4 ms·
I wont say technology is without cost, but i'll give you an example of humanity advancing -- near-free communication. In college (1996), i craved speaking to m
by TuringNYC 10y ago
I wont say technology is without cost, but i'll give you an example of humanity advancing -- near-free communication. In college (1996), i craved speaking to my mom, even for 5 minutes. But it cost about a week's student salary to speak for 5 minutes long distance. We just didn't. We'd speak for 1 minute ever 2 weeks or so. It was incredibly painful.
Towards the end of college, that cost went to nearly zero. Today it is essentially zero. I hope to speak to my kids plenty when they are in college.
Some people say...you are speaking about nickles and dimes here. But they fail to understand that for many people, $10 will bring their bank balance below zero.
- duaneb 10y agoCommunication is a problem invented by humans—nobody said you needed to leave home. Furthermore, the cost of talking to your mother—global industrial production lines, addiction to technology, and the loss of social skills—is extremely hard to weigh. I land firmly on the side of luddite—I value sustainability and social intimacy over convenience. However, it is not even clear that the average techie considers the above problems at all, let alone major ones. So—again, you're just assuming that I would consider communication worth what we're doing to our children and our planet. It is emphatically not worth it and does not improve quality of life except for problems you cause in the first place.
- specialist 10y agoA luddite with +5207 karma.