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Old 08-01-2013, 11:27 PM
 
Location: Windham County, VT
10,855 posts, read 6,338,170 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyLuvsToTravel View Post
Considering technology, personally would not enjoy living without a phone, running water, vaccines to save lives, or a 24-hour-open pharmacy... all of those have given me convenience, comfort, safety.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyLuvsToTravel View Post
But i do agree technology, in some cases, has and is leading us away from interpersonal contact.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoveWisdom View Post
It depends on what you value.

If you think that 'real life" (aka: being with physical people physically and being outside physically) is the only way to go and other ways of living is a "waste of time", then yes, people are missing out on "real life".

But if you think that life consists of people doing the things they prefer and like doing, then no one is missing out on anything. Everybody is choosing to do what they feel is best for them.

I love technology and what it enables me to do. So I would say: without technology, my life would not be nearly as good.

Technology pulls us away from life-yet it also brings life to us, and us to life.
It's a paradoxical influence, can't say it's all definitely one way or another.

Yes, cultures get homogenized through spread of technology, yet many of us wouldn't be as aware of diversity
were it not for the technology which allows us to connect/communicate,
which also enables us to assimilate to some degree to each other, when we seek common ground.

From Michael Chorost's "World Wide Mind: The Coming Integration of Humanity, Machines, and the Internet", 2011:
Quote:
Originally Posted by book excerpts
pg.3: "My Blackberry offered me an infinite supply of information and messages.
The material world offered me infinite sensation and variety, and the faces and voices of my friends.
It seemed altogether wrong that each world could be experienced only by excluding the other."

pg.14: "These desires are in constant conflict. By constantly introducing new ways to be alone and together, technology keeps renewing the conflict."
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Old 08-02-2013, 12:59 PM
 
11,558 posts, read 11,999,136 times
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Technology can be very educational and beneficial; however, like most things in life, if one allows themselves to become addicted to FB, or playing video games, and it therefore consumes the majority of their time, then that particular technology is no longer beneficial.

It's up to each of us to ensure we do most things in moderation.

As far as using technology to communicate with each other; if we choose to text vs. speaking to someone face-to-face, or on the phone, then we do hamper our ability to interact with others.

At work, it amazed me when someone sitting in the next cubicle would e-mail me with, "Good Morning!" Why not just walk over and say it in person. It was not as though we were forbidden to speak to each other. I would get up, go over and reply "Good Morning". I would see workers spending a lot of time composing an e-mail to just ask one simple question of someone sitting close by . . . same thing, just get up and go ask face-to-face.
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Old 08-12-2013, 02:47 AM
 
Location: The Valley of the Sun
1,479 posts, read 2,709,115 times
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A little yes and a little no. Right now I could get online and chat or play video games with someone in Malaysia. That simply was not possible 30 years ago. On the other hand, people who use texting and online forums for socializing do not get to hear a persons actual voice which I'm convinced decreases a persons ability to interpret emotions and social cues.
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Old 08-12-2013, 03:51 PM
 
354 posts, read 302,584 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottay View Post
On the other hand, people who use texting and online forums for socializing do not get to hear a persons actual voice which I'm convinced decreases a persons ability to interpret emotions and social cues.
Interesting hypothesis. However, our ability to interrupt emotions/social cues seems to be rather innate. Just smile at an infant and see if it doesn't reciprocate. Once their eyesight is developed enough to detect facial expressions, they seem innately able to interrupt them.

Also, something online forums have given the world is a more uninhibited voice. People seem more likely to tell you want they really think in a format like this. This freedom is probably directly responsible in large part for the rise in acceptance of things like homosexuality and atheism. It has brought socially stigmatized ideas out of the closet.
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Old 08-12-2013, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Emmaus, PA
3,859 posts, read 3,030,701 times
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Technology isn't the problem. People are.
No one is forcing people to use it all of the time. When I go for a walk, it is with the purpose of getting some exercise and, hopefully, relieving a little bit of stress. HAVING to have a cell phone along with you is the problem - or when you drive or jog - or do some other activity.
Sitting on a computer all day makes a person fat. Go outside once in awhile. Take that jog or walk or whatever.

Technology is very useful - but like all things - too much of it is bad. Now many people want to do away with socialized schooling. Far too many people - parents and children - want online schooling. That's horrible. Children need to be be with people their own age so that they can become well adjusted adults - NOT shut ins.
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Old 08-21-2013, 12:55 PM
 
Location: M I N N E S O T A
14,799 posts, read 21,397,688 times
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Technology IS part of life
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Old 08-21-2013, 06:51 PM
 
6,205 posts, read 7,426,382 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John F S View Post
Technology isn't the problem. People are.
That!
Technology was developed to serve mankind. However, some people become the slaves of technology.
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Old 08-21-2013, 07:58 PM
 
Location: Pueblo - Colorado's Second City
12,259 posts, read 24,372,939 times
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I think it allows us to value life and more spend more time doing the things we love instead of worrying about basic needs. For example life back in the dark ages was not easy and most people did not have time to enjoy life as they were just trying to survive.
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Old 08-21-2013, 11:45 PM
 
Location: 'greater' Buffalo, NY
5,342 posts, read 3,832,156 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by STB93 View Post
What about people like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates who spend a lot of time with technology? what are your thoughts?
If it's 10,000 hours worth of time-wasting, then the scales tip from "waste of time" to "congratulations on becoming the next captain of technological industry."

...being facetious, but I was (for whatever reason) thinking about the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell earlier today, and one of the best sections of that book IMO is the discussion of the "10,000 hour 'rule'" in conjunction with the specific case of Bill Gates. Basically the premise is that 10,000 hours worth of practice is required for mastery of anything, and that Bill Gates was lucky enough to be enabled to get his 10k hours of computer-related practice in at a rather opportune time.
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Old 08-30-2013, 11:56 AM
 
Location: Currently living in Reddit
5,652 posts, read 6,950,057 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oberon_1 View Post
That!
Technology was developed to serve mankind. However, some people become the slaves of technology.
I produce tech conferences. I've consulted on social media. I own gadgets.

Yet I keep seeing a future where 20,000 people are attending a concert and not a single one is paying attention because they're all simultaneously shooting Vines and Instagrams and posting to FB and Tumblr to tell their "friends" they're doing something cool instead of enjoying the show.

And the band onstage stops giving live performances because there's no longer feedback nor energy. It just stopped being fun.
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