Are We a Sat Nav Nation?
By Emma Laws
Ever been on Google Earth? Searching tirelessly for places you’ve been, where you live, and wondering, “is that my car”, “is that my house”? We seem to have developed some kind of obsession with wanting to know where we are and thus feeling in control. But has this ‘control’, well… spiralled out of control?Conservationists and scientists alike have been developing the most hi-tech gear to track rare and endangered species on their migratory travels, in an effort to help understand their lives and so protect them. However, some of this has turned rather sinister and we have to ask ourselves whether this is just another attempt at seizing control.
Rare leather-back turtles, for example, which have for many years been under strict observation and conservation, have recently been tagged and their progress from Costa Rica to The Galapagos Islands tracked. This, supposedly, is an attempt to monitor their migration patterns. Seemingly harmless, until the satirical twist of characterising the turtles with profiles and names, then placing bets to find out which would win. Is this conservation effort now just a betting game, just making light of the possibility of extinction?
When a rare honey buzzard was tagged in England to observe its migration to Africa, the tagged bird got lost in cyclones and hurricanes and flew far out to sea. The result was a full blown mini soap opera with daily updates and reports, somewhat like ‘bird Big Brother’. And all this is a “conservation effort”, so much so it has had government subsidies from the Forestry Commission and Highland Foundation.
I cannot help likening this whole tagging process to the same routine that police use to monitor and control criminals. It was in fact just the other day that Paris Hilton was issued with her own tracking device and sent home from prison with an undisclosed “illness”.
But also, we have all undoubtedly heard of the possibility of identity cards and iris scanning on CCTV so as to ensure our safety. Rumours have suggested that advancements in satellite technology, which ensure that we can find our cat anywhere on the globe, may be used on us. Of course no child would go missing, no criminal ever uncaught, no petty thief able to roam free. But would we be willing to tolerate this absolute power and control?
Maybe all this speculation is a bit far fetched, but why are the government making such progress with satellite technology if it is just to place bets on turtles, make a soap opera out of birds and track our beloved pets’ every movement should they go missing. Do you not find it just a little daunting that you can find your house with a program the government has released? Just imagine what else they’re using Google Earth for.
On a similar note:
Sat nav for cats
Can we escape the clutches of technology?
Custard seen from space
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Image: David Ritter
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