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Ever-emerging new technologies like motion detection technology start off as completely confounding and so unfathomable as to inspire immediate scepticism if not utter and paralysing dread

Delta Milayo Ndou #digitaldialogue
In the words of Leigh Brackett, sometimes what appears as “witchcraft to the ignorant . . .(is) simple science to the learned”. Or to borrow from Arthur Clarke’s third law, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.

These sentiments remind me of an incident that occurred when I was a student at the UZ. I tagged along with a group friends to some party at a rather posh house in Greystone Park. I don’t even recall who had been the actual invitee; I just remember that the occasion coincided with a desperately low supply of food in our closets and even less money in our accounts.

So what was intended as an invite for one person ended up with a group of us gatecrashing our way to free food.

The house was intimidating and awe-inspiring; quite a number of us had never set foot in such residential grandeur. At nightfall, one friend who had been experimenting on alcohol (and clearly quite unaccustomed to drinking) came running out of breath to the poolside where we were. She had left us in search of a loo only to come back screaming that there was a ghost.

“Kule spoko ma-gents, kule spoko!” she cried out (there is a ghost, guys, there is a ghost).

As people who had been witness to her puking and who had laughed at her drunken antics, none of us were particularly sold on this tale. But she persisted, started crying even. So we got up to launch a sober investigation.

Where was this ghost? She led the way, insisting there was a ghost and determined to prove it. As we got closer to the house, without any warning whatsoever, the brightest lights bathed the front lane and we stopped dead in our tracks.

“Move back, move back” our ghost-finding friend instructed. And we did. And the intense flood of light instantly disappeared. This was my first introduction to motion detection technology. None of us had ever heard of or seen motion detector or motion sensor lights. It was so unfathomable as to only be explained by way of the mystical — ghosts or witchcraft or magic.

That is the thing with ever-emerging new technologies and devices — they start off as completely confounding and so unfathomable as to inspire immediate scepticism if not utter and paralysing dread. I think we have to give ourselves permission to scream “ghost” every now and then but still go on to investigate further and establish what it is that we are encountering. Perhaps nothing will retain the power to surprise us as much as every new encounter with unfamiliar technologies that alter the ways in which we view the world.

How far does your imagination stretch?

Our powers of imagination or lack thereof will determine the extent to which we will explore or shun technologies.

Some of the most dominant discourses in the West are around containing the excesses of technological euphoria. They rightfully resist the idea that technology is a solution to everything and in my attempts to engage in a dialogue about digital issues — I hope to not be construed as a digital evangelist overemphasising the merits or supposed wonders of technology.

Instead, I hope to begin from the premise that every technological “wonder” derives from an imaginative mind so it is hardly a thing to be regarded as mystical. It can always be explained.

Broken down scientifically and open to being probed and more importantly, it is open to being learned. So why are so many of us reluctant to learn new things and new ways to enhance (even replace) old ways of doing business and old thoughts of viewing the world?

The real problem, according to Burrhus Frederic Skinner, is not whether machines (i.e technological tools) think but whether men/women do. What are we thinking, planning, anticipating and strategising on in our various areas of expertise and sectors of industry?

Are we a people of imagination, a nation that is imaginatively and innovatively applying its mind towards futuristic goals or have we become too bogged down with the relentless staggering challenges of the present to contemplate anything greater, better or tremendous?

No one is born knowing everything, they have to learn, more importantly they have to desire to master what they learn. Is there any indication that we have a desire to create and innovate?

Are there Government policies in place, private sector-funded hubs or spaces where ideas are nurtured and wild imaginations are given free rein?

Of wearable technology and minds that conceive such

A fairly recent jolt in terms of marvelling at how far some minds can conceive and create technologies that seem implausible was when I read of the latest wearable technology called “Fitbit for cows”. Wearable technology or wearable gadgets are those technology devices that can be worn by a user and often tracks, records and offers information regarding one’s health and fitness — usually synced with one’s mobile phone.

According to reports online, a Pakistan-based startup called Cowlar is making the “Fitbit for cows” tracking wearable for cows and buffaloes, and the creators claim it could help farmers increase their milk yields by as much as 15 percent.

Cowlar’s website notes that the product uses motion sensors to track the cow’s activity and core temperature, and relays that data via the Cloud in text messages back to farmers so that they can better detect disease.

The device also allows farmers to monitor when the animals are in heat so they can identify the optimum times for insemination to control the size of a herd. Who’s got time on their hands, with everything that’s going on in Zimbabwe to be thinking about such things, imagining such solutions or reflecting on such interventions? We don’t have time and deploy our imaginations in the business of problem solving through innovative uses of technologies because we are too busy trying to survive to even bother acquiring any tech-related skillset or knowledge.

I’m not sure whether if we had the time, we would even have the inclination to learn, create and innovate.

I was pleased to learn of a local white farmer who apparently invested in having wifi at his farm because he wanted to keep abreast of any technological advancements in farming that he could harness to improve his productivity.

On the surface of it, one might wonder what use is Internet to a farmer, but obviously such a person probably lacks the imagination to consider the possibilities.

Another interesting article I stumbled upon was on the popularity of wearable technology and if Facebook fitness groups are any indication — the trend is growing in Harare and elsewhere.

We need to set ourselves in motion, step into the light and confront the “ghosts” of the unknown, the unfathomable, the unfamiliar — the technological. If you don’t know something, you will not know it by pretending to know it. We need to be inclined towards acquiring skills and knowledge — then applying the same.

• Delta is Head of Digital Services at Zimpapers and a PhD scholar researching on digital media, disruptive technologies and journalistic practice. Follow her on Twitter: @deltandou