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I'll be off your lawn in a moment, but first, you might want to consider that just because something can be done the old way doesn't mean that that's superior,

I'll be off your lawn in a moment, but first, you might want to consider that just because something can be done the old way doesn't mean that that's superior, that smartphones are in fact very good at showing you new places to go, and that "wanting machines to do tasks that machines are better at than humans" and "helplessness" are not synonymous.

growupkids 13y ago
Navigation is a perishable skill. Overreliance on GPS has been shown to degrade navigation skills and other brain functions [1]. 1. http://phys.org/news/2010-11-reliance-gps-hippocampus-function-age.html http://phys.org/news/2010-11-reliance-gps-hippocampus-functi...
- jamesrcole 13y ago
  So? Using a calculator probably degrades your ability to do sums in your head, yet a calculator allows many people to do sums they wouldn't be able to do just in their heads.
  - microtherion 13y ago
    And literacy degrades people's ability to memorize texts.
    - netcan 13y ago
      It does, and something is lost. Storytelling is/was a great human tradition, perhaps the defining one in a literal sense. It's becoming extinct because of literacy. Today it's considered an eccentric pursuit. That doesn't mean literacy is bad or that campfire stories repeated and evolved for generations are better than novels or films. But, oral storytelling as art or culture has characteristics that just aren't present in novels just like novels have characteristics that aren't present in TV shows. If you are willing to be more abstract about it, you might compare it to working as an Apple engineer and collecting edible roots near a stream. The former is clearly superior as a way of feeding your family. The latter still has certain human qualities that are beneficial to people and worth preserving. As we move forward we lose some things which may be valuable. Nostalgia and the desire to preserve is not a bad thing.
      - nnnnni 13y ago
        I recently realized that I like plays. Movies have mostly replaced them, which is a shame. However, there are things that movies can do that plays definitely can't do, and the reverse is true as well. I think that there's room for both!

growupkids 13y ago

Navigation is a perishable skill. Overreliance on GPS has been shown to degrade navigation skills and other brain functions [1]. 1. http://phys.org/news/2010-11-reliance-gps-hippocampus-function-age.html http://phys.org/news/2010-11-reliance-gps-hippocampus-functi...

jamesrcole 13y ago
So? Using a calculator probably degrades your ability to do sums in your head, yet a calculator allows many people to do sums they wouldn't be able to do just in their heads.
- microtherion 13y ago
  And literacy degrades people's ability to memorize texts.
  - netcan 13y ago
    It does, and something is lost. Storytelling is/was a great human tradition, perhaps the defining one in a literal sense. It's becoming extinct because of literacy. Today it's considered an eccentric pursuit. That doesn't mean literacy is bad or that campfire stories repeated and evolved for generations are better than novels or films. But, oral storytelling as art or culture has characteristics that just aren't present in novels just like novels have characteristics that aren't present in TV shows. If you are willing to be more abstract about it, you might compare it to working as an Apple engineer and collecting edible roots near a stream. The former is clearly superior as a way of feeding your family. The latter still has certain human qualities that are beneficial to people and worth preserving. As we move forward we lose some things which may be valuable. Nostalgia and the desire to preserve is not a bad thing.
    - nnnnni 13y ago
      I recently realized that I like plays. Movies have mostly replaced them, which is a shame. However, there are things that movies can do that plays definitely can't do, and the reverse is true as well. I think that there's room for both!