3 ms·
The purpose of technology is to make peoples lives easier and more controllable, and it turns out that dealing with other people is often hard and introduces un
by kybernetikos 10y ago
The purpose of technology is to make peoples lives easier and more controllable, and it turns out that dealing with other people is often hard and introduces uncontrollabilty.
Technology is an alternative solution to many of the same problems that we used to have to use community to solve.
Finding ways to build community when we aren't forced to group together for survival is one of the big challenges of modern life.
On the other hand, technology also provides us with reasons to connect (shared digital activities), it breaks down the barriers of connection (time and space, and increasingly language), it reduces the cost of connection, allows us to share other peoples lives in a way that was previously impossible.
Most of what most people do on the internet is build community, real community, so even while we're contemplating the dangers, let's not get too pessimistic.
- legulere 10y agoTechnology more and more transforms from a solution to a problem as social interactions are essential to being a human. Connecting to people digitally can't replace real contact in person.
- tomp 10y agoTechnology doesn't take anything away from those that actually want to have contact with other people in real life.
- angersock 10y agoCounter-argument: trying to hold a dinner conversation with people or have a meeting when people are glued to the latest bubble news on their phones.
- tomp 10y agoHm... Sounds like they're fine, only you see this as an issue - I don't see how imposig your values on them would be an acceptable solution. I guess a better solution eould be having dinner with people who value the same thing as you do (dinner conversation).