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This time is different. This line doesn't seem to apply so well today: >The computer seems to be a mythic emblem for a bright, high-tech future that is going t

This time is different. This line doesn't seem to apply so well today: >The computer seems to be a mythic emblem for a bright, high-tech future that is going to make our lives so much easier. This time, there's a big groundswell of distrust and anger against "Big Tech."

gumby 7y ago
> "The computer seems to be a mythic emblem for a bright, high-tech future that is going to make our lives so much easier." This time, there's a big groundswell of distrust and anger against "Big Tech." There was a huge level fear about digital tech (and others, like nukes) from the 60s ("Do not fold, spindle or mutilate" was widely cited as a sign of soulless Big Tech) through the 80s (with its fear of 1984 and future shock). If anything today is much more accepting of increased digitization of life. Certainly today people fear AI and computing to a much smaller degree than in the 1980s. There is some distrust of the big tech companies now, but still far from the level of the 60s. I don't remember the 60s that well but certainly when I was in University in the early 80s a lot of nontechnical stuff we read at MIT was on the perspectives of technology from the 60s-80s.
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago
  Pardon my ignorance then. Would it be accurate to distinguish between fear of tech (high then, low now) versus tech enabled capitalism (??? then, high now)?
  - gumby 7y ago
    I don't think there's much fear of technology right now; certainly it's at its lowest in my lifetime. There is some hysteria whipped up by the press and certain politicians against a few large corps, but it's no different from any other short-term hysteria. For the press it's understandable: FB et al challenge their position, an environment in which many had set their careers. S why not attack it? For the politicians it's the usual grab bag of short term points scoring. What there isn't is fear of big corps; Boeing will be bailed out and ADM , Monsanto, Exxon et al get to do whatever they want and essentially zero percent of the people complain. Likewise most people like their phones and other technical devices (fans, air fryers, banana slicers and internet-connected sex toys). There's little of the existential dread that annoyingly used to be factored into most decisions. The closest today are the utterly fabricated threats of terrorism, dope fiends, and rabid invaders. Which while widely discussed only seem to bother a few margins figures.
tachyonbeam 7y ago
Distrust? Sort of. People like to whine about Facebook, but they are still using it, or they migrate from Facebook to Instagram. Amazon is still growing. The news that the US government was spying on everyone came out years ago, and nobody did anything about it. The current story is that automation will make all the dull jobs go away, and we're going to get Universal Basic Income. That's the mythic emblem for a bright, high-tech future, alive and well. I work in AI, and nobody is stopping to ask the question: how happy are people going to be in a future without a practical sense of purpose, where a machine can do anything you could do better than you? Yes, I know, if you're a well-adapted individual, you should be able to derive your sense of purpose somewhere else besides work... Like, by making paintings that nobody will care about.
- codesushi42 7y ago
  >Like, by making paintings that nobody will care about. That didn't work out for Hitler.
  - tachyonbeam 7y ago
    UBI utopia: everyone is free to live life to the fullest, pursue their creative passion and have fulfilling friendships in a stress-free environment. UBI dystopia: everyone is crammed in a tiny standardized living unit, barely long enough to lie down in, the cities are all slums. Everyone feels useless and disconnected. People spend their time playing videogames, using VR porn and doing copious amounts of chemical drugs.
    - codesushi42 7y ago
      >People spend their time playing videogames, using VR porn and doing copious amounts of chemical drugs. This is a more likely outcome, since it is already the trend.
      - gumby 7y ago
        Because that's the current social matrix in some societies but it need not be.

gumby 7y ago

> "The computer seems to be a mythic emblem for a bright, high-tech future that is going to make our lives so much easier." This time, there's a big groundswell of distrust and anger against "Big Tech." There was a huge level fear about digital tech (and others, like nukes) from the 60s ("Do not fold, spindle or mutilate" was widely cited as a sign of soulless Big Tech) through the 80s (with its fear of 1984 and future shock). If anything today is much more accepting of increased digitization of life. Certainly today people fear AI and computing to a much smaller degree than in the 1980s. There is some distrust of the big tech companies now, but still far from the level of the 60s. I don't remember the 60s that well but certainly when I was in University in the early 80s a lot of nontechnical stuff we read at MIT was on the perspectives of technology from the 60s-80s.

6gvONxR4sf7o 7y ago
Pardon my ignorance then. Would it be accurate to distinguish between fear of tech (high then, low now) versus tech enabled capitalism (??? then, high now)?
- gumby 7y ago
  I don't think there's much fear of technology right now; certainly it's at its lowest in my lifetime. There is some hysteria whipped up by the press and certain politicians against a few large corps, but it's no different from any other short-term hysteria. For the press it's understandable: FB et al challenge their position, an environment in which many had set their careers. S why not attack it? For the politicians it's the usual grab bag of short term points scoring. What there isn't is fear of big corps; Boeing will be bailed out and ADM , Monsanto, Exxon et al get to do whatever they want and essentially zero percent of the people complain. Likewise most people like their phones and other technical devices (fans, air fryers, banana slicers and internet-connected sex toys). There's little of the existential dread that annoyingly used to be factored into most decisions. The closest today are the utterly fabricated threats of terrorism, dope fiends, and rabid invaders. Which while widely discussed only seem to bother a few margins figures.

tachyonbeam 7y ago

Distrust? Sort of. People like to whine about Facebook, but they are still using it, or they migrate from Facebook to Instagram. Amazon is still growing. The news that the US government was spying on everyone came out years ago, and nobody did anything about it. The current story is that automation will make all the dull jobs go away, and we're going to get Universal Basic Income. That's the mythic emblem for a bright, high-tech future, alive and well. I work in AI, and nobody is stopping to ask the question: how happy are people going to be in a future without a practical sense of purpose, where a machine can do anything you could do better than you? Yes, I know, if you're a well-adapted individual, you should be able to derive your sense of purpose somewhere else besides work... Like, by making paintings that nobody will care about.

codesushi42 7y ago
>Like, by making paintings that nobody will care about. That didn't work out for Hitler.
- tachyonbeam 7y ago
  UBI utopia: everyone is free to live life to the fullest, pursue their creative passion and have fulfilling friendships in a stress-free environment. UBI dystopia: everyone is crammed in a tiny standardized living unit, barely long enough to lie down in, the cities are all slums. Everyone feels useless and disconnected. People spend their time playing videogames, using VR porn and doing copious amounts of chemical drugs.
  - codesushi42 7y ago
    >People spend their time playing videogames, using VR porn and doing copious amounts of chemical drugs. This is a more likely outcome, since it is already the trend.
    - gumby 7y ago
      Because that's the current social matrix in some societies but it need not be.