FROM SCI-FI to WI-FI?
It is often said that reality mirrors art. In today's world of robotics and artificial intelligence, it is perhaps more accurate to talk about fact mirroring (science) fiction. The link between science fiction and reality has long been pooh-poohed by skeptics and scientists alike, but no-one on either side of the argument can question the fact that the world of sci-fi has increasingly become the world of wi-fi, in daily life from the world's poorest to the most developed countries.
But where did all this begin? For Generation X who believe, as indeed do most youth generations, that they invented everything, it may come as something of a surprise to learn that robotics has probably been around since the dawn of civilization.
Ancient cultures told stories in their myths and legends about 'artificial people,' and early Greeks and Muslim scholars devised prototypes of objects with what are now considered robotic characteristics and defining features. Leonardo da Vinci, thought of as the archetypical Renaissance Man, apparently made drawings of a mechanical knight which—or should that be who?—could sit up, wave its arms and move its head and jaw in what have come to be defined, with the benefit of retrospective hindsight, as the beginnings of a humanoid robot. And all of this some five hundred years before we had movies like Blade Runner or I, Robot to appeal to our futuristic senses. The seeds of the future are always planted in the past, it seems.
This link between fact and science fiction has given rise to many interesting discussions. Erudite and philosophical debates rage as to whether the popular TV sci-fi series Star Trek — now some 40 years old — was actually responsible for ushering in many of today's handheld devices. Proponents, and indeed major actors involved with the original series like William Shatner (a.k.a Captain James T. Kirk), contend that the writers were nothing short of visionaries — modern day equivalents of men like Da Vinci, who in the 15th century in some inexplicable way managed to see into the future and predict what was to come. Advocates of this idea point to devices such as the 'phaser,' and its much-loved accompanying TV-line, 'Set phasers to stun.' This program prop was like a gun that could immobilize or, on occasion, even kill an enemy or being by shooting rays at them. Fast forward to 2009; witness recent outrage and controversy over law enforcement 'aids' such as the taser, a hand-held gadget which can immobilize. Unfortunately this weapon has recently come in for some very bad press; a few well-publicized cases in North America and Canada bear witness to their potential as a deadly, lethal weapon. It is interesting to note, however, how the names of these two devices rhyme, lending yet more credibility to the idea that the one may have indeed spawned the other.
Sci-fi to wi-fi. Our world is more and more like a science-fiction TV show!
ps: I have found this artical really interesting that made me wanna blog it....hope u like it
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