Deus Ex... Our Future?
by Sean "Kaigen" Simpson - kaigen@planetdeusex.com
When playing a game the idea that that universe could possibly become a reality doesn't really cross a gamers mind. Could you imagine living in the world of StarCraft, Total Annihilation or Omikron? It would be interesting to say the least, but highly unlikely. Although there is one game that comes to mind that could very well become our reality. Of course, I'm referring to the one and only, Deus Ex.
Deus Ex is a chaotic world filled with nano-molecular technology, cybernetic implants, and other nifty stuff that I wish I had. Which if I did have I could finally RULE ZE WORLD! Muahahaha! Ahem. back to the topic at hand. As you may or may not know, for the past some odd years scientists have been striving to achieve such things as mechanical limbs, or machines no bigger than a blood cell.
In 1998 a researcher named Kevin Warwick implanted a microchip in his own arm. This chip allowed a computer to monitor his movements throughout the halls of the Department of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, near London. The computer would open doors for him, turn on lights, and even say hello at the main doors of the building (aww, how sweet). While this isn't even near the obsolete `mech' technology featured in Deus Ex, it is a strong first step to getting there.
Just recently scientists at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York created the first motorized nano-machine. This machine-while presently serving no real purpose-is no bigger than a virus. It can merely navigate through the blood steam using several microscopic nickel propellers. Again, this is far from the nano-augmentations in Deus Ex but is pretty damn cool nonetheless.
Just what do these advances in technology hold for us in the future? Both present as many threats as they do advantages. Could they mean aid for the disabled or sick? Or could they mean a new way to keep the population under control? Only time will tell but I foresee that the spawn of this new technology will be far more negative than positive.
The possibility of cybernetic implants poses more moral and personal threats than physical. The doctors responsible for installing such implants would have to undergo a lot of tedious but necessary ethical testing. They would virtually have to be the Suk doctors seen in Frank Herbert's Dune novels, someone so infallible that you could trust them to toy around with your very mind and thoughts. You would be allowing the person to tinker with your body, and even possibly your brain. They could very well tamper will the implant and enable themselves to monitor your thoughts, or even take control of you. Imagine, just receiving a cybernetic implant then committing a murder because you didn't have control of your own arm.
Nano-machines present a much more physical and serious problem. If complex nano-machines become a reality we will see an all-new kind of war. The militaries of the world will begin using an all new kind of biological weapon. I say biological because although the weapons themselves will be mostly mechanical, entire battles will be fought within the body. Much like a virus and antidote, nano-machines will be battle for superiority within the body. Possibly someone will create a Gray Death that will ravage the earth and leave the population in shambles.
There is a large share of advantages that could come from cybernetics and nano-technology also though. New cures could be unveiled, the disabled could become enabled and the blind could finally be able to see. If someone lost their legs in a car accident they could simply have them replaced. Someone could create a nano-machine designed to mimic a t-cell, which would be injected into AIDS victims.
Sadly, there are more Bob Page's then there are JC Denton's in the world. The technology would be used by corporations to exploit and manipulate, while at the same time creating a machine that could cure cancer or AIDS then charge ridiculously high prices that no one but the ultra rich could afford.
So in the next century or so will we live in a world like that of Deus Ex where people are dying in the streets and corporations rule or will we thrive in a world where the war against drugs, disease and tyranny have all been won for the good of mankind? I'm guessing the former, but I'll always hope for the latter.
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