The Post-human Escalator
The escalator is a product and symbol of modernity, a glimpse into “Wall-E”esque, post-walk visions of society. But once again, futurists were proved wrong and we started walking on them. We walk faster and faster, an action that resembles a deliberate movement but is actually a drift in a shrinking present. The escalator now reflects post-modernity. Chambers: “You constantly shift where you stand, you subdivide your life into separate areas and into differences, you construct your lifestyle in a mobile way”.
While walking on one recently, I wondered how this instance would look like from the escalator’s perspective. I imagined a welcoming sign saying something like:
“Fellow humans, if you want to become a temporal cyborg by extending each other’s physical abilities, please walk on the left. If you just want to enjoy the view stand on the right”.