The Central Question of the Future
The central question of co-evolution is not what the computer will become, but what kind of people we are becoming…
Can human understanding about human understanding increase? Can we learn what actually makes teams work? Can we truly understand cognition? Do we have a moral obligation to use enhancement technology to make ourselves beings who are more compassionate, moral and wise? Is it our only chance for survival? The planet comes with an expiration date.
–Joel Garreau (Radical Evolution)
Psychological Science Fiction Films
“Psychological science fiction films are drama films or thriller films occurring in a science fiction setting. These films are often but not always dystopian films and focus on the character’s inner-struggle with the sci-fi setting or dealing with the political or technological forces at the time.”
The following sites provide useful starting lists of science fiction films with psychological themes:
http://rixonology.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/psychological-science-fiction-films/
http://www.allmovie.com/explore/type/psychological-sci-fi-1717
http://www.amazon.com/Psy-Fi-Psychological-Science-Fiction-meets/lm/R2O3IKIXJXODU
Openness to Experience
In order to deal with the rapid and significant change that futurists anticipate coming our way in the 21st Century, most of us can benefit from a trait known as “openness to experience.” This trait is part of the psychological model of personality known as the ” Big Five” approach.
Wikipedia describes this trait as follows:
Openness is a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience. The trait distinguishes imaginative people from down-to-earth, conventional people. People who are open to experience are intellectually curious, appreciative of art, and sensitive to beauty. They tend to be, compared to closed people, more creative and more aware of their feelings. They are more likely to hold unconventional beliefs.
People with low scores on openness tend to have more conventional, traditional interests. They prefer the plain, straightforward, and obvious over the complex, ambiguous, and subtle. They may regard the arts and sciences with suspicion, regarding these endeavors as abstruse or of no practical use. Closed people prefer familiarity over novelty. They are conservative and resistant to change.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits#Openness_to_Experience
The following online test claims to measure one’s openness to experience. While there is no data provided to support its validity, the test results might make a good starting point for a classroom discussion on the topic.
http://www.psychologistworld.com/influence_personality/fivefactortest/openness_experience.php
The NEO PI-R is a research based test that has been developed to measure the Big Five personality traits.
Virtual Worlds & Psychology
Drawing students in
“Psychology educators are teaching with Second Life and other cyber-games, but whether these technologies boost learning remains up for debate.“
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/05/students.html
An article from the online APA Monitor describing some of the current issues around using virtual worlds like Second Life and other games in psychology classes.
