The Dark Side of Biotechnology: When Your Perceptions Are Not Your Own

Biotechnology, oooh that’s a really big word, right? Well, biotech is all around us, hybrid veggies (also known as Frankenstein food) and the medicine we use such as vaccines are all biotech, and some people would say they’ve added to our world in a positive way. Well, I got to thinking—dangerous stuff there. What if biotechnology went a few steps further, not just changing our food and battling the diseases that ail us, but what if it went so far as to control the way we see the world? If you think about it, right now our perceptions are already being shaped by what we read, what we watch, and what we listen to. And while we don’t typically view our interactions with television, radio, and the internet as biotechnological, the reality is that in a way it could be seen that way.

Join our mailing list.

TV-Internet-Radio Humanoid

When you flick on your television, radio or the internet, you’re interacting with technology, a machine designed to beam ideas, images, and sound into your conscious and subconscious. This is just a thought, but I would say that in some way this is a biotechnological interaction. Stay with me here—once you have accepted the input (ideas, images and sound) you become transformed. You are no longer the same person. You no longer have the same thoughts as before. You may even see the world differently. Have you ever watched the news and felt afraid? Have you ever read an article on the internet and immediately called a government official to complain about the issue discussed? If so, would you say that the way in which the tech is used, be it TV, radio, or internet, somehow influenced your perceptions and caused you to take a certain course of action? I fully understand that the standard definition of biotechnology doesn’t really apply to my example above, not in the strictest sense, but that’s just because the people making these definitions aren’t me. Ha!

But let’s take a look at the definition of biotechnology: the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products, or “any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use.”

Join our mailing list.

While TV-internet-radio tech isn’t directly tied into living organisms, I suspect that this may be the next step in our future. And I believe the product to be produced would be a fully controlled human being, someone who believes they are making decisions on their own and seeing the world their own way, but whose perceptions are completely controlled. For the past six months, I’ve been working on a novel that explores the future of biotechnology and how it may evolve to completely control our perceptions. Join the mailing list to get notified of when it’s done, to receive free excerpts from the story and updates about my other books.

Check out some of our most popular blog posts:

What Post-Apocalyptic Societies Really Look Like

Will Women Become Slaves In A Post-Apocalyptic World?

Surviving The Apocalypse When You’re A Girl

SunHi Mistwalker writes fiction set in dystopian and post-apocalyptic worlds. Her new novel New Hope City, a dark coming-of-age story set in a post-apocalyptic America, follows the life of Sunni Brown, a teenage girl exploited by sex traffickers who tries to get a fresh start when she meets a disillusioned cop. She is also the author of the science fiction series After The Darkness. Please sign up for the mailing list for receive updates, freebies and special discounts. You can also follow SunHi on Twitter and Facebook.

What Post-Apocalyptic Societies Really Look Like

Here’s an oldie but goodie that will end all your apocalyptic illusions.

Sunhi Mistwalker

When we think of post-apocalyptic worlds many of us envision alien invasions, zombie infections and bloodthirsty vampires. But post-apocalyptic doesn’t have to come in the form of the fantastical and other- worldly, it can be much more insidious.  When we look around the world we see many post-apocalyptic societies. Societies at war, suffering from lack, famine and oppression. And even within the borders of the United States, it can seem that a dystopian like state is upon us. Bankrupt cities and homes with no running water or electricity are more common than many Americans imagine.  The collapse of the real estate industry left many American towns littered with abandoned homes, filled with the newly homeless and freshly minted poor. We got a taste of what it feels like when a system collapses. But what happens when one too many systems collapse? What happens when systemic collapse reaches a tipping point?…

View original post 662 more words

What You Need To Become A Post-Apocalyptic Leader

Today’s leaders are usually well-spoken and stylistically dressed, but that’s not going to hack it for an apocalyptic leader. You’ll need more than good looks and pretty words if you want to survive and thrive during the apocalypse. Let’s take a look at a few things you’ll need to be a post-apocalyptic leader of men and women:

Strength, Tenacity and Ruthlessness

The recent abdication of the King of Spain to his son Prince Felipe is getting a lot of attention. The 46 year old is handsome, well-dressed and well-positioned in the highest echelons of society. You would think he would qualify as a post-apocalyptic leader. But the truth is that I don’t think this guy could survive the apocalypse for more than an hour. Do you? During the apocalypse there will be a lot of abdication and coup d’états but these men won’t be replaced by their soft-spoken heirs; they’ll most likely be thrown out of their palaces by the strongest and most ruthless people from the streets. Leaders of the apocalypse will by their nature be bold survivors unwilling to follow the powerbrokers of a bygone age, they’ll be making their own rules and building their own royal courts on the graves of their enemies.

Loyal Subjects and Minions

Forget your fantasies of lone wolf heroics. That’s just not going to happen during the apocalypse. If you want to lead a post-apocalyptic society, you’ll need a legion of loyal subjects, minions and strongmen. Did I mention the loyal part? You don’t want to get the old knife in the back (or the poison in your drink) right before you enjoy the spoils of all your hard work. So, pick your followers carefully and make sure you pay them well during the apocalypse.

A Shrewd and Ferocious Partner

Today’s leaders marry movie stars, models and other soft folks. But if you want to survive as a leader in a post-apocalyptic society, you’ll need to marry someone with a heart of stone (steel’s even better). Let’s take a look at what you should and shouldn’t do. Prince Felipe married this lovely TV star:

You DO NOT want to do that. The marauders and enemies will devour this type of spouse in one big bite. Instead, marry someone like this:

 

Or this:

You see what I mean? You need a partner who can scare off your enemies just with their face.

As you prepare yourself for leadership during the apocalypse, remember, that “Men are of no importance. What counts is who commands.” –Charles De Gaulle.

SunHi Mistwalker writes fiction set in dystopian and post-apocalyptic worlds. Her new novel New Hope City, a dark coming-of-age story set in a post-apocalyptic America, follows the life of Sunni Brown, a teenage girl exploited by sex traffickers who tries to get a fresh start when she meets a disillusioned cop. She is also the author of the science fiction series After The Darkness. Please sign up for the mailing list for receive updates, freebies and special discounts. You can also follow SunHi on Twitter and Facebook.