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There's a lot of talk about how AI will "steal jobs". But I think one aspect that doesn't get enough attention is how our physical bodies seem to have major pro

There's a lot of talk about how AI will "steal jobs". But I think one aspect that doesn't get enough attention is how our physical bodies seem to have major problems adapting (fast enough) to where technology is taking us. Take for example how immobile jobs , combined with bad food (industrialized processed food) and driving has all sorts of negative physical impact. To add to this, self-driving cars will remove the need of a driving skill. Or how address books removed the need to remember phone numbers. I remember in the 90s (4th grade) when could recall the phone number of everyone in my class. Today I honestly don't know anyone's phone number but my own. How do we account for the fact that the human body and mind seem to need a certain amount/kind of stimulation to not entirely fall apart? Should we just settle with the new bodies technology gives us? Should we settle with simple compensatory measures like going to the gym for lack of moving otherwise?

lucozade 9y ago
> How do we account for the fact that the human body and mind seem to need a certain amount/kind of stimulation to not entirely fall apart? By giving them it. There's vastly more access to mental stimulation than there was a generation ago. I'd be much more concerned about over-stimulation, disruption of sleep patterns etc. Also, I have no concerns about driving, phones numbers and so on. These were just temporary, inefficient and ineffective means to other ends. Especially driving. I mean, what a terrible idea. Put a human being into a projectile and make them concentrate, potentially for hours, to not die. What could possibly go wrong? Physical stimulation is more of a concern for me but there again, it's what we are leaving behind that's truly terrible. Why has there been a profusion of sedentary jobs for the last few decades? Because so many of the devices we interacted with were immovable (or require a fixed posture like driving). How do you solve that? By removing the need for the fixed posture i.e. mobile devices, automatons to freeing up concentration. We're in a transition phase but I'm very optimistic that the opportunity to act day to day in a healthy way will get better and better. Is it all roses? No, of course not. Just because you can live healthily doesn't mean you will if you're not required to. What we do about that could easily get us into Black Mirror territory but I'm confident the solutions will be there of we want them i.e. they'll be political not technological challenges.
albertgoeswoof 9y ago
> I remember in the 90s (4th grade) when could recall the phone number of everyone in my class. Seems like a waste of brainpower to me. I remember in the 90s when I couldn't listen to music I wanted without paying £12.99 for a CD. Or when I couldn't do my maths homework because I lost my textbook which my parents had to replace at a cost of £30. Or when I was really upset after going to meet a friend who never showed up and couldn't talk to me to say why until the next day at school (his parent's car had broken down). Technology is AMAZING, people will be fat even without self driving cars, it's greed and laziness that causes fat to accumulate, not tech.
- randallsquared 9y ago
  > it's greed and laziness that causes fat to accumulate Are Americans much greedier and lazier than they were 40 years ago? Are American animals?
  - corysama 9y ago
    All living things are greedy and lazy. It's not good, but it's also not evil. It's just physics. Humans aren't unusually greedy or lazy. They are just the only ones that beat themselves up over it. Particularly the American ones.
jesperlang 9y ago
a general reply to the replies of my original post.. When I mentioned mental stimulation I should have emphasized the kind. Stimulation can trigger many mental activities of course - reasoning, analysis, entertainment, contemplation, etc. It's this unbalance, a majority of entertainment that worries me. Don't get me wrong, I love entertainment and mindless stuff and I think it's part of healthy life! So, I don't think it's over stimulation per-se, but a gross unbalance of kinds of stimulation.. But I'm moving away from my main point/question which I think is: can we off-sourcing most our mental abilities without major negative impact on our health? It's not just these mental abilities aren't needed. What are the consequences of a brain that barely uses its memory? What are the consequences when you almost never use your brain for any challenging task? Maybe this will lead to all sorts of mental illnesses... These are the things I am really curious about
mrfusion 9y ago
You should memorize the numbers of a few emergency contacts numbers. What if your phone and wallet got stolen. How would you get home?

lucozade 9y ago

> How do we account for the fact that the human body and mind seem to need a certain amount/kind of stimulation to not entirely fall apart? By giving them it. There's vastly more access to mental stimulation than there was a generation ago. I'd be much more concerned about over-stimulation, disruption of sleep patterns etc. Also, I have no concerns about driving, phones numbers and so on. These were just temporary, inefficient and ineffective means to other ends. Especially driving. I mean, what a terrible idea. Put a human being into a projectile and make them concentrate, potentially for hours, to not die. What could possibly go wrong? Physical stimulation is more of a concern for me but there again, it's what we are leaving behind that's truly terrible. Why has there been a profusion of sedentary jobs for the last few decades? Because so many of the devices we interacted with were immovable (or require a fixed posture like driving). How do you solve that? By removing the need for the fixed posture i.e. mobile devices, automatons to freeing up concentration. We're in a transition phase but I'm very optimistic that the opportunity to act day to day in a healthy way will get better and better. Is it all roses? No, of course not. Just because you can live healthily doesn't mean you will if you're not required to. What we do about that could easily get us into Black Mirror territory but I'm confident the solutions will be there of we want them i.e. they'll be political not technological challenges.

albertgoeswoof 9y ago

> I remember in the 90s (4th grade) when could recall the phone number of everyone in my class. Seems like a waste of brainpower to me. I remember in the 90s when I couldn't listen to music I wanted without paying £12.99 for a CD. Or when I couldn't do my maths homework because I lost my textbook which my parents had to replace at a cost of £30. Or when I was really upset after going to meet a friend who never showed up and couldn't talk to me to say why until the next day at school (his parent's car had broken down). Technology is AMAZING, people will be fat even without self driving cars, it's greed and laziness that causes fat to accumulate, not tech.

randallsquared 9y ago
> it's greed and laziness that causes fat to accumulate Are Americans much greedier and lazier than they were 40 years ago? Are American animals?
- corysama 9y ago
  All living things are greedy and lazy. It's not good, but it's also not evil. It's just physics. Humans aren't unusually greedy or lazy. They are just the only ones that beat themselves up over it. Particularly the American ones.

jesperlang 9y ago

a general reply to the replies of my original post.. When I mentioned mental stimulation I should have emphasized the kind. Stimulation can trigger many mental activities of course - reasoning, analysis, entertainment, contemplation, etc. It's this unbalance, a majority of entertainment that worries me. Don't get me wrong, I love entertainment and mindless stuff and I think it's part of healthy life! So, I don't think it's over stimulation per-se, but a gross unbalance of kinds of stimulation.. But I'm moving away from my main point/question which I think is: can we off-sourcing most our mental abilities without major negative impact on our health? It's not just these mental abilities aren't needed. What are the consequences of a brain that barely uses its memory? What are the consequences when you almost never use your brain for any challenging task? Maybe this will lead to all sorts of mental illnesses... These are the things I am really curious about

mrfusion 9y ago

You should memorize the numbers of a few emergency contacts numbers. What if your phone and wallet got stolen. How would you get home?