This tech will make freedom obsolete

My whole point is that there are "nerds" (or whatever we're called these days) that are doing precisely that. With reference to my previous comment here, over-generalization is one of the worst...perhaps the worst...misuses of what I see as our most powerful technology, that being thought itself (since it is the technology from which all others derive).

So often--and I'd be lying if I said I'm not guilty of this myself from time to time, though I do try to question myself--a member of a group, whether perceived or actual, very easily becomes a nebulous "they." Some examples I've seen: Since some atheists are assholes about it, that means when it comes to atheists, "they" are assholes. Some Christians are willfully ignorant, fundie jerks, therefore when it comes to Christians, "they" are fundamentalist jerks. I have a friend who regards the customer service of a company as "they," as in the entire company. He'll say "I don't understand why people knock Wal-Mart! They're a good company! I've never had any problems with them!," and then when I point out all the exploitation, etc. that goes on in the name of Wal-Mart, he sort of goes "Oh...Uhhh...Um, yeah, well...uh...they're a good company, I guess...uh...well, gee, I guess they shouldn't be exploiting workers, but...the customer service is good, so they're a good company, but...uh..." and he just sort of waffles but doesn't really ever get around to realizing that maybe "they" is a little broad. I have another friend who works for the federal government, and because of the "lazy government worker" stereotype, some people act towards him as though he's some kind of pampered prince. He's not, and I could go on and on about how generous and helpful and bright he is, but that doesn't matter to some because he's a government worker and we know all about "them." I myself consider myself basically anarchist, so we all know I'm probably right this minute wearing all black and sitting in a basement somewhere making bombs (except that I'm not). So, now let's get to "nerds."

"Nerds" are not a monolithic group. There are anarchist nerds, government nerds, atheist nerds, Christian nerds, black nerds, white nerds, violent nerds, pacifist nerds, somewhere-in-between nerds, asshole nerds and nice nerds...Christ, I'm starting to sound like freaking Doctor Seuss. My point is that there isn't a Council of Nerds somewhere that sets the Nerd Agenda and decides what "these nerds" will and will not do. We're humans just like anyone else. I like to study abstract math and programming and boring crap like that because I just find it fascinating, and I'm learning to make electronic music precisely because I care about the common good and would like to find an outlet to express that both artistically and technically, if I can. However, I'm not holding myself up as Representative of the Nerd Community either, because I understand that there is no "they," in the sense of a group that makes decisions in lockstep.

If you look at movements like Open Source Ecology, the post-scarcity thinkers, the Public Library of Science, and a ton of other stuff I'm probably forgetting, you'll see that there are nerds that at least care and are trying to make life a bit more accessible for everyone. Are any of these feasible, and will they produce meaningful results? That's a different discussion...but I do think it's clear that the compassion is there in more nerds than one might assume.

 

I think we all know what particular mindset we're talking about here. No one is pointing a fingure at those that actually care about and love this world and other people.

No one would be against a moderate and a responsibly gentle approach to invention and research. But these arogant gits just plow ahead never stoping to consider or care about the consequences.

A simple shift in paradigm where these *nerds* stop asking if the question of "Could we" and start asking "Should we." Would make this world a much better place to live.

As it now stands we're dancing on the brink of our own demise because of the perverse creations these *nerds* sending upon the planet.

 

Ah, but here's the problem. When someone says "Thanks very much, nerds" for a piece of horrid tech like the drones that were the original topic, that's like saying "Thank you very much, construction workers, for our urban sprawl and traffic nightmares." Are the sprawl and the traffic Very Bad Things that need to end, now? Yes. Does that mean that construction workers have some evil plot or that most of them are just a bunch of uncaring thugs? No.

The shift in paradigm needs to happen for everybody, and that includes realizing that when we just willy-nilly say "these X are responsible for the bad in the world," that's an awfully broad brush to paint with. It's a lot easier to hate a big group of X (nerds, Christians, Muslims, Americans, Chechens, clowns...whatever we can name) than an individual member who may or may not fit the perceived stereotype. If I, as a "nerd" (and therefore, by definition, a member of "these nerds") ever gave the impression that I would condone, intentionally assist, or otherwise support those damned little mini-drones being used to strip away more of our freedoms, I am deeply sorry, and I mean that. I'm also deeply sorry if I ever gave the impression that all I want to do is seek power, because all I really want to do is live, love, and create. When you say "these nerds" without qualification, you are also talking about the one who goes by the handle QuietPerson here, just as if someone talked about "these X" where X is a group to which you may belong, they are talking about you too whether intentionally or not, and that can hurt you as well. I have also seen, in the US where I live, a whole lot of anti-critical-thinking, anti-questioning rhetoric directed against "nerds"--some of whom actually are asking the "should we" questions, precisely to stop "them evil nerds" from asking the "should we" questions. This trend scares the crap out of me, and is part of the reason I'm considering leaving the US at some point.

In other words, yes, we can blame entire groups of people...but should we? Isn't that exactly the sort of thing the people who do want to use those drones for control do

 

We can either argue over a definition or we can do something about what's happening.

And we do have to hold those responsible for making and empowering(buying) these perverse creations. To do that it requires laying the blame where it belongs.

 

But words do matter. Someone could accuse "Muslims" of being responsible for acts of terror, and then claim anyone who says otherwise is "arguing over a definition." It does matter at whom and why the finger points...and in the specific case we're discussing, it would have to be a rather large finger because it points at all perpetrators of violence and ferarmongering--and there's plenty of both high-tech and low-tech examples of that.

 

quoting because it applies.....

I am also waiting for you to reply to Inca's questions as well as mine, concerning your use of technology, even more laughable when you post about using webcams too make $$$$$$. LOL
Can you say HYPOCRITE ?

no it doesn't, quit being so melodramatic.

Again, your ideals are fine, but as I asked in the thread about raw milk,
HOW DO YOU PROPOSE TO ACTUALLY MAKE YOUR IDEALS WORK????

Fine when talking a small community with the means to produce enough food for it's members, but what about a city with 3 million people within 20 square miles?
You never addressed the question of logistics with our current population numbers and densities.

You radical hippies have all the bitches and complaints about evil government, but I have yet to see any economic systems such as you propose work on the scale the world needs it to.

Logistics are a bitch.:mickey:

 

If someone commits an act of terror they're terrorists.

Nerd is not a religion, a race, a sexual orientation, gender or even a species. It's a pejorative right from the get go. So in this discussion they cold just as easily be referred to as scum, techo pornograph, etc.

When someone perverts natural science; The things they create stop aiding humanity and starts controling and imposing suffering up us. Over time our young begins to adapt to these perverse inventions and our very humanity is lost. Case and point, look at many of the techno-addicted under 25 year old in america. Without a doubt they're narcisstic and incompetantly unskilled morons.

 

You really need to get an education.

 

Just curious - do you suggest that we do away with all of the advancements in medicine that come as a result of improved technology?

 

Before we start advancing medicine perhaps we should start advancing the way we care for people. What I do for a living is I'm a in home care provider. Most of the time that involves me bathing and watching over often very sick or old people.

I can not even imagine to tell you how far simply holding someone's head to your chest and caressing their face goes to making even terminally ill people want to live. And very often it actually makes them continue living.

I once had an old man tell me he just wished someone would put a plastic bag over his head and kill him. He was in so much pain and suffering that all he wanted was to die. Even his wife who wasn't sick had stopped living.

I was just kind and loving to him and to his wife. I can't say I extended his life but I know I made an impact on the quality of what life he had left. So much in fact that he found the strength to call to his wife and hold her in his arms as he passed away.

There are no pills, machines, chemicals or any form of technology that can ever take the place of simply just treating someone with dignity and love. And when you put any kind of so called technological advancement above dignity and love... That technology becomes a perversion and the people promoting that technology are nothing more than a type of pornographer.

 

Did anybody say there was or that we put technology above interpersonal interaction?
Those are YOUR assumptions about what "they" do or think and pretty much only exist in your mind.

Love the bit about the pornographer considering you said you used to do live sex cams to make $$$, classifying you as an actual pornographer.

:smilielol5:

 

Live sex cams? Man, I have been missing out on following this gold. :smilielol5:
I've come too late to this game.

 

I ain't making it up.......

Yup, using that evil technology to bait guys, get money from them, etc.

again for clarification;

hyp·o·crite
noun
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie her public statements.

 

That's all well and good, and I don't disagree that human contact and compassion go a long way, but unfortunately some diseases don't respond to compassion. Without modern medicine, chances are my hands would be pretty crippled and damaged 10 years from now. With modern medication (technology), I am able to slow the progression of the disease and live a fairly regular existence.

So I ask again, do you suggest that we do away with all of the advancements in medicine that come as a result of improved technology?

 

In debates over technological benefits, the pro tech side plays upon the belief that modern medicine has brought us amazing advances. Their arguement strives to back the anti-tech person into a proverbial corner, for who would say that modern technology has not enabled people to live longer.

• Saying that tech should be done away with; makes one a "backwards monster," willing to let people suffer for their personal agenda.

• Saying that this or that tech is ok, weakens the anti-tech argument and makes them look like hypocrites.

I will argue, modern medicine is more often than not, focused on prolonging life with little thought to the quality of that life.

If medicine stayed true to it's goals of alleviating suffering it would not pursue perverse technologies that seek to erradicate illness with toxicities or to prolong life at all costs. And in pursuing innovations that place the patient's needs and quality of life as a primary concern, such things as medically assisted suicide would be a humane and widely available reality.

Therefore if in your situation your life is being enriched because of the treatment you're receiving. Then it's safe to say there are still some good doctors out there.

 

Oh wow. The "pro-tech side." The "anti-tech side." Us Versus Them, Round Seventy-Nine Quadrillion! I don't know about anyone else, but as I think I said early on, my view of technology is broad enough that it's almost synonymous with any endeavor we make--including the compassionate ones. Technology is the application of knowledge. Wisdom, if you like. Including the wisdom I think you yourself have to offer. I also see all issues--not only medicine--as "health care" issues. We're not going to be particularly healthy if our food supply is messed up, our climate is going nuts, and our culture is violently dividing itself into Sides. I entered this with the knowledge that we're all just human beings behind these big chunks of text we show one another--humans who have our own experiences and our own perspectives, some of which I may agree or disagree with more or less than others as the case may be...but my only "side" is as this human being here who is no better nor worse than any other human being. I would think that someone in a position such as yourself would indeed empathize enough with people not to lump them all together into factions.

 

My doctor didn't great the medicine that helps me, he just prescribes it. Scientists made it, using technology.

So, I ask for a third time: do you suggest that we do away with all of the advancements in medicine that come as a result of improved technology?

A 'yes' or 'no' answer please, don't try and talk about the type of question I'm asking, or the benefits of showing compassion.

 

If you want an answer if there's still good people that care about others and work towards a more human world. The answer is yes. There are some people of good conscient in this world that govern their actions with diligence and care. And without a doubt their research and innovations reflect their compassionate morality.

But otherwise my response is that I don't play political catch-22 games.

The only other thing I will add is that if your doctor didn't take the time to research what medicine he was prescribing you. Then I would say you got lucky.

 

So I should be crippled so that you can live out your luddite fantasy?

 

http://truththeory.com/2013/02/13/elite-underground/