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> I love technology and I think it's the answer to most of our problems I'd be curious to know which are the problems that technology solves, because I'm actua

> I love technology and I think it's the answer to most of our problems I'd be curious to know which are the problems that technology solves, because I'm actually of the opposite opinion - technology is the answer to all the wrong problems.

NickPollard 14y ago
A few problems Technology solves: Starvation (better agriculture, distribution, storage) Pathogens and illness (medicine) Environmental hazards (heating, shelter) Lack of human contact (transportation + communication) Censorship (distributed networks) Entertainment (media creation, reproduction, storage) Now, if you define technology as 'The internet-focused startup world of social media and marketing that the buzzword "technology" often refers to', of which Instagram is the current poster-child, then you might have a point. Might. Slamming all technology because of that is to be willfully ignorant of what modern life relies on. I'll take a world full of pop-up adds, viral marketing videos and spam email over a world in which my parents both died of Malaria in their 30's and I can barely get enough clean water to live on in my dirt-brick house.
- timwiseman 14y ago
  Even social media solves problems (though admittedly much more minor ones than what you describe). I had a problem keeping in touch with my extended family, Facebook has made this much easier. I used to have issues with loosing touch with old friends (even ones you make a moderate effort to keep in touch with can become unreachable if you and they both move frequently), facebook helps. Getting pictures of the kids distributed frequently without digital technology would have been difficult. Email made it substantially easier. Facebook makes it very easy. I used to have a hard time finding resources for the game Go. Services like DragonGoServer let me play online and Google+ lets me find and talk to other Go enthusiasts.
csomar 14y ago
I'll begin: 1- Since dropping from College, I decided to change friends. Facebook allowed me to get back in touch with older high school friends and also find new friends in the same area as me. 2- The Internet allowed me to work remotely to foreign companies. Skype, Github, basecamp... manages my projects and workflow. These technologies made it possible that I make a very good online income while staying at home. 3- I bought a Nikon D5100 the last week. I'm taking photos of everyday life and events, re-touching them and saving them (not in Facebook, just plain JPEG in computer) for the future as memories. 4- My SmartPhone, Tablet, and TV do a lot for me everyday. (productivity, communication, learning, and entertainment) The issue is not with technology, but with using it. Some BigCorp makes addictive technologies to boost their earnings (online/social videos games). I play video games, but I'm a light player. Few hours a week.
andrewfelix 14y ago
A stone knife is technology. We as a species are intrinsically linked to technology.
- peejaybee 14y ago
  Exactly. This is our evolutionary leg up on a world that would otherwise eat us alive.
- saraid216 14y ago
  So is a business plan, I want to add.
olliesaunders 14y ago
...you could even argue that technology has introduced a whole range of problems. My view is that technology is power and power itself is neither good nor bad, it’s neutral. Power just increases the stakes, how the cards get dealt is the important point. As a society we spend a lot of time thinking about who has what power because we know what happens when you get it wrong. But, strangely, we don’t afford technology the same consideration. What happens instead is that whichever technology is just the right mix of popular and profitable proliferates while all others die. The implication of this belief is twofold: * there are a whole load of great technologies with no means of generating profit that we will never benefit from * there are a whole load of awful technologies that are profitable that have a negative effect on society that stick around.
FiddlerClamp 14y ago
I've seen firsthand that the Internet has done a great deal to relieve the social isolation of the elderly and the housebound (physical ailments or social anxiety).
ctdonath 14y ago
Stand up. Pick a direction. Start walking. Don't stop but to sleep. You'll find the answer soon enough.
bicknergseng 14y ago
I'd be curious to know how a luddite ended up on HN.

NickPollard 14y ago

A few problems Technology solves: Starvation (better agriculture, distribution, storage) Pathogens and illness (medicine) Environmental hazards (heating, shelter) Lack of human contact (transportation + communication) Censorship (distributed networks) Entertainment (media creation, reproduction, storage) Now, if you define technology as 'The internet-focused startup world of social media and marketing that the buzzword "technology" often refers to', of which Instagram is the current poster-child, then you might have a point. Might. Slamming all technology because of that is to be willfully ignorant of what modern life relies on. I'll take a world full of pop-up adds, viral marketing videos and spam email over a world in which my parents both died of Malaria in their 30's and I can barely get enough clean water to live on in my dirt-brick house.

timwiseman 14y ago
Even social media solves problems (though admittedly much more minor ones than what you describe). I had a problem keeping in touch with my extended family, Facebook has made this much easier. I used to have issues with loosing touch with old friends (even ones you make a moderate effort to keep in touch with can become unreachable if you and they both move frequently), facebook helps. Getting pictures of the kids distributed frequently without digital technology would have been difficult. Email made it substantially easier. Facebook makes it very easy. I used to have a hard time finding resources for the game Go. Services like DragonGoServer let me play online and Google+ lets me find and talk to other Go enthusiasts.

csomar 14y ago

I'll begin: 1- Since dropping from College, I decided to change friends. Facebook allowed me to get back in touch with older high school friends and also find new friends in the same area as me. 2- The Internet allowed me to work remotely to foreign companies. Skype, Github, basecamp... manages my projects and workflow. These technologies made it possible that I make a very good online income while staying at home. 3- I bought a Nikon D5100 the last week. I'm taking photos of everyday life and events, re-touching them and saving them (not in Facebook, just plain JPEG in computer) for the future as memories. 4- My SmartPhone, Tablet, and TV do a lot for me everyday. (productivity, communication, learning, and entertainment) The issue is not with technology, but with using it. Some BigCorp makes addictive technologies to boost their earnings (online/social videos games). I play video games, but I'm a light player. Few hours a week.

andrewfelix 14y ago

A stone knife is technology. We as a species are intrinsically linked to technology.

peejaybee 14y ago
Exactly. This is our evolutionary leg up on a world that would otherwise eat us alive.
saraid216 14y ago
So is a business plan, I want to add.

olliesaunders 14y ago

...you could even argue that technology has introduced a whole range of problems. My view is that technology is power and power itself is neither good nor bad, it’s neutral. Power just increases the stakes, how the cards get dealt is the important point. As a society we spend a lot of time thinking about who has what power because we know what happens when you get it wrong. But, strangely, we don’t afford technology the same consideration. What happens instead is that whichever technology is just the right mix of popular and profitable proliferates while all others die. The implication of this belief is twofold: * there are a whole load of great technologies with no means of generating profit that we will never benefit from * there are a whole load of awful technologies that are profitable that have a negative effect on society that stick around.

FiddlerClamp 14y ago

I've seen firsthand that the Internet has done a great deal to relieve the social isolation of the elderly and the housebound (physical ailments or social anxiety).

ctdonath 14y ago

Stand up. Pick a direction. Start walking. Don't stop but to sleep. You'll find the answer soon enough.

bicknergseng 14y ago

I'd be curious to know how a luddite ended up on HN.