Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#61

Post by meowface » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 7:33 PM UTC

xwdv wrote: post #26

Charlie_26 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhhh, can you elaborate on this? Tech has enabled you to do anything?

There is so much tech in life, it’s hard to know where to even begin. Seems like every time you want to do something it starts with a google search on the best way to do it. If you don’t, you risk wasting a lot of time or money, and then people will call you an idiot for not googling it first, and sometimes the person calling you an idiot is your own self. Life has become nothing but a series of google searches and f…

That sounds like a big quality of life improvement to me, not a disadvantage. Search engines make it much easier to know where to begin with things - including non-tech things.

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#62

Post by ltbarcly3 » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 7:36 PM UTC

abtinf wrote: post #46

unlinked_dll wrote: post #39

Internet usage starts with users querying information they want, and services learning/adapting to deliver information in a format/context based on their activity. This has created some stellar search tools, a personalized network of services and communities available to people, and made the internet a paradise for new content from all over the world. Despite that all the information in the world is available to us,…

> It doesn't lead to free exchange of ideas and values, it has created polarized societies Technology created polarized society? Before internet search, we were better educated and understood each other better?

Newspapers were at least, historically at least in the 20th century, were expected to inform and keep a separation between opinion and news. They clearly had a political slant, but they couldn't just ignore facts that they found inconvenient, or only mention them in hit pieces meant to discredit them. Exceptions to this, like Yellow Journalism and Hearst's use of his papers for personal and political ends were at least considered failures of journalism in hindsight.

In the Soviet Union they kept a tight control on the media, and Pravda was controlled by the ruling party to amplify it's message as a tool of propaganda. It would ignore inconvenient facts and stories based on their propaganda value, or if something inconvenient was too well known to ignore it would mention it only to discredit it.

Today many people get most of their news from sites like Breitbart or RawStory. Doing this is voluntarily signing up for Pravda like propaganda. Yes, we have a free society and you aren't restricted to a single source of news like Pravda, but if people intentionally and voluntarily limit themselves to a site that is manipulating stories in the same way as Pravda and for the same motivations, we just have two groups of oppositely propagandized people, and of course that will increase polarization. There is no expectation that these sites would uphold journalistic standards, be generally honest beyond when it is convenient, and their bias is considered a feature.

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#63

Post by MiddleEndian » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 7:38 PM UTC

The weaknesses of the phone system are being exploited and exposed. Telemarketers have learned they can just put whatever they want on their caller ID with zero verification, including the phone numbers of random local individuals. If the FCC and/or the phone companies don't start forwarding originator information so spammers can effectively be blocked by any user, the phone system will (and deserves to) fail. At least among my friend group, most of us don't have each other's numbers, we communicate on chat apps.

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#64

Post by logicalmonster » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 7:38 PM UTC

The biggest societal altering impacts may be in terms of dating and reproduction. This has major cultural consequences. * There’s more than 1 reason for this, but approach patterns have changed. Men approaching women in real life is now rarer than it was in favor of online meeting through Apps. * Many relationships now happen based on online dating. In a sense, a series of algorithms are already dictating human reproduction. * Before Apps, people mainly shacked up with equivalent looking people at a fairly young age, but today women have access to the best men in town they’d otherwise never have a chance to meet. The dating marketplace is pretty skewed with roughly 80% of women chasing after 20% of men. Elite men can get dozens of sex partners. Women can usually get sex, but not commitment from lots of men they like. Average or subpar men are essentially invisible in the dating market as evidenced by declining rates of sex by most people. This causes a lot of problems in society as many men drop out and exist as gamers in a dull existence or turn to drugs due to lack of ability to find a connection. * Dating Apps are part of the reason that birth rates are generally dropping in first world countries: at least it can’t help. Alpha males are enjoying life shacking up with the women all chasing after them. Women while away their younger years in careers and chasing after unrealistic men before settling at an older age and maybe having 1 kid. This is a major first world impact because demographics are destiny. As far as cultural impacts go, can’t go bigger than the consequences to reproduction changing.

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#65

Post by djokkataja » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 7:39 PM UTC

Charlie_26 wrote: post #59

xwdv wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is so much tech in life, it’s hard to know where to even begin. Seems like every time you want to do something it starts with a google search on the best way to do it. If you don’t, you risk wasting a lot of time or money, and then people will call you an idiot for not googling it first, and sometimes the person calling you an idiot is your own self. Life has become nothing but a series of google searches and f…

I think this is an example of where books are powerful. A (good) book on a subject is far superior than pages of different articles that anyone could write. With a book you know that time and effort has gone into it. If you want to learn about something, invest in the right book.

So how do you find "the right book" these days?

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#66

Post by lewiscollard » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 7:44 PM UTC

Optimising for "engagement". I don't think, at least to start with, that Machiavellian intentions were behind it. But it turned out that optimising for the thing that got the most likes, the most retweets, the most emotional reactions, and the most views from people was a shit way of deciding what information should propagate the furthest.

That is a paperclip maximiser. I don't think we, collectively, have fully come to terms with how damaging it is.

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#67

Post by Charlie_26 » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 7:46 PM UTC

djokkataja wrote: post #65

Charlie_26 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is an example of where books are powerful. A (good) book on a subject is far superior than pages of different articles that anyone could write. With a book you know that time and effort has gone into it. If you want to learn about something, invest in the right book.

So how do you find "the right book" these days?

I'm guessing you want me to say Google. But I'd actually use Amazon. Or even just walking into a good book store and reading a few! What have you got to lose?

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#68

Post by goobynight » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 8:11 PM UTC

lovehashbrowns wrote: post #22

dylz wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The charity people here border on harassment, have card readers, physically try to stop you or block you, and apparently none of what you donate actually goes to the charity, it's mostly paid out in commissions to rent seekers.

Are you talking about the charity people with clipboards in SF? They're seriously the most aggressive people I've ever seen. I'm surprised they have card readers now. I think they used to just write your credit card details on a piece of paper.

I'm try to respectfully decline them, but if they try to passive aggressively guilt me, I teeter on the cusp of countering by attacking back and trying to crack their self esteem.

I haven't done it yet and wouldn't be proud of myself, but it would feel good.

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#69

Post by djokkataja » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 8:16 PM UTC

Charlie_26 wrote: post #67

djokkataja wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how do you find "the right book" these days?

I'm guessing you want me to say Google. But I'd actually use Amazon. Or even just walking into a good book store and reading a few! What have you got to lose?

I was thinking that when buying books, people often take notice of recommendations from Amazon or random sites through Google or discussion sites like this one, but a recommendation from someone I know or interact with is preferable when I can get it. And it's not necessarily preferable because of a higher quality recommendation: a recommendation from a person implies some degree of meaningful interaction with them that contributes to an overall sense of.. meaningful-ness even if the book turns out to be awful. Plus if it turns out to be awful, I can discuss it with that person further and possibly get a better recommendation. Plus whether or not it's awful, I can talk with them about it after reading it for additional meaningful interaction.

I think that kind of loss of meaningful interaction is a pretty small thing, but it can add up over time and have a greater impact with high usage of services like Google that automate things that previously generally involved more human interaction. And sure, no one's forcing anyone to use Google or Amazon instead of talking to people, but it's a fairly subtle opportunity cost that comes with using those services. And those kinds of services are convenient and useful enough that it's quite easy to make a habit of using them, and habits aren't easy to change.

Re: Ask HN: What are unintended consequences of new tech you've noticed?

#70

Post by ipython » Fri, Oct 25, 2019, 8:17 PM UTC

iamben wrote: post #5

Something I've noticed a huge amount over the last couple of years in particular - no one has any change for the homeless / those on the streets / those collecting for charity. Contactless has been a 'thing' for a while now, but it really seemed to kick up a gear when phones and watches had wallets and the buses and a decent amount of restaurants went 'card only'.

The most amazing thing I saw when walking around London was a busker near a tube station who had one of those Square-branded contactless card readers to accept donations.