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Future Shock or Something Like It

Started by Hector Valdez, June 23, 2012, 09:34:35 PM

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Hector Valdez

Ok, I'm going to be discussing something that has been on my mind for the past several days. I am a bit uncomfortable with the speed at which the scientific establishment is making new discoveries. Now, as far as the knowledge uncovered by these discoveries, I am thrilled, but I fear that individuals at the cutting edge of technology are running far afield of any societal ability to set down moral guidelines so as to preserve the functioning of civilization.

To give a perfect example, many of the technological achievements in just the past ten years have changed american society so quickly that the very same society has not had time to develop precedent or social rules regarding proper use of such technology. And without any precedent to set or guide a system of cohesive societal regulations, the strain on society is causing fissures that are becoming ever wider and more indicative of a civilization that is on the verge of irreversable fracture.

It would seem that we are on the precipice of no turning back, and we are about to jump off that cliff without even checking to see how much water lies at the bottom. And at the very cutting edge of this runaway train is a vast array of enthusiastic scientists that are continually urging us to "Jump! Jump! Jump!"

Frankly, I am very terrified of what is happening, and thought I understand the emotion as a familiar reaction to unfamiliar circumstances, the very existence of such unfamiliar circumstances tells me of an approaching danger that is as ominous as it is enticing.

(Edited to revise thread title. --Recusant)

Ali

Can you give specifics of some of the technological advances that you think we are unprepared for?  I have some examples in my head (such as parenting in the digital age, how to keep our kids safe on the internet when many of us didn't have the internet at home when we were kids - I was 17 before we ever had it at home. Yes, I'm old.)  But I don't know that my examples are the same ones that you are thinking of.  Also, this probably deserves it's own thread since I'm sure many people will be interested in weighing in on this topic.

DeterminedJuliet

What strain on society, in particular, are you concerned about?
"We've thought of life by analogy with a journey, with pilgrimage which had a serious purpose at the end, and the THING was to get to that end; success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead. But, we missed the point the whole way along; It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing, or dance, while the music was being played.

Asmodean

I think the progress should be kept in check only by humanity's stupidity (Leading to abuse, leading to setbacks)
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Hector Valdez

Off the top of my head? Lesee... the diminution of face to face communication, the loosening of standards of accountability, the loss of information rights regarding personal information, symptoms of withdrawal relating to the loss of internet connectivity, the increasing proportion of time spent occupying virtual worlds at the expense of local environmental maintenance, the increasing proportion of services that require definite technological accouterments so as to allow social participation, the eerie desertion of streets, parks, and other natural environments in favor of isolation inside private residences and automobiles, the huge surge and sexual proclivity online and corresponding decline in birth rates, the estrangement and minimal amount of contact between colleagues at the same firm, the vast stretches of both suburban and urban residential environment that one can traverse and find not a single other human soul, the corresponding abundance of feral cats and dogs that line these long stretches of roads...

(paragraph break)

...the seeming inability for any police agencies or local law enforcement to even attempt a home visit upon the failure of all other electronic means of getting in touch with you, the seeming ability for anyone without a cell phone and constant internet access to get lost in the legal, political, and corporate systems, all electronic billing, paying, texting, collaboration, the symptoms of desperation and depression that can originate over slight insults on facebook, as well as the lack of "comments" or "views" on their status updates, the decline in public meeting places, the increasing lack of bookstores, newspapers, barbershops, roadside cafes and other traditional places of social interaction...

(paragraph break)

...inability of individuals to maintain eye contact, inability of individuals to sustain bodily contact, inability of individuals to maintain long-term relationships outside of the internet, a huge decrease in neighboorhood associations, a huge decrease in individuals knowing their neighbors, a huge decrease in historical knowledge even one hundred years ago, a decline in civic participation at the local level, a decline in civic participation at the national level...

(par. break.)

...economic recession and impending depression, increasing trends of violence and instability all over the world, a sever stratification and isolation of social groups and a corresponding lack of intercommunication across social groups...

You know... I don't think this list will end any time soon...

Hector Valdez

*please note* All of these things have been observed by myself only in my local environs. Things could be different in other localities.

Asmodean

...And you see all those things as overall negative? Perhaps the mass communication will lead us to the next evolution of humans as biomechanical entities with networked computers integrated in our nervous system. Why should we try to prevent or limit that in any way?
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

DeterminedJuliet

I see everything you listed as a bit of a mixed bag - the loss of face to face communication isn't all bad (what's HAF, afterall? We'd have never spoken to each other without this kind of technology). I see the decrease in birth rate in some areas to be a good thing, though I don't know if it is directly corresponded to the availability of sexual material online. 
"We've thought of life by analogy with a journey, with pilgrimage which had a serious purpose at the end, and the THING was to get to that end; success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead. But, we missed the point the whole way along; It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing, or dance, while the music was being played.

Crow

RenegeReversi looks like you have a case of "mean world syndrome".
Retired member.

En_Route

You're not called determined for nothing!
I'm sure you're not called Juliet for nothing either, now that I come to think of it.
Some ideas are so stupid only an intellectual could believe them (Orwell).

DeterminedJuliet

Quote from: En_Route on June 24, 2012, 12:29:59 AM
You're not called determined for nothing!
I'm sure you're not called Juliet for nothing either, now that I come to think of it.


I have my theatrical moments.  ;D
"We've thought of life by analogy with a journey, with pilgrimage which had a serious purpose at the end, and the THING was to get to that end; success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead. But, we missed the point the whole way along; It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing, or dance, while the music was being played.

Ecurb Noselrub

A few things I've noticed, which were already in play in my youth but have accelerated in the past decade:

1. Desire for instant gratification - everything is at your finger tips so some people have never developed a discipline to wait for something good.

2. Inability to speak in more than short sentences - long sustained thought also takes some discipline, and communication skills.

3. Inability to sit silently in thought for any significant length of time - always having to be plugged in or connected to some media device.

Whether it's good or bad, quien sabe. 

Ali

I guess I just don't see things as being all that dire.  Maybe it depends on where you live, by my area certainly isn't a ghost town of empty sidewalks and feral dogs.  I will say that it does bother me to see a table full of people who are ignoring each other in favor of their cell phones.  Usually teenagers.


Asmodean

Quote from: Ali on June 24, 2012, 03:10:58 PM
I guess I just don't see things as being all that dire.  Maybe it depends on where you live, by my area certainly isn't a ghost town of empty sidewalks and feral dogs.  I will say that it does bother me to see a table full of people who are ignoring each other in favor of their cell phones.  Usually teenagers.


Maybe the people on the other side of those phones are more interesting and/or significant to them than those at the table?
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Sweetdeath

Quote from: Asmodean on June 24, 2012, 03:59:29 PM
Quote from: Ali on June 24, 2012, 03:10:58 PM
I guess I just don't see things as being all that dire.  Maybe it depends on where you live, by my area certainly isn't a ghost town of empty sidewalks and feral dogs.  I will say that it does bother me to see a table full of people who are ignoring each other in favor of their cell phones.  Usually teenagers.


Maybe the people on the other side of those phones are more interesting and/or significant to them than those at the table?

Most likely, because i certainly don't do that shit to my friends or Mimi.
I spent the entire day last night doing a Firefly mini marathon and didn't think of my cellphone once. :<


Technology now makes things easier for me. No longer do i have to worry about missing a call because i stepped out to the store. Or waiting anxiously for a job interview to call me, and not going out all day because of it.

Skype allows me to videochat with my far away friends. That is amazing!

I can join forums like these with like minded people and know i am not alone :)

I think this age of technology will help assist in eliminating some ignorance.

If some people have social and communication blunders, then that's on them, not cellphones and computers.
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.