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I mentioned in another comment about this. While it’s faster and more convenient, that convenience might not necessarily convert into more joy or ease in your l

I mentioned in another comment about this. While it’s faster and more convenient, that convenience might not necessarily convert into more joy or ease in your life.

ryandrake 3y ago
If someone gets more free time and chooses not to convert it into joy or ease, then that's up to the person, not whatever object or action saved the time.
- schneems 3y ago
  I recommend the paper: Do Artifacts Have Politics. You can find it for free online if you search the title. It’s a classic HCI paper. Even if you disagree with everything I write, it’s worth reading. The paper asks the question (that you asserted). Essentially: divorced from creator or user intent, can an artifact (or technology) influence how it is used (its politics)? They make very compelling arguments that, yes, the mere existence of a technology (regardless of how people chose to use it) shapes and influences us. So while you might be technically correct, that it’s up to the individual: the larger system (and by extension the technology) does in fact influence us. It’s like the saying that the law applies equally because it prohibits both paupers and princes from stealing bread. It’s technically true, but it (intentionally, to prove a point) misses the point: that the system is set up so no prince would need to steal bread. In Code 2.0 (Laurence Lessig, creator of the Creative Commons) makes a point to say that a variety of things influence our behavior: markets, norms, laws, and architecture. New technology falls under “architecture” in this categorization. Technology will exert itself on your behavior and give you new choices, but those choices cannot be divorced from the other legs: laws, norms, and markets.
QuercusMax 3y ago
It also means that's it's much more feasible to own and wash large quantities of clothing. If I have to hand-wash every single piece of clothing, I may think much harder about whether I want to buy more items, and how much I will re-wear before washing. In the past clothing was very expensive and people didn't own many outfits unless they were extremely rich. Advances in technology have both changed our access to clothing and also its maintenance.

I mentioned in another comment about this. While it’s faster and more convenient, that convenience might not necessarily convert into more joy or ease in your life.

ryandrake 3y ago

If someone gets more free time and chooses not to convert it into joy or ease, then that's up to the person, not whatever object or action saved the time.

schneems 3y ago
I recommend the paper: Do Artifacts Have Politics. You can find it for free online if you search the title. It’s a classic HCI paper. Even if you disagree with everything I write, it’s worth reading. The paper asks the question (that you asserted). Essentially: divorced from creator or user intent, can an artifact (or technology) influence how it is used (its politics)? They make very compelling arguments that, yes, the mere existence of a technology (regardless of how people chose to use it) shapes and influences us. So while you might be technically correct, that it’s up to the individual: the larger system (and by extension the technology) does in fact influence us. It’s like the saying that the law applies equally because it prohibits both paupers and princes from stealing bread. It’s technically true, but it (intentionally, to prove a point) misses the point: that the system is set up so no prince would need to steal bread. In Code 2.0 (Laurence Lessig, creator of the Creative Commons) makes a point to say that a variety of things influence our behavior: markets, norms, laws, and architecture. New technology falls under “architecture” in this categorization. Technology will exert itself on your behavior and give you new choices, but those choices cannot be divorced from the other legs: laws, norms, and markets.

QuercusMax 3y ago

It also means that's it's much more feasible to own and wash large quantities of clothing. If I have to hand-wash every single piece of clothing, I may think much harder about whether I want to buy more items, and how much I will re-wear before washing. In the past clothing was very expensive and people didn't own many outfits unless they were extremely rich. Advances in technology have both changed our access to clothing and also its maintenance.