Medusa's Question Du Jour

[Ecurb Noselrub]

This is a nice idea.  Looking back there were  a few good questions posed.  Though I don't want to post a new question daily, maybe we can take turns among us every few days?

I'll post a question:

Do you think there is virtue in rejecting technology and living a simpler life?

Not in rejecting it, but it wouldn't hurt to also have the skills to survive in case technology breaks down in your area.  Being able to go out into the wilderness and survive off the land can be a valuable asset. 

[AnimatedDirt]

Do you think there is virtue in rejecting technology and living a simpler life?

Not in rejecting it, but it wouldn't hurt to also have the skills to survive in case technology breaks down in your area.  Being able to go out into the wilderness and survive off the land can be a valuable asset.

I would agree with Bruce...and add that technology, in this day, has degraded society in that we (myself included...and for the most part) cannot go out to dinner without our cellphones, but not just as in being connected, but that we cannot even hold conversations with those we choose to spend time with.  Instead we bury our faces and therefore our attention into the phone and all our virtual world and negate our real world and our loved ones in our immediate vicinity. 

I would be glad to have this aspect of technology taken from me as I am not always able to remove myself from it as much as I know I need to be...to my shame.

[Asmodean]

I disagree with it necessarilly being a negative trait. So we (myself EXcluded) don't leave the house without a phone and are completely lost without electricity. So what? We have access to phones and electricity. "Blaming" people and societies in general for not functioning well (or at all) outside their comfort zone... Well, it's sort of like blaming a sea lion for being clumsy on land.

[Ali]

I romaniticize "a simpler life" but in truth I freaking love my iPhone and am glad that I have it.

[DeterminedJuliet]

"virtue" implies a moral judgement. I see no inherent morality or immorality  in technological advance - it's all what we do with it. And, really, poor cell phone etiquette probably won't lead to the downfall of society. Though it does drive me CRAZY when I'm having dinner/coffee with someone and they stare at their phone every two seconds. Part of the reason that I haven't gotten a smartphone yet is because I'm already addicted to the internet, and full access to it 24/7 would make it worse. 

[OldGit]

If I literally reject technology and stop taking my insulin, I will die most unpleasantly.  So ...

[Tank]

If I literally reject technology and stop taking my insulin, I will die most unpleasantly.  So ...

Surely you'd just pass out, go into a coma and die? I wouldn't call that particularly unpleasant. I ask out of curiosity as at the moment I'm not on insulin, but that is somewhere in my future.

[Asmodean]

One could go blind from not taking one's insulin, no? Or was it masturbation?  ???

[OldGit]

That's because most masturbators don't use insulin first.

Surely you'd just pass out, go into a coma and die?

I think you can die of orrible things like kidney failure without your sugar being high enough to make you pass out.  Also you can get gangrene and other nasties.

[En_Route]

One could go blind from not taking one's insulin, no? Or was it masturbation?  ???

Yes, you can go blind from not masturbating. That's always been my excuse anyway.

[Asmodean]

See! You see?! That's what The Asmo has been saying for YEARS, but did any one listen?! 

[OldGit]

^ No, cos they all went deaf from excessive masturbaton.

[Asmodean]

Ah..! Not a problem for Asmokin, what with them having no ears and all, but... Makes sense. 

[The Magic Pudding]

One could go blind from not taking one's insulin, no? Or was it masturbation?  ???

You can go blind if you miss your daily masturbation?
Geez that's scary, have any brave scientists tested this?

Do you think there is virtue in rejecting technology and living a simpler life?

I think it is a virtue to consume less, particularly things that have a high environmental or ethical cost.
Keeping warm inefficiently burning trees probably wouldn't be more virtuous than a high tech energy efficient solution.

If a person is memorised by shiny new technology, if they have something akin to an addiction it's a waste.  I think it is a virtue to measure the worth of things and not be fooled by a desire for shiny things.  A fancy phone may be nice but if the one you've got is fine and you're just a victim of marketing hype, that's kind of sad. 

[En_Route]

I romaniticize "a simpler life" but in truth I freaking love my iPhone and am glad that I have it.

Yes who would want to go back to living in caves drawing silly pictures on the walls.