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How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds

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Re: How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds

#391

Post by ageofwant »

Dr_tldr wrote: post #384
rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FINALLY! Someone who understands the reality of the situation and backs it up with FACTS! If people weren't so terrified of nuclear energy by movies like Silkwood or TV shows like The Simpsons they might actually look past their own emotional hinderances and do some trivial comparisons, like, say, the extraction-to-power-generation death rates of nuclear energy versus coal and oil (not to mention air pollution) of th…

So what do we do with the waste that takes 10,000+ years to become safe, given that the average corporation has a lifespan of less than a hundred years?

Modern LFTR reactors produce almost no waste and low grade at that. Current stockpiles of nuclear "waste" are in fact immensely valuable resources as fuel stock to modern reactors.

Re: How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds

#392

Post by aethos »

Jtsummers wrote: post #14
imgabe wrote: post #11

The bit about choices reminds about the soda cup debacle from when Bloomberg proposed limiting the size of soda containers that some venues could sell. Everyone griped about how it limited their "freedom of choice", but nobody asked about why those particular sizes were the choices available in the first place. 7-11 and others decided that they could add a $0.05 more soda and charge $0.25 more and make more money. Pe…

And nevermind that most places have free refills on drinks anyways. So the total quantity of soda you consume isn't restricted unless it's take-away.

That's true, but I would assert that if you gave two people a small cup and big cup, the one with the larger would still drink more, even with free refills. More refills needed for the same amount if soda, more distance to walk, more time, etc.

Re: How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds

#394

Post by Balgair »

mc32 wrote: post #358
kbenson wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that ignores that there is always a spectrum of people who want differing levels of control. Even if there apps to suggest all our actions, there will be people that use them sparingly or not at all, because they want to feel in control. This is acceptable and normal, and also leads to situations where some people do maintain survivalist skills. Our population is homogeneous in almost nothing, which is one of…

Well, like I said earlier it's not about automating simple tasks and giving us reminders, etc. --but rather, ultimately we'll take people out of the equation in most matters of import. We'll be relegated to a state where there are a few "important people" and the rest are basically just vegged out (with a few pockets of 'natural people' here and there). People will not even notice this happen as they will slide into…

Thank God for teenagers then, little jerks will do whatever the 'wrong' thing is just to piss you off and for no other reason.

Re: How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds

#395

Post by GunboatDiplomat »

Dr_tldr wrote: post #384
rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FINALLY! Someone who understands the reality of the situation and backs it up with FACTS! If people weren't so terrified of nuclear energy by movies like Silkwood or TV shows like The Simpsons they might actually look past their own emotional hinderances and do some trivial comparisons, like, say, the extraction-to-power-generation death rates of nuclear energy versus coal and oil (not to mention air pollution) of th…

So what do we do with the waste that takes 10,000+ years to become safe, given that the average corporation has a lifespan of less than a hundred years?

Burn the waste in breeder reactors.

Re: How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds

#396

Post by jimbokun »

kbenson wrote: post #159
mc32 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you and the article and further... Many companies are trying to take search, for example, to the next level by brining predictability through your history as well as your graph. It takes decisionmaking out of people's minds. "You show a history of reading this and that book, have watched these movies and your circle of meaningful people have influenced you thus, so we have this book on its way to you now…

You can look at it as removing our humanity, or you can look at it as supplementing our humanity. Prior to the written word, we had to devote time and effort to passing down information through the spoken word. By offloading this task to an external device (wall, tablet, parchment, paper, book, screen), we've been able to use that time and brainpower to focus on other items, while also increasing the fidelity of our…

Except it's dubious whether that device meaningfully connects you to others, or distracts you from making real personal connections with the people around you through constant distractions and intermittent rewards.

Re: How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds

#398

Post by andrei_says_ »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #35
lars wrote: post #30

Wow, I'm glad this was posted. I think the way we use technology today will be looked back on the same way we look back at naive cigarette smoking in the 1950s. Modern app design isn't about creating things that are good for the user, but about creating want in the user. This is a problem. For example, there are several studies showing that using Facebook in general makes people less happy. User happiness just happen…

I think the more apt metaphor is lead in Roman pipes. They knew lead exposure made you crazy but they still used it in their pipes, on their plates - and it drove them mad. After the planet has warmed beyond a point of no return, after antibiotic resistant bacteria make routine surgery a life-or-death decision, after we have squandered away our resources and used what little we had left to wage futile wars, we will f…

By definition, profit is the only thing that matters to corporations. A moral corporation is a profitable one, and vice versa. Everything else is a lower priority than profit and growth.

Thus, we turn everything that exists into what we measure as profit.

We are the indigenous people selling our lives and attention and time and land/planet for shiny trinkets without value.

Re: How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds

#399

Post by kafkaesq »

lars wrote: post #30

Wow, I'm glad this was posted. I think the way we use technology today will be looked back on the same way we look back at naive cigarette smoking in the 1950s. Modern app design isn't about creating things that are good for the user, but about creating want in the user. This is a problem. For example, there are several studies showing that using Facebook in general makes people less happy. User happiness just happen…

I think the way we use technology today will be looked back on the same way we look back at naive cigarette smoking in the 1950s.

Or perhaps cars and freeways, from about the same period.

Re: How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds

#400

Post by hueving »

clock_tower wrote: post #337
hueving wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of natural poisonous berries. Doesn't mean we should start using them as sweeteners instead.

That's certainly true, but that doesn't mean I trust sucralose and stevia extract (or food-grade aluminum, or long-term storage in BPA-bearing plastic). Nor do I trust certain natural additives or physical processing methods; chemical is full of unknowns, but natural can be harmful too. I try to avoid white flour and added sugar, for example, and I have my doubts about how good of an idea it was to breed all this swe…

>chemical is full of unknowns, but natural

Nature is chemicals. What you are saying is that you trust the chemical outputs of the chaotic natural environment more than the ones produces by scientists.

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