RFID is an encroaching technology which the powers-that-be would like very much to be totally incorporated into everyday society, in keeping with today's omnipresent surveillance apparatus. GENERATION ZAPPED omits delving into this or any other privacy-invasive technologies dependent on the global Wi-Fi network, which some viewers might consider to be remiss of it to have done. Regardless, the potential health risks involved from over-exposure to radio frequencies is enough to merit one's exclusive attention alone, which this highly important and informative documentary succeeds in doing.
It's common knowledge that the majority of modern-day humans are immersed in EMF emissions. If one were a conspiracy theorist, one might think this was a part of a sinister agenda by the power elites to either gradually reduce or disable the worldwide population. This might seem far-fetched, yet there are futurists who project that in a century from now, ASI (artificial super-intelligence) will have superseded the human race. Imagine a world where androids and chatbots are the dominant life forms; where people have been rendered obsolete, if not placed in human zoos for the amusement of their robotic masters. It's not as if the intelligent machines will be complaining of things like non-ionizing radiation. But I digress.
In film director Werner Herzog's excellent feature-length documentary, "Lo And Behold: Reveries Of A Connected World," there's a brief segment devoted to people who suffer from electro-hyper-sensitivity. At first, I thought GENERATION ZAPPED was going to be all about this, but it's not. Yes, there is one or two sufferers that are heard from, but the movie primarily focuses upon the opinions of professionals in regards to this topic. We hear from a cancer researcher, a professor, and a neuroscientist, for example. The information that's presented here is often technical and in-depth, as one might find in a textbook. (For that, its pace is a bit plodding; but a mere quibble, this.)
Meanwhile, skeptics say that it's all psychosomatic, what these electro-sensitives experience when exposed to EMF. Here I think of the protagonist in the movie, SAFE, which although has nothing to do with wireless radiation is about a hypersensitive (if not neurotic) woman who escapes the city for the chemical-free environment of a rural retreat. All in the mind? Consider that there's been serious research done which links overexposure to EMF to possible health issues such as breast cancer in women and testicular and reproductive issues in men; the latter, who are generally known to carry their phones in their pants' pocket.
GENERATION ZAPPED also goes into the reasons as to why the potentially detrimental effects of wireless technology is relatively unknown to the public, comparing it to the tobacco industry which for years had kept the known adverse health effects of its product suppressed. As was in that case, there are vested interests involved here as well. The little if any pre-market testing that is done aside, should a study be released disproving the harmful effects of wireless technology, one ought to always consider the source of such a finding. Was it industry-funded? Of course the industry will want to whitewash the whole thing.
In the end, the world shows no signs of easing up on wireless technology. It's become so normalized in the culture that younger generations simply take its existence for granted and are all but superficially desensitized to it. From an early age, the market targets the young, so as to get them accustomed to the idea of cellulars and other electronic gadgets; in the form of, say, pretend cell phones for toddlers. It's enough to make you wonder.
What can be done to assist the electro-sensitives? The days of phone booths and carrier pigeons are long gone. Scientists tell us that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) event, in the form of a solar flare, would surely wipe out the Grid, but obviously that would not be an answer to their problem. One possible solution that is raised in the movie has electro-hyper-sensitivity, which is presently not recognized by the medical establishment as a legitimate health disorder, being officially identified as such, so that treatment may begin. This I find a little troubling. Do we really want Big Pharma entering the picture? How convenient would that be?
It's common knowledge that the majority of modern-day humans are immersed in EMF emissions. If one were a conspiracy theorist, one might think this was a part of a sinister agenda by the power elites to either gradually reduce or disable the worldwide population. This might seem far-fetched, yet there are futurists who project that in a century from now, ASI (artificial super-intelligence) will have superseded the human race. Imagine a world where androids and chatbots are the dominant life forms; where people have been rendered obsolete, if not placed in human zoos for the amusement of their robotic masters. It's not as if the intelligent machines will be complaining of things like non-ionizing radiation. But I digress.
In film director Werner Herzog's excellent feature-length documentary, "Lo And Behold: Reveries Of A Connected World," there's a brief segment devoted to people who suffer from electro-hyper-sensitivity. At first, I thought GENERATION ZAPPED was going to be all about this, but it's not. Yes, there is one or two sufferers that are heard from, but the movie primarily focuses upon the opinions of professionals in regards to this topic. We hear from a cancer researcher, a professor, and a neuroscientist, for example. The information that's presented here is often technical and in-depth, as one might find in a textbook. (For that, its pace is a bit plodding; but a mere quibble, this.)
Meanwhile, skeptics say that it's all psychosomatic, what these electro-sensitives experience when exposed to EMF. Here I think of the protagonist in the movie, SAFE, which although has nothing to do with wireless radiation is about a hypersensitive (if not neurotic) woman who escapes the city for the chemical-free environment of a rural retreat. All in the mind? Consider that there's been serious research done which links overexposure to EMF to possible health issues such as breast cancer in women and testicular and reproductive issues in men; the latter, who are generally known to carry their phones in their pants' pocket.
GENERATION ZAPPED also goes into the reasons as to why the potentially detrimental effects of wireless technology is relatively unknown to the public, comparing it to the tobacco industry which for years had kept the known adverse health effects of its product suppressed. As was in that case, there are vested interests involved here as well. The little if any pre-market testing that is done aside, should a study be released disproving the harmful effects of wireless technology, one ought to always consider the source of such a finding. Was it industry-funded? Of course the industry will want to whitewash the whole thing.
In the end, the world shows no signs of easing up on wireless technology. It's become so normalized in the culture that younger generations simply take its existence for granted and are all but superficially desensitized to it. From an early age, the market targets the young, so as to get them accustomed to the idea of cellulars and other electronic gadgets; in the form of, say, pretend cell phones for toddlers. It's enough to make you wonder.
What can be done to assist the electro-sensitives? The days of phone booths and carrier pigeons are long gone. Scientists tell us that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) event, in the form of a solar flare, would surely wipe out the Grid, but obviously that would not be an answer to their problem. One possible solution that is raised in the movie has electro-hyper-sensitivity, which is presently not recognized by the medical establishment as a legitimate health disorder, being officially identified as such, so that treatment may begin. This I find a little troubling. Do we really want Big Pharma entering the picture? How convenient would that be?
