Reykjavík Grapevine - sep. 2020, Blaðsíða 16

How to sum up a conversation
with Bergur Ebbi?
It would seem the man has done
it all. Study law, become a stand-
up comedian, write for TV, radio
and the stage and he has even
published his own books. Two of
them—'Room Temperature' (2017)
and 'Screenshot' (2019)—have
been translated to English and are
the beginning of a series, delving
into our lives and identity with
technology. Screenshot takes very
current global events into account
and asks the question: Where do
we go from here?
Bergur has become a philoso-
pher of the future. Not just in the
sense that he might be a part of
a big new generation of philoso-
phers—although we wish him the
best of luck with that. Bergur takes
a closer look at the entire concept
of a future. The idea of it, apart
from self-driving cars. What is it
we’re really moving and building
towards? Do we approach the fu-
ture as a collective or individually?
Are the words of the prophets no
longer written on the subway wall
but drowning among other sta-
tus updates on a message board,
hanging in a digital cloud devoid
of context? Have screens become
our new altars? Are we who we
present to be on our latest profile
update?
Perhaps there should be a risk
warning for existential crisis on
Bergur’s book covers.
Dazed And Confused
When asked about the idea behind
Screenshot Bergur admits, “I am
confused myself about a lot of
things, trying to get to the core of
all these tech advancements and
their purpose and impact, because
they changed a lot around us with-
out us realizing it. A lot was hap-
pening below the surface and all
of a sudden it was in our brains.”
The roughly 200-page long es-
say certainly covers a lot of ground
in terms of questioning our rela-
tionship to technology and what
that might mean for our future
sense of identity. Heavy stuff.
Thankfully, Bergur also makes
an effort to not get too abstract
in his writing, using a lot of ex-
amples from his own experience.
Which includes memories of using
“three-way calling” for the first
time and almost driving into Paul
Revere’s house in Boston. Funny
and educational. But where does
that leave us?
Trust Fall
We probably need some kind of
foundation to start from, on our
quest to enlightenment. But can
the blue light of our
smartphones illu-
minate the dark un-
known around us?
Maybe. Partially at
least.
“Our relationship
with technology
is based on trust,”
Bergur posits. “We
have no idea where
we’re going, blind-
folded and holding
hands with technol-
ogy, moving into the
darkness and no-
body really knows
[where to], not even
these big tech gurus, all these guys
that were talking about the future
a lot. I think they’re still all just
making it up as they go.”
Although he also points out
that there’s at least some kind of
vision of a social network connect-
ing people. A core belief, a virtue
that has grown more powerful
than anyone probably could have
imagined. But there’s a flipside to
everything. Nobody likely could
have predicted the sheer overflow
of stimuli or this paradox of con-
necting without connecting we
seem to often find ourselves in.
Connection
According to Bergur Ebbi, there
are still things that presence can
give us that social media cannot.
Namely so called “parameters of
communication”.
“What’s lacking a bit in IT and
technology is that we don’t only
connect on intellectual levels, we
connect on emotional levels and
physical levels, which technology
hasn’t really been able to fence
itself around. Although AI is get-
ting more and more
intelligent, which
makes it more pos-
sible to become
emotionally con-
nected via technol-
ogy, I think there’s
a lot missing. The
need for aesthetic
and the feeling of
space. I don’t think
we’ll be able to exist
only in the cloud en-
vironment, we will
always need a physi-
cal space of some
sort.”
But what if we
literally can’t do that because of,
oh I don’t know, something like
a pandemic? COVID-19, quaran-
tine and home offices have very
likely advanced our foray into the
Culture 16The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 07— 2020
EXPLORE
UNSEEN
ICELAND
WITHOUT
LEAVING
THE CITY!
“I am confused
myself about
a lot of things,
trying to get
to the core of
all these tech-
advancements
and their pur-
pose and im-
pact.”
Creatin!
Context
In The
Cloud
Poet, essayist and former
comedian Ber!ur Ebbi explores
ideas of technolo!y, identity
and the future.

Words: Catherine Magnúsdóttir Photos: Art Bicnick