The concept of recording an action is relatively new to us. While written history had existed for a time, it was only with the phonograph that an actual event could be played back, if desired. The class reading for tomorrow morning partially examined the impact of the first audio recordings. The concern, while now antiquated, seems warranted at the time. The idea of communicating with the dead seems understandable when one was to first be presented a human being’s voice played back to them through a tube. It is this disembodiment of what is normally considered to define ‘humanness’ that will be examined here.
Now, the prevalence of digital technology not only allows for high fidelity audio recordings, but also visual recordings. It might not be so unreasonable to then extrapolate and predict that digital technology will allow for further ‘recording’ of human experiences. I imagine the endgame to encompass something along these lines: a digital recording of a short event, completely digitally recorded to minuscule detail, able to be viewed in augmented, virtual reality. The next obvious step being that whatever may be recorded can also be fabricated. So the governments would possibly have a tough time with underground fake memory markets reminiscent of Ghost in the Shell!
Anyways, if the people of Edison’s time were to be presented with such a device, they would doubtlessly be bewildered by what should appear as communication with the dead. This is because the dead are associated with a disembodiment–few depictions of ghosts involve a physical, tangible body. They are usually ethereal or otherworldly in some other aspect. An audio recording is a disembodied voice, which is creepy and invokes the ‘am I talking to the dead?’ feeling. A picture might similarly have the same effect. But if all these senses were to be put together, one might have actually accomplished with Edison sought for so long–just with a little twist.