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EDUCATION

TALK 2/3

Technology Creates a Society Where One Learns from Everyone Anywhere: KATSUIE SHIBATA

November 12, 2015

This is part two of a three-part conversation between graduate student and up-and-coming sci-fi author Katsuie Shibata and Ricoh researcher Takuya Yamauchi. Their discussion expands to the interaction between technology and human beings and society, the relationship between technology and ethics, and the future of education.

The convenience of technology and its moral restrictions

  • Yamauchi

    Reading your latest story made me think that I’d like to have a pen that could fulfill the future.

  • Shibata

    I simply wanted to have that kind of pen myself, so I wrote the story [laughs]! In my novels, I want to describe the interaction between technology and humans. I especially want to examine what technologies humans select and use.

  • Yamauchi

    The most important concept in the story is the liquid-state computer. Liquid-state computing would provide omnipresent information that continually flows around humans like water. I imagine liquid-state computing to be similar to present-day social media streaming, without need of centering on a device.

  • Shibata

    That’s exactly right. And according to folkloristics, modern society is “bonds of choice.” A transition has taken place from the “location-bonded” society of the distant past to a “family/blood-bonded” society to, in the 1970s to 1980s, a “company-bonded” society connected to either corporations or learning institutions to today’s “choice-based” society. For example, while people are on the move with the use of a messenger/texting application, it is possible for them to choose to experience being in another society. The future is moving even closer towards a world where through social streaming media society and humans will be connected and one will be able to select the society they would like to be a part of whenever they like.

  • Yamauchi

    In the story, the adults can wash down a liquid-state computer that enhances memory, but children are not allowed to partake. So you have a case where a technology’s use is justified or rationalized for one group and prohibited for another. This is an important consideration for future technologies.

  • Shibata

    No matter how much technology advances or how convenient it becomes, I believe that there will always be people bold enough to refuse to use it or do what it requires. Take, for example, during a school lesson. It would be convenient to photograph with a smartphone whatever is written on the blackboard. A vague sense of morality, however, will prevent you from doing this. This is an example of how humans will choose not to do something and always have a reason for that choice.

  • Yamauchi

    Yes, definitely. In researching technology, I often at times catch myself making a quick decision that I just as quickly feel is ethically wrong. I believe, though, that if you pursue the rationale for a perceived taboo, you can reveal how technology or a technological breakthrough can enrich life.

  • Shibata

    People periodically feel that something is unfit and therefore react negatively to and reject it. That is where your field of research comes into play. I think eye movement can tell us a person’s mood at the moment. Perhaps we’ll see the appearance of a machine capable of detecting a decline in mood or, better yet, the specific conditions leading up to a decline in mood. Wouldn’t it be great if we could prevent such a decline with something resembling an air purifier [laughs]?

  • Yamauchi

    Now that is something I would like to always have close at hand [laughs]! Technology that has the ability to detect this kind of thing, however, is not progressing, and I would like to achieve something in this area.

  • Shibata

    A dream technology for sure [laughs].

Left: Takuya Yamauchi, Image & Intelligence Development Dept., System R&D Center, Ricoh Co., Ltd. Right: Katsuie Shibata, author

Transitioning to education where people can choose when, where, by whom and what to learn

  • Yamauchi

    How do you imagine technology will have changed by the time we get to 2036?

  • Shibata

    I think that technology is going to become localized. Once the global Internet construct reaches saturation, I believe that there will be a return to sources in the immediate community. In the early 2000s, for example, people were attending foreign forums to access specialized information.

  • Yamauchi

    Yes. Now, however, we are able to access diverse information without leaving Japan.

  • Shibata

    That’s right. All you need is a chat or texting application, and you can obtain the information you want without departing your location. We must, however, consider that the localization trend taken to extremes can cut us off from crucial external information, such that we might, for instance, be unaware of war and famine elsewhere and conclude, incorrectly, that all is well with the world.

  • Yamauchi

    Most definitely living in a society as comfortable as Japan’s there is the danger of becoming fixated on the peace and abundance that prevail locally.

  • Shibata

    It is vital in localization to receive information on, among other things, world trends. Localization could thus bring about a global technology that can be used naturally and directly by everyone.

  • Yamauchi

    If that’s the case, our topic here, education, will certainly be witnessing some big changes.

  • Shibata

    Yes indeed. Education needs to present information that ensures people understand that different worlds exist. As in my story, however, I want society to transform to an educational system where you can choose what you want to learn and where all kinds of people are able to teach an array of topics.

  • Yamauchi

    After entering university and starting photography, I began to interact with members of society, and it was at that time that my world and the way I looked at life expanded drastically. So I believe that if children and adults increase the amount they interact a transformation will take place in the way children think about themselves in relation to education.

  • Shibata

    That’s exactly right. I should mention that in the water basin that appears in the story is the image of a mirror. It was my intention to convey that through the child reflected in the mirror you can refocus on your inner self. It would be nice if through interaction both adults and children could grow.

  • Shibata

    It would be similarly nice if by 2036 adults no longer have to go to a company to work, as this would forge closer relationships between adults and children in the home and community. It also would lead to educational opportunities at a micro, or community, level. Any adult could be a teacher, and any child could teach his or her peers, and all could learn together. I think it would be wonderful if such a future could be realized.

  • Shibata

    Anyone could teach, you could learn anywhere, and information could be accessed from all over. Based on the power of technology, please make that society a reality.

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All article

  • PROLOGUE

    Wisdom Creates Characters: KATSUIE SHIBATA

    isdom Creates Characters: KATSUIE SHIBATA

  • STORY 1/3

    On what grounds…?:KATSUIE SHIBATA

    On what grounds…?:KATSUIE SHIBATA

  • STORY 2/3

    Like Water:KATSUIE SHIBATA

    Like Water:KATSUIE SHIBATA

  • STORY 3/3

    Conveying the Heart:KATSUIE SHIBATA

    Conveying the Heart:KATSUIE SHIBATA

  • TALK 1/3

    Technology that Captures Differences in Perception:KATSUIE SHIBATA

    Technology that Captures Differences in Perception:KATSUIE SHIBATA

  • TALK 2/3

    Technology Creates a Society Where One Learns from Everyone Anywhere:KATSUIE SHIBATA

    Technology Creates a Society Where One Learns from Everyone Anywhere:KATSUIE SHIBATA

  • TALK 3/3

    Future Gadgets that Capture Peak Moments in Time: KATSUIE SHABATA

    Future Gadgets that Capture Peak Moments in Time: KATSUIE SHABATA

Theme

  • archive

    WORK PLACE

    icon HIDEAKI SENA

    HIDEAKI SENA

  • archive

    WORK STYLE

    icon MASAMI YUKI

    MASAMI YUKI

  • archive

    COMMUNICATION

    icon CHIYOMARU SHIKURA

    CHIYOMARU SHIKURA

  • OFFICE DEVICE

    MITSUO ISO

  • WORK PLACE

    TOH ENJOE

  • EDUCATION

    KATSUIE SHIBATA

  • INTERFACE

    TAKASHI KURATA

  • LIFESTYLE

    TETSUYA MIZUGUCHI