41–44 of 44 posts
Why implants? They are such a hassle to upgrade. I thought we'd skip them entirely and go from wallets to phones to fingerprints. And then to a central AI that can recognize you from a video feed.
> fingerprints I don't know how many times people need to repeat this: Fingerprints are usernames, not passwords. I am really not a fan of biometrics as identification at all.
This is a very fascinating story for me. I remember as a child my ( conservative, christian ) parents having long, serious discussions about credit cards and banking. They were wrestling with the same section of scripture that the writer quoted, Revelations 13:16-17: "It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,so that they co…
I don't understand why Christians get anxious about applying events in Revelations to the current day. Do they not believe that they aren't going to be here for it?
So, any Christians' anxiety about being alive when the end times occur likely comes from crises of faith or ignorance (which I admit to having more than a bit of each myself.) The odds of being alive in human history at the times of the tribulations are slim, but you are told to make yourself ready spiritually for anything to happen at any time. Different Christian sects have sticking points on the order of when prophesy in the bible have already happened/will happen, and that can cause some spirited disagreements. I suppose those varied viewpoints on timelines may affect peoples' anxiety on these subjects as well.
What I find fascinating about the Revelation story is that the spiritual and physical worlds merge at the end of time. All people who ever lived are brought back to life physically on earth only to be immediately judged by God. People who accept Jesus are saved forever, people who reject Him are punished forever.
So it's not like you "go to heaven" in the end, but rather more like "earth is remade/perfected" and God comes to live there physically with his people. Any "heaven" that exists in the meantime is like a paradisaical holding tank where you wait until the end of days. I suppose that this all reflects a more Jewish mystical view than a Greek or European one, and this view seems more grounded/attainable to me than some nebulous cherubs with harps on clouds in heaven or Valhalla of the gods.
I like the Revelation story because it completes the bible in a very mystical and also very human way. It gives answers to a lot of life's questions and questions about God (like why God lets sin and sinners run amok.)
The message I take from Revelation is that no person is really worthy and technically everyone should be judged guilty because we're all sinners, making us incompatible with God. Only out of one's faith in Jesus who is the savior/perfect sin offering, and by God's grace, can you live as a perfected being with God in His holy city forever.
Let me begin by saying that I am a Christian. Generally speaking I am a big believer that much of the Bible needs to be interpreted, and in general I don't buy into the idea that it is infallible. That said, I don't think I could get a chip implanted in my right hand for payment purposes! It's just so on the nose with what the scripture actually says.
I tend to agree with the article that mobile payments and such don't feel like they provide much value. If there are system allowed people to walk into stores and just take stuff without waiting in line, the time savings would be huge. But the time spent in actually physically swiping a credit card is minimal so even once the glitches are gone, the payoff in convenience is mediocre at best.
Why can't we have this: Mobile phones + barcode scanners + CCTV + object/facial recognition = convenient shopping experience where you can pick up what you need, scan it, and walk out having paid by phone. CCTV algorithms can flag potential shoplifters or shoppers who forgot to scan certain items. If it can be pulled off then it could mean fewer people working checkout and less spending on bags. But, on the other han…
To me it's totally unacceptable that my supermarket chain has a line-by-line record of my purchases, which it then happily sells to the highest bidder.
Is the few potential minutes saved really worth the fact that your insurer now may have a detailed record about your booze and junk food purchases?