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I think it's inevitable that sub-societies will form that accept technology only in ways that preserve the humanity of our interactions. We use the term "disru

I think it's inevitable that sub-societies will form that accept technology only in ways that preserve the humanity of our interactions. We use the term "disruptive" all the time around here, but what's being disrupted is increasingly close to the heart of human life: the ability to engage with the ideas, emotions, and opinions of another human being, and to know them as a person. If a computer can convincingly impersonate anybody, putting any words you choose in their mouth, and at the same time can generate convincing words on any given subject, it can flood electronic communication with noise that's impossible to remove. It can destroy the trust we have in any interactions not had in person, and we've allowed our society to develop in such a way that interacting only in person is no longer practical. I know that it's expected that a man of a certain age will begin to say these things, but I think it's true now in a way that it was not true about "those young whippersnappers with their motorcars": we've taken a wrong turn, and I don't like where we're headed.

dorchadas 4y ago
I've been having this argument over the past few days with some friends/acquaintances in a discord server. I just keep getting told that it's all just 'sensationalist' reactions to new tech. Some of them are quite gung-ho on the 'progress' and never stop to question what it's doing to our humanity and what it means to be human. I personally think the internet inherently devalues the humanity of interactions - even on voice chat on Discord or some other service. There's something missing from what we get in person that we're losing out on, and I think that's part of why the internet is, generally, a cesspool (doubly so with anonymity thrown in). But we can't escape -- go to a concert, for instance, and how many people are actually paying attention versus just capturing the moment to prove they were there and share it on Snap/Insta? Like you, I fear we're going a bad way...and they're all just "I can't wait to see how this changes things!" without ever seeing to stop and seriously question things I feel. Their arguments seem to come down to "Well, it's perfect connection for me and I think it's neat"...but then they complain about being depressed and not getting out and doing anything. Discord and the internet isn't a substitution for IRL, and we're fixing to take people assuming it is to the extreme with this new tech. A reckoning is coming, I fear.

dorchadas 4y ago

I've been having this argument over the past few days with some friends/acquaintances in a discord server. I just keep getting told that it's all just 'sensationalist' reactions to new tech. Some of them are quite gung-ho on the 'progress' and never stop to question what it's doing to our humanity and what it means to be human. I personally think the internet inherently devalues the humanity of interactions - even on voice chat on Discord or some other service. There's something missing from what we get in person that we're losing out on, and I think that's part of why the internet is, generally, a cesspool (doubly so with anonymity thrown in). But we can't escape -- go to a concert, for instance, and how many people are actually paying attention versus just capturing the moment to prove they were there and share it on Snap/Insta? Like you, I fear we're going a bad way...and they're all just "I can't wait to see how this changes things!" without ever seeing to stop and seriously question things I feel. Their arguments seem to come down to "Well, it's perfect connection for me and I think it's neat"...but then they complain about being depressed and not getting out and doing anything. Discord and the internet isn't a substitution for IRL, and we're fixing to take people assuming it is to the extreme with this new tech. A reckoning is coming, I fear.