6 ms·

> Like Louis CK said: "Everything is amazing and no one is happy." Everything is not amazing. Sure things are amazing from a technical perspective. But most te

> Like Louis CK said: "Everything is amazing and no one is happy." Everything is not amazing. Sure things are amazing from a technical perspective. But most tech advancements I think have been harmful to society in the last 30 years or so. Its awesome that computers are so powerful and we have awesome video and photos and can share things so easily. But technology should better lives, and not cheapen it, which it often does. Tech is being used to try and replace essential human lived experiences to try and inject advertising into it and extract money. Technology can not replace the human, its impossible. No matter how good the AI is at reading the book, it will never replace sitting next to your parent and them reading it. No matter how easy it is to share a video or a photo, it will never replace sitting next to someone and them showing you photos, or better yet being there when the photo was taken.

OfSanguineFire 3y ago
> it will never replace sitting next to someone and them showing you photos It definitely does replace that. It sucks so much to be trapped next to someone showing you their photo album or vacation slides, when you don’t really care, that this became a stock scene in 20th-century comedy TV series and films. Nowadays when people are sharing their photos online, that gives their peers the choice of whether to look or whether to ignore, and that is immensely freeing.
- mathgeek 3y ago
  You’re talking about _being shown_ photos you don’t care about, while GP is talking about showing your own photos to someone. I agree with the example you’re discussing, though.
  - c0pium 3y ago
    Ah, you’re talking about main character syndrome. Showing pictures to someone is one of the cruelest things you can do; you’re probably boring and a terrible storyteller (most people are) but they’re going to feel obligated to not tell you that. It’s always amazing to me that people almost universally hate other people’s slideshows, and then don’t have the self awareness to realize that they do the exact same thing.
    - edgarvaldes 3y ago
      >Showing pictures to someone is one of the cruelest things you can do So you are saying that friends, family and significant others better no share old photos and memories with you? Because that is one of the cruelest things to do?
      - OfSanguineFire 3y ago
        They can share those old photos and memories on social media, where their friends, families, and significant others can choose whether to look or ignore it.
    - mathgeek 3y ago
      That’s not what I’m talking about, just for clarity.
- ecshafer 3y ago
  The photo slide show of someone's vacation was a stock scene in comedies. But have you never sat down with family and went through old photos? Having conversations about where was that? who was this? who was this as a baby? Its a very different and much more personal experience than flipping through facebook.
  - TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
    He cherry-picked one of the three examples in your post and attacked it. He won't choose the other two because he has no argument for them. Ignore.
  - c0pium 3y ago
    Sure have, it’s hellacious. I don’t give a fuck about who that baby was, why would I? Relations who my parents only vaguely remember going somewhere boring that I would never go, or someone’s 12th trip to the same lake, is a great use for Facebook. Most people are crazy boring, if I care I can always ask.
    - lolinder 3y ago
      To quote a GP comment: > But most tech advancements I think have been harmful to society in the last 30 years or so. I thought this was overly cynical until I read your comment. Now I'm not so sure. Has our attention span really become so shot that just being with family has become a chore, and we'd rather our parents just post their life stories into the void that is Facebook?
      - c0pium 3y ago
        Sounds like I struck a nerve. Next time you’re telling someone a detailed story about what route you took to dinner, stop and ask yourself if it’s actually that interesting. Seriously though, technology has nothing to do with this. People have been bored out of their mind by other people for centuries, the only difference is there’s no excuse for having nothing interesting to say now.
jzb 3y ago
I forget the exact quote but the thing I've seen making the rounds sums it up pretty well: Computers were supposed to do the work so people could make art and write poetry. Now the computers are making art and writing poetry and I still have to have a job. In another life I'd love to do voice over work. (I even have a face for radio!) But, instead, technology is being used to avoid even having humans do that type of work. Sure, today it's PG, but they're definitely doing this with an eye to replacing actual voiceover actors. Every advance in AI is "how can we replace people and save money?" and not "how can people have better lives and work less?" And it's going to continue until it's "what the fuck do we do with all these jobless people who've been replaced?"
- Towaway69 3y ago
  It will probably all fall apart when there is no one left to purchase this stuff, no job, no money, no purchasing power. Once purchasing power has evaporated, then and only then will the system change. Alternatively AI will also replace the jobless.
  - civilitty 3y ago
    We'll invent a third World War long before that happens - to thin the herd and remind everyone using rationing and austerity about how great consumerism is, while creating plenty of jobs rebuilding the industrialized world.
    - artur_makly 3y ago
      it's simple and it works.. every time. /s
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    I wouldn't blame folks wanting to work on fast takeoff AI with no human alignment concerns. Heads, the world ends because you've bootstrapped something unsympathetic and more powerful than humanity. Tails, you've bootstrapped something that might be able to overpower entrenched interests, providing a chance at a better societal outcome.
karmelapple 3y ago
I'd suggest reading How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell [1]. I think it addresses some of the concerns you have. 1. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42771901 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42771901
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
tcmb 3y ago
Please don't dissect an aphorism by a standup comedian like it was a Ph.D. thesis.

OfSanguineFire 3y ago

> it will never replace sitting next to someone and them showing you photos It definitely does replace that. It sucks so much to be trapped next to someone showing you their photo album or vacation slides, when you don’t really care, that this became a stock scene in 20th-century comedy TV series and films. Nowadays when people are sharing their photos online, that gives their peers the choice of whether to look or whether to ignore, and that is immensely freeing.

mathgeek 3y ago
You’re talking about _being shown_ photos you don’t care about, while GP is talking about showing your own photos to someone. I agree with the example you’re discussing, though.
- c0pium 3y ago
  Ah, you’re talking about main character syndrome. Showing pictures to someone is one of the cruelest things you can do; you’re probably boring and a terrible storyteller (most people are) but they’re going to feel obligated to not tell you that. It’s always amazing to me that people almost universally hate other people’s slideshows, and then don’t have the self awareness to realize that they do the exact same thing.
  - edgarvaldes 3y ago
    >Showing pictures to someone is one of the cruelest things you can do So you are saying that friends, family and significant others better no share old photos and memories with you? Because that is one of the cruelest things to do?
    - OfSanguineFire 3y ago
      They can share those old photos and memories on social media, where their friends, families, and significant others can choose whether to look or ignore it.
  - mathgeek 3y ago
    That’s not what I’m talking about, just for clarity.
ecshafer 3y ago
The photo slide show of someone's vacation was a stock scene in comedies. But have you never sat down with family and went through old photos? Having conversations about where was that? who was this? who was this as a baby? Its a very different and much more personal experience than flipping through facebook.
- TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
  He cherry-picked one of the three examples in your post and attacked it. He won't choose the other two because he has no argument for them. Ignore.
- c0pium 3y ago
  Sure have, it’s hellacious. I don’t give a fuck about who that baby was, why would I? Relations who my parents only vaguely remember going somewhere boring that I would never go, or someone’s 12th trip to the same lake, is a great use for Facebook. Most people are crazy boring, if I care I can always ask.
  - lolinder 3y ago
    To quote a GP comment: > But most tech advancements I think have been harmful to society in the last 30 years or so. I thought this was overly cynical until I read your comment. Now I'm not so sure. Has our attention span really become so shot that just being with family has become a chore, and we'd rather our parents just post their life stories into the void that is Facebook?
    - c0pium 3y ago
      Sounds like I struck a nerve. Next time you’re telling someone a detailed story about what route you took to dinner, stop and ask yourself if it’s actually that interesting. Seriously though, technology has nothing to do with this. People have been bored out of their mind by other people for centuries, the only difference is there’s no excuse for having nothing interesting to say now.

jzb 3y ago

I forget the exact quote but the thing I've seen making the rounds sums it up pretty well: Computers were supposed to do the work so people could make art and write poetry. Now the computers are making art and writing poetry and I still have to have a job. In another life I'd love to do voice over work. (I even have a face for radio!) But, instead, technology is being used to avoid even having humans do that type of work. Sure, today it's PG, but they're definitely doing this with an eye to replacing actual voiceover actors. Every advance in AI is "how can we replace people and save money?" and not "how can people have better lives and work less?" And it's going to continue until it's "what the fuck do we do with all these jobless people who've been replaced?"

Towaway69 3y ago
It will probably all fall apart when there is no one left to purchase this stuff, no job, no money, no purchasing power. Once purchasing power has evaporated, then and only then will the system change. Alternatively AI will also replace the jobless.
- civilitty 3y ago
  We'll invent a third World War long before that happens - to thin the herd and remind everyone using rationing and austerity about how great consumerism is, while creating plenty of jobs rebuilding the industrialized world.
  - artur_makly 3y ago
    it's simple and it works.. every time. /s
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  I wouldn't blame folks wanting to work on fast takeoff AI with no human alignment concerns. Heads, the world ends because you've bootstrapped something unsympathetic and more powerful than humanity. Tails, you've bootstrapped something that might be able to overpower entrenched interests, providing a chance at a better societal outcome.

karmelapple 3y ago

I'd suggest reading How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell [1]. I think it addresses some of the concerns you have. 1. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42771901 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42771901

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

tcmb 3y ago

Please don't dissect an aphorism by a standup comedian like it was a Ph.D. thesis.