The one major difference between humanity today and humanity of thousands of years ago is technology. Eras are dictated by technology. And this applies all the

The one major difference between humanity today and humanity of thousands of years ago is technology. Eras are dictated by technology. And this applies all the way to very recent events. We can really only look back on the world wars of not all that long with bemusement. It seems so surreal that we could have wars of such a scale that 3% of the world's population would be killed. And the reason these wars, which were becoming ever more violent, stopped was technology. Nuclear weapons made all out war between developed nations a thing of the past as the weapons were so brutally effective that they ensure there can never be a winner in any war, only losers. And going back further in history issues would be things such as starvation, dying from exposure to the elements, dying from basic sickness including run of the mill fevers or basic infections. Today our issues seem laughably petty by contrast. One concern effectively coming down to "I don't like that I only have a tv, air conditioning, internet access, a car, ready access to food, electronic toys of various sorts, ... but somebody else has even more!" And most importantly - you don't have to participate in all technology. In spite of my evangelizing technological progress above all, my phone is still an old brick (actually they're quite small now - and the batteries last for a couple of weeks at a time) 'dumbphone.' And my kids certainly will be raised Steve Jobsesque, which is to say no mobile devices or other such toys for them. I completely agree not all technological progress is good, and so you're free to step aside from it. Taken to extremes the Amish have turned away from nearly all technological progress and still flourish, at least so much as they can. With most of our wages today we could purchase large homesteads in 'flyover country' and get back to basics. And I find that extremely appealing and plan to do just that, though not in America. Although 'basics' in my view will include autonomous gardens, autonomous feeders, autonomous mowers, solar energy, and of course gotta have that juicy internet access. Life is what you make of it. And technology is the toolset that you get to draw your choices from.