Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

[Rick]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

Without technology there would be no beer. I don't even want to think about that.

Not at all. Fermentation is a 100% natural process. Cave dwellers brewed alcoholic beverages. Just sayin'. My example would be air conditioning; when I was growing up, we didn't have AC. I could probably give up indoor plumbing, if I had to, but I don't think I could give up AC...

[nbdy]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

Not at all. Fermentation is a 100% natural process. Cave dwellers brewed alcoholic beverages. Just sayin'. My example would be air conditioning; when I was growing up, we didn't have AC. I could probably give up indoor plumbing, if I had to, but I don't think I could give up AC...

Quite the opposite here, I need indoor plumbing but could live without AC. Maybe I live further north than you though. That was the beer talking last night, but you probably knew that. I think the OP is specifically referring to electricity-based gadgetry, which gets a mixed review from me. There is both convenience and headache. Anyone at a university should go back in the stacks and check out a published dissertation from the early 1900s. These are not beautiful things; the point was to convey information, to demonstrate knowledge. Today so much time is spent by the student making the thing look pretty. Just an example.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

I'm pretty much with Thalassa on this one.

My only gripe with technology is that things like smart phones, while enhancing connectivity and communication, are de-skilling us in face-to-face communications. These things are changing the way that we communicate and interact on a social level. And while that's a part of evolving as a species, I don't really like the direction it's taking us.

[Annwn]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

On the whole I think technology is a good thing, medically it is amazing, it gives us our comforts in life like heating, pluming, electricity, the internet etc. I think to a point these are all things we have been brought up to take for granted, and would find it hard to live without.

I would say that technology only becomes an issue if we let it. We do not have to sit and play computer games because they are there, we can arrange to meet a friend or a family member instead of just using modern day apps like Facebook or Twitter. we do not have to shop on line there is nothing stopping us from going out and doing it for ourselves. It dose not stop us enjoying non technological things we if do not let it.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

I'm pretty torn.

On one hand:
-I love heating, plumbing and electricity. After camping and hiking for a couple of weeks (I just got back last week), I really appreciate the ability to take a hot shower whenever I want. Nothing makes you love hot water as much as not having hot water does.
-I also really believe in modern medicine and all it has to offer. Although I'm not one to swallow a ton of over-the-counter pills, I'm glad that health care is where it is. I probably would have died ages ago without it (or wouldn't have been born in the first place).
-I like how reachable travel has become, because I can see more of the world and see my family more often.
-I like what the internet has done for communication. I can keep in touch with my family without running a crazy phone bill and I can work remotely with clients all over the world.
-The access to information we have is AWESOME. Seriously. If someone from the past could time travel to present day, I think this is what would amaze them the most.

On the other hand:
-Advertising drives me INSANE. In a big city, you can't escape it. Advertising fills every corner you can find. Even some of the graffiti is advertising. Online is no better. I have ad-blockers installed in my browsers, which makes it better, but I still can't get past all the other ways that companies try to market to me (and since I studied marketing, I'm hyper aware of it).
-I don't like how standardized everything is getting. I feel like every big city is almost the same, with different languages and different buildings. You get the same food (everyone loves Italian food...I'm SO BORED OF IT), same clothing styles, same stores, same music...everything is the same. It's hard to find anything resembling a local culture in a city, at least as a visitor. You have to leave the cities and go to isolated places for that. Even those are starting to get same-y. I've been to all of 2 places in the past 3 years that felt like they had any sort of unique culture. They were both islands.
-Technology has pretty much ruined music. Like cultures, it has standardized it. There is still great musicianship and songwriting out there, but it all gets fed through autotune until it sounds the same. I was listening to The Who's "Tommy" today and it really hit me that that album would never get made today. I do hear lots of great music, but none of it is mainstream.
-I'm bored of CGI. So, so bored. Fancy special effects don't replace good storytelling, sorry.
-We have access to so much information, but there is so much misinformation out there. We communicate a bit too quickly for our own good and don't really dig into the facts.
-Because of the pressure to get things out quickly, media integrity is slowly eroding. There is just less time for fact checking and editing.
-The internet has devalued a lot of forms of creative expression. Never has it been so easy to gain an audience for music or writing, but that hasn't really benefited artists financially.


I know it sounds like the cons outweigh the pros, but I give those pros more weight, so I still feel that technology is overall positive

[thalassa]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

Not at all. Fermentation is a 100% natural process. Cave dwellers brewed alcoholic beverages. Just sayin'.

Application of the knowledge of how to cause and control a natural process like fermentation is technology. We wouldn't have beer or wine or rum or vodka without it. Or domesticated livestock or crops...or cheese, or bread...

[nbdy]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

-Technology has pretty much ruined music. Like cultures, it has standardized it. There is still great musicianship and songwriting out there, but it all gets fed through autotune until it sounds the same. I was listening to The Who's "Tommy" today and it really hit me that that album would never get made today. I do hear lots of great music, but none of it is mainstream.

I feel you on this one. Started going to CD Baby a few years ago to get some relief from hearing the same 2-3 sounds all the time. Right now my favorite CDs are by virtual unknowns, and I kind of hope they don't get a label because it would ruin them.

[Alienist]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

I believe technology is technology. Nothing good or bad about it. A lot of good things have come from technology. Medicine has helped although personally I prefer to do it the natural way as much as possible as there are many natural remedies out there, but technology to help us like with surgery or other medical practices help a lot. It's also easier to see who committed a crime thanks to our forensic technology however like with pretty much everything it's a double edged sword and one can use technology to easily frame someone as well.

Sometimes the more advanced a society is, when something goes wrong, the greater the consequences. You couldn't destroy the world with sticks and stones but now it's very easy to wipe out populations, through pollution, chemical warfare or nuclear weapons.
It has it's ups and downs like everything else, but I know it has helped me quite a bit.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

I just installed something that lets me get texts on my pc and tablet so if I'm not near my phone I won't miss a text, and I can reply using a real keyboard. I also just configured something where I can type a grocery list on my pc and it syncs to my phone while I'm at the store. On my recent trip I did all my boarding passes and train tickets on my phone, no paper tickets. And the other day when the home wifi was down, I used my phone's network to create a hotspot. A year or two I wouldn't have known what any of this was.

For my age I'm doing pretty darn well with this stuff.

[thalassa]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

I also just configured something where I can type a grocery list on my pc and it syncs to my phone while I'm at the store.

I want this.

What is it?

[Roknrol]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

Remember the milk dot com is the big one.

- - - Updated - - -

I have not looked into their privacy policies at all - do your research...

[DanieMarie]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

I find though that as productive as some of this stuff can make us, it also has the potential to make us very unproductive. Time management becomes a major, major issue. Like, a lot of my clients like to use Skype, and as management types, they can't see the downside to constant access to contact. But for me as a writer, my job depends on getting stuff done and the amount of stuff I get done in a day really affects how much money I earn. Skype and such are a distraction.

I'm also finding more and more pressure to CONSTANTLY be connected in my private life, which sometimes drives me insane. Like, last Friday I took the day off to go to my brother-in-law's wedding. I told a client that I was not available that day (because he had asked) and that I'd be busy throughout the weekend. Still, I got a request for a task right at the end of the day on Thursday (like, after working hours) and then an email on Sunday asking why I hadn't done it yet. I wasn't online like I said I wouldn't be, that's why. That's kind of an exception for that one, so it's not the end of the world, but some of my American clients respect work-life balance even less. Like, European clients pretty much never ask requests over the weekend unless they're kind of desperate. I'm not sure American clients know what the weekend is.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

I want this.

What is it?

OneNote. The app was free on my phone and it came with the new pc as well.

[Watchful Wanderer]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

I would say there's a fine line, technology has its merits, but has its dangers too.

[thalassa]

Re: Technology:good for humans,or Bad for humans?

I would say there's a fine line, technology has its merits, but has its dangers too.

So does nature.