Digital age

[Spirit of Light]

Personally i do struggle to keep up in the digital technological world, Honestly i dont find a good use of all the new digital "helpers" that are in the world today.
Yes i do have a laptop and a cellphone. but life is not about digital gadget. i dont see a good place for human beings in the future.
The spiritual aspect of life get more and more hidden.

Why do we need all this digital "things"?
Are we more or less " advanced" then before?

 

[Dawnofhope]

Personally i do struggle to keep up in the digital technological world, Honestly i dont find a good use of all the new digital "helpers" that are in the world today.
Yes i do have a laptop and a cellphone. but life is not about digital gadget. i dont see a good place for human beings in the future.
The spiritual aspect of life get more and more hidden.

Why do we need all this digital "things"?
Are we more or less " advanced" then before?

If not for technology we wouldn't be having this conversation and this forum wouldn't exist.

We have ready access to libraries of knowledge in our homes.

I can work remotely from home as a medical advisor using online resources and accessing my company's server.

Digital technology seems very useful to me.

 

[Spirit of Light]

If not for technology we wouldn't be having this conversation and this forum wouldn't exist.

We have ready access to libraries of knowledge in our homes.

I can work remotely from home as a medical advisor using online resources and accessing my company's server.

Digital technology seems very useful to me.

Yes in some cases i agree it can help, but it does get to much of it, personally i liked it when it was pre computer because we had to think more for our self, and not rely on the digital system all the time.

 

[PureX]

Personally i do struggle to keep up in the digital technological world, Honestly i dont find a good use of all the new digital "helpers" that are in the world today.
Yes i do have a laptop and a cellphone. but life is not about digital gadget. i dont see a good place for human beings in the future.
The spiritual aspect of life get more and more hidden.

Why do we need all this digital "things"?
Are we more or less " advanced" then before?

We need them to distract us from the reality of our own enslavement. They provide us with the illusion of knowledge and freedom, while we keep working longer and harder for the profit of others just to maintain that illusion. Ego is a very powerful human motive and our overlords have learned how to play our egos against us.

 

[Spirit of Light]

We need them to distract us from the reality of our own enslavement. They provide us with the illusion of knowledge and freedom, while we keep working longer and harder for the profit of others just to maintain that illusion. Ego is a very powerful human motive and our overlords have learned how to play our egos against us.

Time we take back the control over our own life then

 

[Treks]

We need them to distract us from the reality of our own enslavement. They provide us with the illusion of knowledge and freedom, while we keep working longer and harder for the profit of others just to maintain that illusion. Ego is a very powerful human motive and our overlords have learned how to play our egos against us.

Do you think the others who profit from our enslavement are likewise enslaved?

 

[Polymath257]

Personally i do struggle to keep up in the digital technological world, Honestly i dont find a good use of all the new digital "helpers" that are in the world today.
Yes i do have a laptop and a cellphone. but life is not about digital gadget. i dont see a good place for human beings in the future.
The spiritual aspect of life get more and more hidden.

Why do we need all this digital "things"?
Are we more or less " advanced" then before?

And when printing was invented, people lamented the changes that would ensue. To some extent they were right: printing did change a lot.

I like the fact that I don't have to go to a library to search in an outdated encyclopedia for information.

I like the fact that I can carry my personal library of thousands of books along with me wherever I go.

I like the fact that I don't have to be near a landline telephone to be able to talk with my loved ones.

I like the fact that my music collection is available to me at any time and wherever I am.

I like the fact that I can quickly and easily buy an airplane ticket, a hotel room, a ticket to a play, etc and at the last minute (if I have to).

I like the fact that I can have discussions with people around the world with close to immediate interchange.

Yes, I see all of these as advances.

Are there other aspects that I *don't* like? Very much so. But I also get to choose which services I want and which I do not.

 

[Jumi]

I think a lot of things are huge wastes of time, but if we consider what other ways people could waste their time with instead of posting cute cat videos on the internet we find that much of it is actually comparatively positive.

What would I do with the time I spend on RF were there no computers? Probably read more books. Would it be a waste? Don't know, but books don't argue back if we disagree with them and our "witty responses" to them go unanswered and we may even think we're some kind of g* d* genius without having to care for reality checks.

 

[Vinayaka]

Are there other aspects that I *don't* like? Very much so. But I also get to choose which services I want and which I do not.

Making wise choices is key. Problem is some people seem unable to do that. I remember the 'controlled by the bell' (time clocks) jobs I had as a youngster, and comparing that to the freedom of working on the family farm. One was robotic. The people would start lining up at the clock around 4:15 to punch out at exactly 4:30. The farmer, OTOH, had freedom to stop and start whenever.

So ultimately it's whether you control the technology, or the technology controls you.

 

[VoidCat]

I don't really need digital technology to be happy but I can't really make friends offline too well. It's easier for me to make them online. I will say that at one point digital technology helped saved my life. My best friend lives in Iran his name is Arya/Aria(his name is originally Farsi so it could be spelled either way in English). He used to be my only friend and only form of a support system. I was suicidal at one point for various reasons and one day I logged in to say goodbye. I could not bring myself to. I did not want to cause him harm. I sent a message but did not tell him what I was planning or anything really the message was confusing and showed just how my mind was at the time. He knew through that in the past I expressed some suicidal tendencies. Then later that day I was struggling. My aunt and I got into a fight and when she left to go visit my grandma I was home alone. I was going to kill myself. But I kept thinking about Arya and how I could not tell him goodbye. How could I leave him wondering where I went? how could I allow him to find out about my death later when my sister decides to message him like I asked her to in my note? How could I leave that responsibility to my sister? And I kept thinking about the things he said to me. How he cared about me and how he wanted me to get help. So I did not kill myself. I did as Aria suggested and got help. I could tell you for some digital technology is a good thing. I can tell you that for some it can be harmful. But it is a tool just like anything else and can be used for both. It was through technology I found forums and people I could relate with and be myself around. But it was also through technology that I found ways to self-harm without anyone noticing. So it is not technology that is harmful or not it's the person and how they use it. We don't really need it per se but it can be useful. And as for are we more advance or not? In some ways we are and some ways we are not. For one wearing shoes has caused us have feet that is less tough as our ancestors. But shoes help protect our feet. With every advancement of human technology digital or not there is usually a trade off.

 

[VoidCat]

Making wise choices is key.

This is the truest thing you could say about anything. Digital technology or not.

 

[Quintessence]

The issue is less with what we use than how we use it. History has borne out humans being irresponsible stewards of technology, for better and for worse. The burden, then, is to utilize technology appropriately.

Perhaps the biggest way to do that today is to avoid major social networks like the plague. To be clear, I never jumped on board that particular bandwagon for a variety of reasons... one of which is that I saw where it was heading. There was an opinion piece published in the New York Times yesterday that gets at some of what the problem with these networks are:

"... every day the media’s favorite social network tugs journalists deeper into the rip currents of tribal melodrama, short-circuiting our better instincts in favor of mob- and bot-driven groupthink.

...

[Twitter] is the epicenter of a nonstop information war, an almost comically undermanaged gladiatorial arena where activists and disinformation artists and politicians and marketers gather to target and influence the wider media world."
Opinion | Never Tweet​

This piece was about the damage these media have done to journalism, but it applies to the usage of these platforms in general. We live in the information age, and nothing is more damaging to such an age than poor management of information. Humans are not fundamentally rational creatures - "short-circuiting our better instincts" is our default (that is, we don't have these rational "better instincts" by default in the first place). It's not a simple matter of making "wise choices" because of that. Cutting it out of your life entirely is the better call. When you do that, and then take a few sideways glances at these platforms, you'll likely wonder why anyone would ever use them. I do, anyway.

 

[Earthling]

Personally i do struggle to keep up in the digital technological world, Honestly i dont find a good use of all the new digital "helpers" that are in the world today.

I don't understand why you would struggle to keep up if you don't find a good use, you say of all new digital "helpers" in the world. It should be simple for you. Don't make use of the ones you don't find helpful.

Yes i do have a laptop and a cellphone. but life is not about digital gadget. i dont see a good place for human beings in the future.
The spiritual aspect of life get more and more hidden.

It seems to me to be the exact opposite. The spiritual aspect of life is more easily accessed. Perhaps what you see as a bad place for human beings in the future is more related to your fear and uncertainty for change. Or your inability or preference not to let go of the modes of operation. This surprises me coming from a Buddhist. However, I don't see why you couldn't hold on to the traditional while the modern continues on it's path. Of course sometimes the past is a place where you stand alone, while the majority move forward. Sometimes that is unfortunate to some degree, but then again, it comes down to letting go.

Why do we need all this digital "things"?

I don't think that we do in any absolute sense, but that could certainly change. A great deal of the things that science and technology bring us are extremely beneficial, especially in the medical field, and I certainly hope that continues.

Are we more or less " advanced" then before?

Both, I think. Well, in a manner of speaking. Advancement isn't necessarily positive for everyone or everything and so I think that what we need to be far more careful and industrious about is the total dependence upon those things and the preserving of the past in some measure so as not to abandon good aspects of it or historical significance.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Why do we need all this digital "things"?
Are we more or less " advanced" then before?

I have few ideas about some of the important inventions which rely upon it.

1. Public key encryption. This allows two people of any rank to securely communicate. Its not easy. It is a little complicated to set up, but you can do it.

2. Finite element analysis. This allows modeling of the weather, so meteorologists can tell you what the weather will be for the next few days instead of only guessing. It relies upon computing, and it saves lives and crops.

3. 3D modeling, CNC and 3D printing. This relies upon computing, and it has the potential to move manufacturing back to families. Family based industries were very much disrupted by the industrial revolution and assembly line. Digital tech has the potential to correct this imbalance of the natural human order.

4. City planning and modeling. Cities can be designed instead of patched together. This can be used for good or evil, but its a good tool. You can make a city that is more pleasant.

5. Traffic and transportation control. This is the key to lowering costs, helping more people live and work together without getting in each other's ways. It uses computer modeling in tandem with city planning and active detection of vehicle traffic which is processed digitally and used to maximize flow. Less time spent in traffic jams equals happier people.

6. Smart phone apps. My favorite app is called Math Tricks, and over the last year it has helped me to improve my arithmetic skills. Its a Math game written by a Russian business ([email protected]) thousands of miles away. I was able to install this instantaneously for a small fee. My financial transaction was secured through digital encryption technology, so my financial details were protected during the transaction. Electronic reviews and tests for viruses allowed me to measure the risk of installing the program onto my smart phone. The risk was low, and I accepted it, installed the app and then benefited.

7. Medical devices. Electrodes monitor patients for heart problems, neuological patterns etc. Magnetic Resonance Imaging depends upon computational processing of complicated Laplace transformations which would take years by hand and slide rule. Robotic surgeons have turned very invasive surgeries into micro-surgeries, allowing many people to be treated and go home on the same day.

8. Cybernetic limbs. This a new technology is helping people who have lost hands and arms and allows them to have prosthesis that they control with muscle memory.

 

[Spirit of Light]

I don't understand why you would struggle to keep up if you don't find a good use, you say of all new digital "helpers" in the world. It should be simple for you. Don't make use of the ones you don't find helpful.



It seems to me to be the exact opposite. The spiritual aspect of life is more easily accessed. Perhaps what you see as a bad place for human beings in the future is more related to your fear and uncertainty for change. Or your inability or preference not to let go of the modes of operation. This surprises me coming from a Buddhist. However, I don't see why you couldn't hold on to the traditional while the modern continues on it's path. Of course sometimes the past is a place where you stand alone, while the majority move forward. Sometimes that is unfortunate to some degree, but then again, it comes down to letting go.



I don't think that we do in any absolute sense, but that could certainly change. A great deal of the things that science and technology bring us are extremely beneficial, especially in the medical field, and I certainly hope that continues.



Both, I think. Well, in a manner of speaking. Advancement isn't necessarily positive for everyone or everything and so I think that what we need to be far more careful and industrious about is the total dependence upon those things and the preserving of the past in some measure so as not to abandon good aspects of it or historical significance.

I just dont feel comfortable with " have to use" digital systems almost for everything now, like bank, governments, travel. inusrance. I like it more when it was humans who helped in the offices and not only online offices.But i do live with it because that is what we have to day.

 

[VoidCat]

I just dont feel comfortable with " have to use" digital systems almost for everything now, like bank, governments, travel. inusrance. I like it more when it was humans who helped in the offices and not only online offices.But i do live with it because that is what we have to day.

I kinda do agree it is a bit excessive.

 

[Earthling]

I just dont feel comfortable with " have to use" digital systems almost for everything now, like bank, governments, travel. inusrance. I like it more when it was humans who helped in the offices and not only online offices.But i do live with it because that is what we have to day.

Yeah, that is an area where our dependence should be more balanced. It may be more efficient to the services but it's a nightmare for the patrons. That sort of thing should be more carefully implemented. While it's possible that those things are going to improve, in the meantime some measure of choice should be given to allow for those who don't want to fuss with it or for the older generation, just don't have the savvy. If it becomes such a nuisance that business will suffer that could change. That wouldn't be something entirely new or unheard of. Sometimes people flat out reject new technology.

 

[PureX]

Time we take back the control over our own life then

One would think, but we won't address a problem that we can't acknowledge ourselves facing. Our egos are telling us we're still in control and we've still got it so good. And we believe this because the alternative is frightening and humiliating to us. So we play with our gizmos and pretend all is well.

 

[PureX]

Do you think the others who profit from our enslavement are likewise enslaved?

Only by the demands of their own greed, which they could set aside at any time.