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That rather depends on your understanding of good life. Was that camera somehow necessary for you to lead a good life or is it yet another distraction from it?

icelancer 6y ago
What is life?
- kmstout 6y ago
  David Ackley, an artificial life researcher working on "robust-first computing," has this gem buried in one of his videos: "Life is nature's way of preserving meat."
GuB-42 6y ago
Ok, let's take another example. The leading COVID-19 vaccine involves a lot of computers. From the production of the mRNA strands to the setup of the supply chains to communications between scientists. And there are few things that we need more than an effective COVID-19 vaccine in order to lead a good life right now. The computerized chain that got GP his camera is similar the the one that is used in the making of the vaccine. GP's camera is just icing on the cake.
- morlockabove 6y ago
  Would covid have been made in the wuhan lab without computers?
simonh 6y ago
Hundreds of millions of people are stuck at home due to lockdowns and the only practical way they have of doing their jobs, keeping in touch with loved one and accessing public services and information is through the Internet. Is the Internet contributing to the good in their lives? A report recently that found children who play social online games and connect with friends online while locked down have better mental health than those that don't. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/23/video-games-boost-mental-health-stop-guilty-pleasure https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/23/video-...
- bergstromm466 6y ago
  You didn't talk about action sports cameras...
  - PurpleFoxy 6y ago
    I enjoy watching action can videos of mountain bike riding which shows me all these places around the world for free. They are purely a positive influence on my life and I don’t even own one
- dokem 6y ago
  We wouldn't be living in the lock down hell hole in a pre internet world. The idea that children playing online games are better off than those that don't is disgusting. It's a relic of this sad excuse for a life we live now. All to help grandma and grandpa, average age 82, to squeeze out another year. Who would happily let go for their grand children. Reprehensible.
  - simonh 6y ago
    My wife is a Nurse. It's also to help the millions of health care professionals in the world working gruelling hours and horrible working conditions on wards full of dying patients. The number of health care professionals that have suffered severe stress and trauma, a shocking number of them to the point of suicide, is a horrible bloody stain on the hands of the people not taking these precautions seriously and thus aiding the propagation of this virus. I'm pretty sure the thousands of people dying daily in the US and UK where I am, and millions who have died globally aren't all in their 80s.
    - dokem 6y ago
      I also have an immediate family member who is a nurse, and unfortunately our anecdotal, second hand experience, seems disagree. Yes, that's not how statistics work, they are not all 82. Let's also remember that we live in an imperfect world and many, many more of younger age die every day. We are living in a dilution where we forget that everybody dies. A 10% increase is not a 10x increase. We can handle this without the security theater.
Aperocky 6y ago
That is very subjective. May I ask, what in a good life can not be classified as another distraction? Or are only human activities that someone from 1000 years ago can do pass the purity test?
- II2II 6y ago
  Perhaps a good life can be defined in terms of a lack of distraction. That does not mean we should value activities from 1000 years ago more. For some it may mean quite the opposite since they are no longer distracted by the struggle to fulfill basic needs so pursuing the benefits of modernity is possible. For others, it may mean ignoring the distractions of modernity while seeking the purity of the past. The problem with the current trajectory of technology is that it seeks to strip us of autonomy. We are usually presented with means of consumption, rather than courses of action. I suspect that is what people mean when they discuss distraction.
  - Aperocky 6y ago
    What distraction means here is still unclear. I for one would much rather fill my life with pleasant distractions, instead of a Spartan utopian lifestyle that some other people tries to sell me as 'good life'.
ekianjo 6y ago
> understanding of good life. Waiting 1 month to have something delivered is hardly what I call a good life. Let's celebrate the improvements where we can.
- kreeben 6y ago
  What if humanity had solved all grand problems except for shipping. Would that not be a good life worth living? Everyone's happy and fulfilled, except for those who's happiness depend on swift Amazon deliveries which never seem to occur. Day after day they wait endlessly for a shipment of goods, becoming moodier and moodier while the rest of us dance in the streets in perfect joy.
  - Aperocky 6y ago
    Except most of us won't dance in the streets in perfect joy, and probably won't ever see it in our lifetime or even in the entirety of humanity's existence. In lieu of that, I prefer my shipping delivered in 2 days vs. a month.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

icelancer 6y ago

What is life?

kmstout 6y ago
David Ackley, an artificial life researcher working on "robust-first computing," has this gem buried in one of his videos: "Life is nature's way of preserving meat."

GuB-42 6y ago

Ok, let's take another example. The leading COVID-19 vaccine involves a lot of computers. From the production of the mRNA strands to the setup of the supply chains to communications between scientists. And there are few things that we need more than an effective COVID-19 vaccine in order to lead a good life right now. The computerized chain that got GP his camera is similar the the one that is used in the making of the vaccine. GP's camera is just icing on the cake.

morlockabove 6y ago
Would covid have been made in the wuhan lab without computers?

simonh 6y ago

Hundreds of millions of people are stuck at home due to lockdowns and the only practical way they have of doing their jobs, keeping in touch with loved one and accessing public services and information is through the Internet. Is the Internet contributing to the good in their lives? A report recently that found children who play social online games and connect with friends online while locked down have better mental health than those that don't. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/23/video-games-boost-mental-health-stop-guilty-pleasure https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/23/video-...

bergstromm466 6y ago
You didn't talk about action sports cameras...
- PurpleFoxy 6y ago
  I enjoy watching action can videos of mountain bike riding which shows me all these places around the world for free. They are purely a positive influence on my life and I don’t even own one
dokem 6y ago
We wouldn't be living in the lock down hell hole in a pre internet world. The idea that children playing online games are better off than those that don't is disgusting. It's a relic of this sad excuse for a life we live now. All to help grandma and grandpa, average age 82, to squeeze out another year. Who would happily let go for their grand children. Reprehensible.
- simonh 6y ago
  My wife is a Nurse. It's also to help the millions of health care professionals in the world working gruelling hours and horrible working conditions on wards full of dying patients. The number of health care professionals that have suffered severe stress and trauma, a shocking number of them to the point of suicide, is a horrible bloody stain on the hands of the people not taking these precautions seriously and thus aiding the propagation of this virus. I'm pretty sure the thousands of people dying daily in the US and UK where I am, and millions who have died globally aren't all in their 80s.
  - dokem 6y ago
    I also have an immediate family member who is a nurse, and unfortunately our anecdotal, second hand experience, seems disagree. Yes, that's not how statistics work, they are not all 82. Let's also remember that we live in an imperfect world and many, many more of younger age die every day. We are living in a dilution where we forget that everybody dies. A 10% increase is not a 10x increase. We can handle this without the security theater.

Aperocky 6y ago

That is very subjective. May I ask, what in a good life can not be classified as another distraction? Or are only human activities that someone from 1000 years ago can do pass the purity test?

II2II 6y ago
Perhaps a good life can be defined in terms of a lack of distraction. That does not mean we should value activities from 1000 years ago more. For some it may mean quite the opposite since they are no longer distracted by the struggle to fulfill basic needs so pursuing the benefits of modernity is possible. For others, it may mean ignoring the distractions of modernity while seeking the purity of the past. The problem with the current trajectory of technology is that it seeks to strip us of autonomy. We are usually presented with means of consumption, rather than courses of action. I suspect that is what people mean when they discuss distraction.
- Aperocky 6y ago
  What distraction means here is still unclear. I for one would much rather fill my life with pleasant distractions, instead of a Spartan utopian lifestyle that some other people tries to sell me as 'good life'.

ekianjo 6y ago

> understanding of good life. Waiting 1 month to have something delivered is hardly what I call a good life. Let's celebrate the improvements where we can.

kreeben 6y ago
What if humanity had solved all grand problems except for shipping. Would that not be a good life worth living? Everyone's happy and fulfilled, except for those who's happiness depend on swift Amazon deliveries which never seem to occur. Day after day they wait endlessly for a shipment of goods, becoming moodier and moodier while the rest of us dance in the streets in perfect joy.
- Aperocky 6y ago
  Except most of us won't dance in the streets in perfect joy, and probably won't ever see it in our lifetime or even in the entirety of humanity's existence. In lieu of that, I prefer my shipping delivered in 2 days vs. a month.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]