be obvious by now, with technologies ranging from Google’s Glass to mind-controlled prosthetics, it’s gone beyond sci-fi visionary terrain and into our shared contemporary lives. The man-machine convergence is impacting the individual, organizations, society, and culture, albeit perhaps in peripheral and subtle ways. And it’s really just beginning

Here’s a great slideshow meditation on the man-machine confluence from my friend, the futurist Tery Spataro, which was just published on the IEET site:

Tery considers many sides of the big issue here and justly recommends we think deeply about where we’re going with all the various trajectories related to man-machine integration. Tery was kind enough to quote my concern for the ontological dimensions at work: for me, there’s a deep connection between man-machine confluence, the internet of things, and recent philosophical work on object-oriented ontology. In particular, I refer to the work of people like Graham Harman and Levi Bryant that reduces/re-situates humanity into dynamic systems of objects, each with their own form of potential agency; it’s easily extended into an ontology of man in the network of machines, a place where robots and the singularity make metaphysical sense, but also a very different place from our humanistic/anthropocentric heritage.

Great stuff, Tery.