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Location: In a rural place where people can't bother me ;)
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I have read a ton of threads on here that contain an enormous amount of substance related to cell phones in the workplace, cell phones at home and our overall inability to just "unplug" from technology, for better or worse.
What really annoys me to the core is when people say that back before cell phones we got by just fine. In my mind, with that logic, should humanity be able to get by just fine without electricity or vehicles or planes? I believe advances in technology improve our quality of life and therefore humanity in general is entitled to enjoy and use said advances.
I feel I would "get by" just fine without my phone or computer and Internet. However I know I would have massive anxiety without it. I would more than likely behave like someone quitting tobacco cold turkey, until I got over it. Just the way I am.
I carry a flip phone for "in case" use. I use it mostly to check the time as I no longer wear a watch. My wife on the other hand has a smart phone and would be lost without the constant texts and checking pics of the grandchildren.
Location: In a rural place where people can't bother me ;)
516 posts, read 429,632 times
Reputation: 1009
Quote:
Originally Posted by longneckone
I carry a flip phone for "in case" use. I use it mostly to check the time as I no longer wear a watch. My wife on the other hand has a smart phone and would be lost without the constant texts and checking pics of the grandchildren.
Modern society is always fine IN THAT MOMENT with how society is at that time. Before there was electricity, vehicles, industrialization, smartphones, the internet.
Before the invention of any of these things, we didn't know they existed, so we couldn't miss something that didn't exist yet, so we were happy and got by just fine with however society was back then.
I have read a ton of threads on here that contain an enormous amount of substance related to cell phones in the workplace, cell phones at home and our overall inability to just "unplug" from technology, for better or worse.
What really annoys me to the core is when people say that back before cell phones we got by just fine. In my mind, with that logic, should humanity be able to get by just fine without electricity or vehicles or planes? I believe advances in technology improve our quality of life and therefore humanity in general is entitled to enjoy and use said advances.
I feel I would "get by" just fine without my phone or computer and Internet. However I know I would have massive anxiety without it. I would more than likely behave like someone quitting tobacco cold turkey, until I got over it. Just the way I am.
What do you think?
before cell phones - Well, yah, we did prosper without them. The proof is - Here we are. & many people - I'm not sure of the % of penetration of cell phone ownership in the World - still do just fine without one.
without electricity or vehicles or planes? - Yep again, for the same reason. & just like the cell phone - many people do without these due to necessity. Or they simply can't afford the critters. Or the infrastructure isn't there, or the roads, or the airports. There are lots of reasons, really.
advances in technology improve our quality of life - Yah, you would hope so. But TV - commercial TV, @ least - seems mostly interested in selling us stuff, or more bluntly, selling (or renting) eyeballs to the sponsors. Really, I'm down to watching Jeopardy, The Daily Show, the first 15 minutes or so of the local news (less if they get stupid faster than usual). I'll flip around on the TV if I've read the paper, tire of reading my current book, caught up on household stuff. But I'm losing interest in The Daily Show - it's probably just me, getting cranky & impatient. I'm not as patient as I used to be.
humanity in general is entitled - Historically, that hasn't been true. We may yet get there, but the notion of entitlement is a hard sell in the US - here it's generally whatever the traffic will bear. If whatever-it-is is marketable @ a profit to someone or some agency, then maybe it'll fly. Otherwise, tech gets sidetracked to Never-Neverland, or to universities, to see if a way can be found to make it pay (like radio & TV, which went the university route until some bright lad figured out a way to make it pay - & how!)
Ineptness can be endearing, but it's anti-survival
I carried a cell when I was driving long distances in the Southwest. Cells make sense for that application, & first responders, neurosurgeons, people who actually need to be on call - when circumstances dictate. Otherwise, a lot of the conversations I half-hear are Did we see that movie? What did you want from the grocery? & so on. Hardly earth-shaking content.
I think technology can be helpful, yes. But humans are the decision-makers in the loop, not the tech itself, nor the corporates trying to sell us services/tech. My favorite Seinfield episode: the gang is out in the boonies, in the winter, in a blizzard, car's dead, no cell coverage. They get to a cabin they've borrowed. It's stocked with canned food, fireplace, wood. No matches, no can opener, no electricity. They have an axe to hand - but aren't clever enough to open the cans nor strike sparks with the axe. I never laughed so hard.
I've been directly involved in personal computer technology since its inception in the 1970's and with the internet since it emerged out of 'Mosaic' in the 1980's. I've watched and been involved in the changes in business and in homes - and in reflecting back now (in retirement) have a few observations:
1) People have vastly more information available at their fingertips than ever before. They know more about technology and a wider range of things than their ancestors. But, people aren't really any smarter or wiser than they ever were. On the contrary, we've become so dependent on technology that people have largely forgotten how to think and engage in worthwhile activities.
2). Interpersonal communications have also suffered. Rather than talk with one another, people text abbreviated messages or send emails and tweets. In any social setting or gathering, a large percentage of people stare blankly at their phone screens, rather than talking with one another. Prior to technology, people were 'forced' to talk with one another and work things out based on the information at-hand.
3). Today, a vast number of our jobs and daily endeavors are focused on passing, massaging and re-stating information, rather than actually doing, building, creating or making things happen. Our children learn what they see and, from an early age, emulate the information-shuffling they see around them.
I'm not sure that the "Leave it to Beaver" or "Father knows Best" lives depicted on 1950's and 1960's television reliably reflected the society and life, but things certainly seemed much simpler. Even with information and knowledge available everywhere, society, the media, politicians and common people seem to have lost a sense of truth -- Instead, they cling to post-modern relativism and politically correct notions of right or truth.
People themselves probably haven't changed much since ancient times. Oh they wear different clothes, eat different food, drive different vehicles and have different technology, but, underneath it all, people are the same. We may feel more enlightened and sophisticated, but so did the ancients --- "When everything was up to date in Kansas City"
Yes, humanity did just fine. reason being, humanity was fed false goals. Humanity was told that never ending activity is good. That you have to spend your LIFE always looking for something to do. Achieve a goal. This and that.
Why??? Nothing of those "achievements" really matter and ever made anyone happy. When the time comes.
OP, it all goes towards your life philosophy. If you follow materialistic philosophy - well, there is nothing that can be done for you, it is what it is.
If you follow idealistic philosophy, spiritual path - then why worry about things of no importance indeed?
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Tech @ human scale
