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> Actually, I think the standard of living, at least in the long-term and for the many future climate refugees, is not actually that much improved. Compared to
by shkkmo 2y ago
> Actually, I think the standard of living, at least in the long-term and for the many future climate refugees, is not actually that much improved.
Compared to what? Where do you draw the line of the "pre" technology? Technology has been as part of human society since before we invented history.
Do you have a specific point after which you think technology became a net negative? Do you think thinks were fine pre-industrial revolution, but after we invented the steam engine things when to shit? Perhaps it was the domestication of bananas that really took us away from living in harmony with nature rather than twisting it to our own ends.
I don't think it really makes a sense to draw a line in history and say everything after this point is bad. The only sensible way to draw a rational technophobic line is to look at specific technologies and their effects and decide if your life will be better or worse with each.
- vouaobrasil 2y agoA better way to think of it is in terms of proportions, I guess. To wit, the negative effects of technology are simply an increasing function of how advanced it is. There is no need to think in terms of "pre" or "post" good technology. As it becomes more powerful, we need greater wisdom to control it. And of course, we completely lack that wisdom.
- shkkmo 2y ago> To wit, the negative effects of technology are simply an increasing function of how advanced it is. Laughably easy to disprove. Gunpowder is less sinpler and older than antibiotics and sterilization techniques. Are you saying that somehow the negative effects of saving people from lethal and debilitating infections outweighs the negative effects of greatly increasing the our ability to kill eachother?
- NateEag 2y ago> The only sensible way to draw a rational technophobic line is to look at specific technologies and their effects and decide if your life will be better or worse with each. Interesting to note that this is what the Amish actually do. The popular depiction is of people who blindly live as if they're in the 1790s, but it is not that simple. The various Amish communities all do things slightly different from one another, and the technology allowed in different communities is not homogenous. For ex., the Amish family just down the road from me has a solar panel on one of their barns, and a small forklift, I think diesel-powered (might be battery). But on the occasional Sunday when the meeting is at their house, there's not a car to be seen. I've read of Amish carpenters who actually use a computer to run their business. It's usually kept in the workshop, away from the family home, though, and IIRC none of them had an internet connection.
- shkkmo 2y ago> Interesting to note that this is what the Amish actually do. It is indeed. I would argue that many people make this choice; we pick which technologies and tools make our lives better. The right and ability do this is one that I think our society would do well to protect as it promotes freedom, accessibility and choice. The Amish differ only in doing it as a more cohesive social group and on a larger scale.