Interesting opinion piece. I've previously written about the rise of technoskepticism: http://jcfrei.com/technological-primacy/
(2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
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Re: (2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
“The current regulatory framework in place in the majority of jurisdictions is allowing technology to become a net negative for both people and society as a whole”. I make a distinction between science and technology for the sake of this comment. Science brings us biomedical breakthroughs, space probes, and renewables; technology brings us Black Mirror dystopian futures. (“Technology destroys people” is a lazy argume…
It sounds like our variant of capitalism is the system that's destroying people, not technology.
Bingo!
I feel like you get this type of article from Americans as a cowardly way to avoid criticising unchecked capitalism or dealing with and engaging with their politics as a means to build a better government.
Easier to blame a nebulous concept and the individual, then advocate for any sort of group cooperatism - even though as a species cooperating is what we've always done.
Re: (2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Humans will always form hierarchies, but it is possible to have more equitable hierarchies where I’m still not beaten to death for my iPhone.
What does “equitable hierarchy” mean? Equality of outcome? No thanks. Equality of opportunity? Fine, that’s what we have today.
>...that’s what we have today.
I agree with everything you said except for this part. We certainly don't have equality of opportunity today. Maybe in small microcosms of the first world countries, but there is a lot more work that needs doing in most of the world.
Re: (2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
#34I think his heart is in the right place, but the execution is over-reactive.
Here are my ideas that I want to implement for myself: 1. Move back to dumb phones, landlines, or a wifi phone. 2. Limit movie/video consumption to a fixed time limit per day. For example, 1 hour a day. 3. Re-use old technology/re-cycle technology waste before buying new. 4. Move back to bare metal servers, and self-host. 5. Use simpler technologies that have no environmental impact. 6. Only invest in technology that is repairable and long-lasting.
Re: (2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
#35[flagged]
Re: (2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
#36>Technology destroys people. We’re already cyborgs (pacemakers, hearing aids) of a sort, and are well on our way to the type of Big Brother dystopia of the techno-utopians This one cuts quite close to the bone and I find this comment quite shortsighted and in poor taste. My mother's life was saved by some extremely swift handling by medical professionals and (here it comes) technology. Where I'm from, if someone has…
Pace-makers! Hearing aids! Dystopia!
He's gone and hexed himself with reductio and doesn't even know.
Re: (2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
#37Why stop there? I don’t think Native Americans lived in log cabins. Antibiotics and modern medicine should undoubtedly be cast to the trash heap as well. I can’t help but feel like simply limiting screen time is the solution here...
Primitivism is justly derided, but there are other solutions to the alienation caused by our modern money driven technological society. We can have a better world if we ask for one.
Re: (2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
What does “equitable hierarchy” mean? Equality of outcome? No thanks. Equality of opportunity? Fine, that’s what we have today.
> ...that’s what we have today. I agree with everything you said except for this part. We certainly don't have equality of opportunity today. Maybe in small microcosms of the first world countries, but there is a lot more work that needs doing in most of the world.
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Re: (2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
#39I have a new hypothesis I'm terming "sublimation of criticism." This is likely not original since this isn't my field, but here goes. The campaign to exterminate any alternative political discourse in the West has been so successful that it's now very hard to even talk about any alternative to state corporatist capitalism. This system has many downsides and generates many negative externalities and these are clearly…
>The campaign to exterminate any alternative political discourse in the West has been so successful that it's now very hard to even talk about any alternative I’ve seen no evidence of that and with the severity of your claim should you should include a source or two. Perhaps you’re confusing people disagreeing with your view with people attempting to silence you. Those are two very different things. Recall the Occupy…
Yes I guess a literal neo-nazi terrorist attack didn't happen on American soil.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unite_the_Right_rally
Oh wait it did. And so have numerous ongoing campaigns of harassment and death threats against any dissenting voices. Like this guy: https://www.12news.com/mobile/article/news/local/valley/phoe...
Even advocated for by the current President of the United States: https://newrepublic.com/minutes/128896/beat-protester-trumps...
Re: (2016) Technology destroys people and places. I’m rejecting it
#40Why stop there? I don’t think Native Americans lived in log cabins. Antibiotics and modern medicine should undoubtedly be cast to the trash heap as well. I can’t help but feel like simply limiting screen time is the solution here...
That's not taking it nearly far enough. Our distant ancestors were very adept at destroying ecosystems and causing extinctions with only flint and spears. They massively disrupted every environment they explored. If we want to live non-destructively, we should ban even the use of fire and sharp sticks. In one way of looking at it, all technology, even the most primitive, is sufficient for destruction. From another point of view, the tool itself is not the real problem.