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Well, I guess our only choice is to own an expensive corporate surveillance device. There's no other option. The ancient polynesians managed to learn to navigat

Well, I guess our only choice is to own an expensive corporate surveillance device. There's no other option. The ancient polynesians managed to learn to navigate huge, open seas by memorizing the stars. The ancient Greeks managed to measure the size of the sun with trigonometry and grit alone. We've mapped the genome and soon we may even cure inherited illnesses, or bring extinct species back to live. But I hear you. What if I wanted to know what movies were playing, but I was already at a restaurant? What could I possibly do? The only answer is a smart phone. There's no choice, and no escape.

Maxatar 3mo ago
You're kind of being a dick now.
- everdrive 3mo ago
  I'm just so frustrated by how quickly and easily people give in to these things. People face relatively small inconveniences and quickly give away their rights. Smart phones and social media (in large part, enabled by always-on, always-present smart phones) have so, so many negatives effects and people won't even consider moving on. "It's hard to find parking" or "some restaurants are now inconvenient to eat at" are measured next to "the suicide rate of teen girls is spiking" and "we've enabled government tracking and surveillance on a scale never before thought possible." I don't know how else to be. People are so obsessed with immediate impulse satisfaction and immediate comfort that they'd give up anything. I think if you offered to remove someone's right to vote, but told them they would be able to gamble for free once a month you'd lose half the votes in the country.
  - zem 3mo ago
    the problem is not the people who want impulse satisfaction, comfort, and convenience - these are all perfectly normal human desires. the problem is that we as a society have allowed predators to tie these needs to surveillance and addiction engineering. there is no intrinsic reason that couldn't have been regulated against - look at some of the absolutely idiotic things the government is willing to spend time and money in micromanaging.
    - BoingBoomTschak 3mo ago
      > these are all perfectly normal human desires They're animal desires, being human means having the discipline to control them.
  - zbentley 3mo ago
    That’s a good clarification, thanks for writing it. I think you and the uncle post by bluefirebrand are both right: the social expectations are different enough now that there really might not be a practical alternative for most people to the corporate surveillance pocket computer—and you’re not wrong that the shift in values and priorities that indicates is pretty scary and grim.
bluefirebrand 3mo ago
> What if I wanted to know what movies were playing, but I was already at a restaurant? What could I possibly do? Do you actually have a solution here or what? Call the theater? Do you have their phone number memorized? Phone Books and Pay Phones basically don't exist anymore, remember. Do you just drive to the theater after the meal and check in person? Who is going to agree to that anymore? People will just say "nah maybe next time" and go home Like it or not, society has changed. Social expectations have changed.
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]

Maxatar 3mo ago

You're kind of being a dick now.

everdrive 3mo ago
I'm just so frustrated by how quickly and easily people give in to these things. People face relatively small inconveniences and quickly give away their rights. Smart phones and social media (in large part, enabled by always-on, always-present smart phones) have so, so many negatives effects and people won't even consider moving on. "It's hard to find parking" or "some restaurants are now inconvenient to eat at" are measured next to "the suicide rate of teen girls is spiking" and "we've enabled government tracking and surveillance on a scale never before thought possible." I don't know how else to be. People are so obsessed with immediate impulse satisfaction and immediate comfort that they'd give up anything. I think if you offered to remove someone's right to vote, but told them they would be able to gamble for free once a month you'd lose half the votes in the country.
- zem 3mo ago
  the problem is not the people who want impulse satisfaction, comfort, and convenience - these are all perfectly normal human desires. the problem is that we as a society have allowed predators to tie these needs to surveillance and addiction engineering. there is no intrinsic reason that couldn't have been regulated against - look at some of the absolutely idiotic things the government is willing to spend time and money in micromanaging.
  - BoingBoomTschak 3mo ago
    > these are all perfectly normal human desires They're animal desires, being human means having the discipline to control them.
- zbentley 3mo ago
  That’s a good clarification, thanks for writing it. I think you and the uncle post by bluefirebrand are both right: the social expectations are different enough now that there really might not be a practical alternative for most people to the corporate surveillance pocket computer—and you’re not wrong that the shift in values and priorities that indicates is pretty scary and grim.

bluefirebrand 3mo ago

> What if I wanted to know what movies were playing, but I was already at a restaurant? What could I possibly do? Do you actually have a solution here or what? Call the theater? Do you have their phone number memorized? Phone Books and Pay Phones basically don't exist anymore, remember. Do you just drive to the theater after the meal and check in person? Who is going to agree to that anymore? People will just say "nah maybe next time" and go home Like it or not, society has changed. Social expectations have changed.

deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]