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Do you feel we have lost our drive to achieve bigger and better things for ourselves and our civilization? Modern technology has allowed us to reach new heights never seen before but has also created an addiction to it as well. Instead of going out into the world, exploring, learning, and improving we instead choose to stay inside and watch others do it on YouTube or a similar site.
To blame technology 100% is unfair but does play a role. I notice around my neighborhood kids aren't outside that much anymore. I also notice when I visit my younger family members they seem to prefer sitting around staring at an ipad for 3 hours and the parents let it happen. Should we expect more of the same in the future?
Do you feel we have lost our drive to achieve bigger and better things for ourselves and our civilization?
Not in the least; most basic (scientific and technological) progress comes from the human nature to explore and experiment, and the push for autonomy and privacy rights for the individual would stimulate that -- if the Chicken Littles don't get cold fee, and kill it in the name of "common good", security, or whatever.
What I do se as not so much a "threat" as a negative influence, is the obsession by a variety of single-issue groups from various extremes of the political spectrum -- both the Christian Right and the eco=feminist / socialist / Politically Correct crowd. Both have an agenda, both want to impose it on everyone else and both see the mass media educational system, and the minds of the both the young and impressionable, as the arena on which the battle will be fought. It's the well-informed, independent-minded individual that neither side has any use for.
I suspect a lot of it arises from the single most prominent societal trend of our times -- the emancipation of women, I don't have any problem with that in and of itself, but a lot of pretty, glitzy. unworkable nonsense is bring added to "the package"; Korporate Amerika and Madison Avenue are going along for the ride, and a lot of resources are going to be wasted and a lot of people damaged before the natural workings of human interaction sorts things out, and providing the power-broker wannabees don;t interfere,
Some anonymous street demonstrator during the Paris uprising in the spring of 1968 said it best:
If they give you ruled paper, turn it on its side and write the other way!
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 05-21-2014 at 05:49 PM..
I think people are losing their drive due to the heavy hand of government and the high taxes and assistance programs.
I recently spoke with a business owner who is in charge of a multi million dollar company and he said his business is large enough and he can't get any bigger nor can he take on any new employees since his out of pocket insurance rates would sky rocket and his tax rate would explode. He simply cannot afford to expand.
From another angle I know a family who is getting assistance from the government and they are right on the cusp of losing it. If their household makes a bit more money they will go over the program limits and suddenly all the bills would be on them. They couldn't afford it unless they can make a LOT more money which they can't. They can make a little more but not enough.
In both examples the systems in place are not allowing the people to expand and grow so why should they even try to fight it.
Look at the pace of human development. Could anyone in 1997, less then 10 years ago, have imagined an Iphone or a Galaxy S Android? Could they have seen self driving cars? Soon to be a reality.
Medicinally we are developing measles viruses that will attack cancer cells. We are learning the aging process to the point where its believed we may add 50 years onto the average 30 and 40 year olds life span, so living to damn near 150 years old.
Most modern advances are made and derived from war. War is a massive driver of technological advancement. Microwaves, and tons of other modern devices we use today, stem from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
Instead of going out into the world, exploring, learning, and improving we instead choose to stay inside and watch others do it on YouTube or a similar site.
Let's see, humanity survived various plagues and 2 great wars but Youtube will do us in.
Do you feel we have lost our drive to achieve bigger and better things for ourselves and our civilization? Modern technology has allowed us to reach new heights never seen before but has also created an addiction to it as well. Instead of going out into the world, exploring, learning, and improving we instead choose to stay inside and watch others do it on YouTube or a similar site.
To blame technology 100% is unfair but does play a role. I notice around my neighborhood kids aren't outside that much anymore. I also notice when I visit my younger family members they seem to prefer sitting around staring at an ipad for 3 hours and the parents let it happen. Should we expect more of the same in the future?
It's called change.
And every generation teems with people who think it represents some sort of demise, regression, or at least stagnation. It doesn't. There has always been change and there always will be. Every generation will do things differently than the generation that went before it.
Since time immemorial, many people have been convinced that those young whippersnappers just don't 'have what it takes'. And they're always wrong.
I think too many people in America have associated the relatively short burst of manufacturing growth here as a kind of American norm. History has been allowing us a view of the great societies around the globe that have perished long ago. The fact that America was/is one of those societies, (depending on your own take) simply is what it is, just one more human success story complete with the obvious faults that we can see as possible detriments to our future sustainability.
It's the fact of human drive that puts the America's fortunes in proper perspective, I don't think we are an exceptional society anymore than the others who've gone before us, some can't abide by this obvious aspect of man's history, for them it's about nationality or race, or religion, but in the end we all know the human species is a highly capable one and that this species will probably persevere in some kind group form to sustain.
I agree with OP. I can't believe how addicted people are to smart phones, ipads, video games, TV, etc. I will put off buying these things as long as possible. I've cut back my TV watching a lot as well. Now that the weather is good, I spend a lot of time outside gardening, riding my bike, visiting/helping neighbors, etc. It amazes me how so few people are out enjoying the good weather after being cooped up all winter. And the way people are locked to their smart phones is quite concerning, especially the kids and the parents of those kids who should be teaching them social graces.
As for the achievements of civilization, I think that since we've gone to the moon, the next achievement (going to Mars) seems too unachievable at this point. And there really isn't anything else that could arouse the same level of inspiration. I suppose a cure for cancer would be a great achievement, but dwelling on cancer isn't as inspiring as traveling to another heavenly body. We've achieved supersonic airplane travel and have regressed in that area. Computers have advanced, but it is questionable (to me) whether that has really helped us.
Science continues unabated, if not outright accelerating according to the relation that the rate of change is proportional to the present amount. However, as science and technology move forward, they become increasing esoteric and removed from the sphere of cognizance of even a broadly scientifically education person (say somebody with a Bachelor's degree in physics or chemistry). This is one reason that the common man is increasing disconnected from science, regarding it as something recondite and weird, useless (unless it produces handheld gadgets!) and even insidious. Then there's the political pressure, painting scientists as effete and conceited piddlers unworthy of the public's respect, let alone of the public's tax dollars.
Mainstream society has, I think, indeed lost its fascination with science. Splitting the atom, flying supersonically, landing on the moon… today these strike us as quaint and even sophomoric endeavors, too greenhorn and simplistic for a mature and practical people that worries more about inflation, debt, terrorism, social injustices, inequality, unhealthy foods, obesity and bad traffic.
Connecting these two threads together, imagine that you're 12, at home for the summer, mechanically or electrically inclined, looking for worthy things with which to occupy your time. Can something in the house be taken apart and reassembled? Is there something with which to tinker? Dad's car? Your wristwatch? The family radio? We're surrounded by devices that are wondrous and wondrously complex. There's no lifting of the hood, no rifling through the innards. There's no hands-on learning for a kid to figure out how things work, to break them and somehow to reassemble them, to scratch that itch to meld with the technology. Will the result be a generation with an insatiable appetite for consumption of technology, without chance to develop the practical acumen to comprehend the technology?
Drive is a personality type. Look at all the soccer moms today and tell me they don't have drive. Vision is a different story.
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