Technology

[ASoulMan]

What do you all think about today's tech? Are we becoming more dependent on it or not?

Personally, I think that technology isn't an issue itself but more so how people use said technology. Take phones for example; you got the people who barely use them beyond calling/texting somebody and then you got those who feel like they need to spend all of their time on them, even in situations that are risky like driving. The phone isn't telling you to get its attention, that's your problem.

 

[exball]

I can read a bunch of different books on my phone so technology is good.

 

[Ariel]

I can read a bunch of different books on my phone so technology is good.

Yeah, I have something lighter than one book, with probably around 300 books on it.

 

[Dr. Meme]

Technology is dangerous because I don't understand it and Tesla was a witch.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

I agree with OP in that technology isn't bad per se, it's how it's implimented.

This is entering the realm of fiction a bit, but you could have one society that's overly dependent on it where everything resembles a "cyberpunk" dystopia. Then you could have another where, although they have access to the same level of technology, they could live in a quaint old-fashioned looking town in a relatively old-fashioned society. In real life, there are cities that look like souless jungles of pavement and corporate-industrial style buildings and where people tend to live a fast-paced stressful lifestyle, and you have other cities that loook like they did at least 100 years ago, where the people are more laid back.

Point being, it's all how technology is managed that matters. Technology itself is not a bad thing - it allows for longer and healthier lives, improved medical treatment, better and cleaner food and water, access to information on a scale unprecedented in human history, etc. But don't be trying to install cybernetic implants in my skull to track my shopping habits.

 

[exball]

I don't want a microchip in my skull. But if I could have an X-wing that'd be great.

 

[Ariel]

Technology is dangerous because I don't understand it and Tesla was a witch.

He used magic powers to create lightning.

 

[CatParty]

edison>>>tesla

 

[Dr. Meme]

edison>>>tesla

I'd have to disagree, but you are more then welcome to have that as your opinion

 

[Ariel]

edison>>>tesla

Edison, A Fraud And A Phoney

 

[Watcher]

People had these sorts of debates back in the Industrial revolution. Back then Luddite was an actual insult to lob at someone who was afraid of technology's gradual encroach on people's lives.

I don't think it's a really relevant discussion to have right now, since technology is a reason why most of us are alive today. I think it's a better discussion to be had once things like artificial intelligence come about. Then we can have discussions about if computers can replace people.

 

[Le Bateleur]

Technology that "de-skills" people is dangerous. SatNavs are a good example - some drivers just stop thinking for themselves. Hundreds of cases of people driving the wrong way down one-way streets or into the ocean because their SatNav said so and clearly they are its unquestioning thralls.

 

[CatParty]

I'd have to disagree, but you are more then welcome to have that as your opinion

Edison, A Fraud And A Phoney

people sure love their tesla

 

[Dr. Meme]

people sure love their tesla

Who wouldn't love this suave man

 

[Le Bateleur]

edison>>>tesla

Yeah. How many puppies and elephants did Tesla electrocute to prove his points? None.

 

[EI 903]

It wasn't Edison Coils that helped me defeat the Allied pigs in the glorious People's War of Socialist Liberation.

 

[CatParty]

Yeah. How many puppies and elephants did Tesla electrocute to prove his points? None.

but how many people's lives did edison save by showing tesla's flaws?

 

[Ariel]

Technology that "de-skills" people is dangerous. SatNavs are a good example - some drivers just stop thinking for themselves. Hundreds of cases of people driving the wrong way down one-way streets or into the ocean because their SatNav said so and clearly they are its unquestioning thralls.

It's ridiculous the way people do that. I wonder if they are just blaming technology for a their total lack of bearings and common sense.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-10/apple-maps-strands-motorists-looking-for-mildura/4418400
This happened a couple of years ago. Thing is you have to turn off an almost straight highway with signs saying 'Mildura(big town of 50k people) something Ks' and go down a dirt road to get lost there.

 

[Ariel]

but how many people's lives did edison save by showing tesla's flaws?

AC/DC

 

[Marvin]

What do you all think about today's tech? Are we becoming more dependent on it or not?

Personally, I think that technology isn't an issue itself but more so how people use said technology. Take phones for example; you got the people who barely use them beyond calling/texting somebody and then you got those who feel like they need to spend all of their time on them, even in situations that are risky like driving. The phone isn't telling you to get its attention, that's your problem.

Heh, we're way more dependent on older technologies, like agricultural technology than modern consumer electronics like cell phones. Internet stuff is fun, but when push comes to shove, people can cheap out and ditch the cell phone. But it's a lot harder to ditch cheap, easy food.

The internet's effect on people is that it wears down local cultural differences, kind of in the same way that newspaper or TV broadcasting did. It brings people together that, prior to the internet, wouldn't have had the same opportunities to interact. How far this will go is limited by how much social interaction you can get on the internet, for the price, compared to local social interactions IRL. So, small towns out in Nebraska might change a lot more, compared to big cities, where you can talk to all the people you want by walking outside.

I think it's a better discussion to be had once things like artificial intelligence come about. Then we can have discussions about if computers can replace people.

People's ideas of artificial intelligence are dumb and won't happen.