# Are we better off technology ?



## Zouz (May 28, 2014)

With all the complexity in life nowadays , where we brag about latest tech ; are we living in a better world ?

when I visit my village in mountain ;where I am building my new house ; 

I tend to think that one day ; money will not buy you food, nor water nor air ; 
it is a pessimistic picture that is pushing me to have a green house , where I depend on rain , on my land , and peace of mind without a 65" ultra HD TV...


----------



## Jellybeans (Mar 8, 2011)

Yes and no. 

There's a lot of instant gratification involved with technology. Lots of not doing the face-to-face thing and kids seem more interested in being on their phone than outisde physical activity.

Yet there is a lot of knowledge at our fingertips now. And connecting with people so quickly (in one day you can talk business/family/friends with people all over the world). Shopping and tv-watching and pretty much everything is pretty awesome now.

I have been wondering for awhile now what the next big thing will be after Facebook. Eventually that's going to be a relic.


----------



## richardsharpe (Jul 8, 2014)

Good evening Zouz
Technology (like most things) has a wide variety of pluses and minuses. It lets you discuss interesting issues like this one with people all over the world - and it lets porn addicts rot in front of their computers.

It means that on a whim, I can visit old friends who live thousands of miles away. It means that deadly diseases can spread around the world.

It lets you contact loved-ones any time of the day or night - and lets people be watched and spied-on.

I agree that society is very fragile - and that things could all come crashing down around us. Still, really living without technology is extremely difficult. Its easy to pretend, but solar cells, windmills, cars, etc all have lots of high-tech parts. You would be restricting yourself to a very much lower standard of living than is possible in the modern 1st world.


----------



## Jellybeans (Mar 8, 2011)

If it weren't for tech, we wouldn't have this forum to discuss it.


----------



## Married but Happy (Aug 13, 2013)

Zouz said:


> I tend to think that one day ; money will not buy you food, nor water nor air


You may be right. However, while I don't want to burst your bubble, if things get that bad there will be a lot of desperate people who will want what you are building - and won't hesitate to take it. Unless your whole village shares your attitude and is armed to the teeth, perhaps - but usually there's someone who has more and bigger weapons and the will to use them.

So I guess I'll just enjoy and use whatever technology makes my life better (including communications, medical technology, and financial opportunities) while I can.

BTW, you could even lose it all legally to your wife if you or she decides to divorce.


----------



## Zouz (May 28, 2014)

As a first step , I wiped my FB account last month .

In my knew house there will be no internet ; only a TV with few options ; and just a lanline tel with that old black handset ...

If I disappear from TAM one Day , You will know where to find me


----------



## Jellybeans (Mar 8, 2011)

I could seriously not live without the internet in my home, in my phone, at work or anywhere else.


----------



## norajane (Feb 7, 2012)

It's not technology's fault! It's humans and the way they misuse technology that can be problematic, but technology itself is just a tool that can be used by humans for good or evil.


----------



## jorgegene (May 26, 2012)

technology has accelerated the rat race logarithmically.

it's not going away though.

Humans have an innate impulse to advance and nothing will stop it.
Logic has nothing to do with it necessarily.

would I want to live 800 years ago? No, but at the same time, I abhor the rat race. Even though I am a full card carrying member.

It's pretty hard to escape the rat race. Being aware of it is a start.


----------



## happy as a clam (Jan 5, 2014)

Jellybeans said:


> I could seriously not live *with internet* in my home, in my phone, at work or anywhere else.


With, or WITHOUT Ms. Beans? (Maybe that was a Freudian slip?)

:rofl:


----------



## Jellybeans (Mar 8, 2011)

Corrected!


----------



## Zouz (May 28, 2014)

Jelly u know then by now what should Xmas gift for him  apart from what all have suggested


----------



## Thundarr (Jul 4, 2012)

We're better but of course the infrastructure will eventually have a hiccup. Case in point, about 10 years back we had a nasty ice storm that knocked out my power for 5 days. It was a humbling withdraw.


----------



## Jellybeans (Mar 8, 2011)

Zouz said:


> Jelly u know then by now what should Xmas gift for him  apart from what all have suggested


For who?


----------



## Jellybeans (Mar 8, 2011)

Thundarr said:


> We're better but of course the infrastructure will eventually have a hiccup. Case in point, about 10 years back we had a nasty ice storm that knocked out my power for 5 days. It was a humbling withdraw.


It CAN be nice to disconnect.


----------



## Married but Happy (Aug 13, 2013)

Thundarr, your comment about power outages and recalling another recent thread makes me wonder what the battery life is for a sex bot. And can one keep you warm at night? I KNOW my wife is delightfully exothermic, and have even told her so.


----------



## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

Zouz said:


> As a first step , I wiped my FB account last month .
> 
> In my knew house there will be no internet ; only a TV with few options ; and just a lanline tel with that old black handset ...
> 
> If I disappear from TAM one Day , You will know where to find me


Everything has plusses and minuses. Just take the best from it all and ignore the rest.

There will always be some kind of money going forward, whether it's actual coins and paper or something like bit coins. Money is nothing more and "coupons" with a value used in exchange of goods and services.

You might find it very hard to not have internet because the world depends on it now. For example my doctors communicate using email quite a bit. I now get test reports, prescriptions, etc. via email. I check my claim status with my health insurance on line, and communicate with them via email.

I had some medical tests recently. The tests are impossible without technology and a computer network.

I'm buying a house, again it's all being done via the internet, and email. I even found the house on Zillow. Zillow saved me hours of driving around to find a house I wanted.

Things like Facebook are nothing but noise. I hate facebook and only keep an account to quickly PM people once in a blue moon when I really need to get in touch with them. Email works. But a few people only seem to have facebook. And it's not what technology is about.

A phone, even a land line phone is technology. It only works now because there are huge computers and networks connecting you.

Will you have a car? Unless it's decades old... it depends on computer technology.

My bet is that you will give in and have internet connection. Now maybe you will use it for fewer things out of choice, but you will need it.


What does your wife thing of you being a dooms day survivalist/


----------



## meson (May 19, 2011)

Zouz said:


> With all the complexity in life nowadays , where we brag about latest tech ; are we living in a better world ?
> 
> when I visit my village in mountain ;where I am building my new house ;
> 
> ...


Technology is not just electronic technology. Every tool and procedure we use is technology. The only difference is that we are riding on a different front of technology than in the past. Are we better off? I think we are marginally better off as a people. Per capita mortality due to war and petulance is lower than ever before. We have the higher ability to feed than ever before with growing yields per acre of land. We still have war, petulance and famine certainly but the effects are being reduced per capita over time due to technology.

When you retreat onto your land what will you use to plant your crops? Your hands? I think not. Even if you use a shovel as a till you are using technology. We take for granted that something like a plow is the results of thousands of years of evolution of technological advances. 

Perhaps you only mean the Internet and social media? Or the preoccupation with third party entertainment trough a network and computers. Well without them we would not have known about the ideas of Stephen Hawking who now can only really communicate through computer technology. Likewise computer technology enables us to learn about ISIS and other groups whose ideas we may not embrace. The fact is technology is not good or bad it is merely a reflection of the good and bad in ourselves. 

I make my living with computer and network technology being a cloud engineer for a magic quadrant cloud company so of course you would expect me to defend it. However one of my favorite places to go is Seneca Rocks in West Virginia. It is within the national quiet zone of reduced and controlled radio emissions. Cell service is limited and I camp and climb and enjoy spending time outside in nature with friends and family. I enjoy being off the grid as much as I use it otherwise. Despite being a cloud engineer I am off the grid for a weekend or more at least every month. I get off on Earth porn.

It is really not about technology but about our priorities. If we make it a priority to interact directly with others and contribute we advance as individuals and as a society.


----------



## Duguesclin (Jan 18, 2014)

My grandpa was diagnosed with leukemia almost 50 years ago and lasted barely 2 months. My son was diagnosed with it 5 years ago and is still alive.

When my grandma was a little girl, she did not eat every day but worked everyday. My mom did not suffer hunger but had to work in the fields starting at 5 years old, like cleaning beet fields by hand before going to school. I starting working in the fields at 11 years old using a 50HP tractor and a plow. Now my kids ride for fun in the 200HP tractor when they visit my farmer cousins.

We are far better off with technology, no question.


----------



## john117 (May 20, 2013)

I have spent three decades in high tech, including 16 as a user experience designer. Let's say I live and breathe high tech. I have more krap on my desk than a Best Buy...

We can live without the stuff if we try.

We need the stuff because.....

We have lost the desire to enjoy the little things in life. We have lost proportion. Scale. Everything has to be like a freaking wedding. Perfect.

So we escape into consumerism and gorge ourselves with gadgets, each gadget having a limited shelf life till the NEXT freaking gadget.

In three weeks I'm sending my latest bundle of joy to the Las Vegas CES. As I have done every year since 2001. More meaningless gadgets because we have lost the ability to be entertained by a book, a cat, or music...

So if you want a toaster oven with HDMI inputs stop by our booth .


----------



## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

While it can be said that we have lost the desire to enjoy the little things in life... up until not too many years ago, the average person worked hard from sunup to sundown. There was not all that much time and energy to enjoy the little things. Each family had to produce it's own food, home, energy (firewood).

Our lives are easier. We live longer lives. 

Most people are still entertained by books, pets, music.. the gadgets just add to life if a person take heed to balance how they spend their time.

These "gagets" mean that I can work more efficiently, make fewer mistakes that escape. It means I can work from home at least half the week. They mean that I can collaborate with a team made up of people from all over the world. 

I would spend the same number of hours working without the gadgets. But I'd get a lot less done.


----------



## Thundarr (Jul 4, 2012)

EleGirl said:


> I would spend the same number of hours working without the gadgets. But I'd get a lot less done.


This is my experience as well. When I was young, computers were around but not utilized very well. Programmers thought they were some kind of gift to the rest of us. So position after position, I seemingly automated (programmed) myself into be obsolete yet there was always a better, more respected, and higher paying place to go though once my original job didn't require full time effort.

When dealing with manufacturing processes and can say without a doubt that programs I wrote were more consistent than me or my calculator because they did the same thing every single time.

I suppose without Y2K busting the income ceiling out of the roof, I'd still be writing or managing software to automate tedious tasks where I originally cut my teeth and learned to write code.


----------



## Zouz (May 28, 2014)

Jellybeans said:


> For who?


for you partner if you have one ;

otherwise for yourself


----------



## Zouz (May 28, 2014)

Well , Since i am getting so many posts ; I believe it is not a silly topic .

In my country (lebanon ) cities are quite ok ; while remote areas are still looking like the 1950s...

We have power outage daily around 12 hours nowadays ; accordingly I am currently generating power from solar and wind energy. heating also domestic water ...

The only thing that is still not working is fridge ; My dream is to design a fridge that works on Solar power without the use of Batteries !

Water is plenty ; also extra being reserved from rain .
The design was simple but innovative ...

So the target is more toward self sufficiency rather than no tech ...
and Yes , the car I use there is a BMW 1989 .

Also the cost of maintenance and services is going down to less than 300$ per year ! While I pay thousands in the city .


I am not Bipolar 
but I have a different life in City , latest tech , car , home automation , 5 Ipads at home , 4 computers etc ...

The thing I like nowadays is that I go long week ends to my village ( 40miles from city) and spend it disconnected from everything , not from people because I am sociable ; but majority around sleep early :85 yrs ++


My target is to relocate to village upon retirement , playing cards and Backamon with ppl who never used internet before ; Currently my partner is a 93 old guy 

I adore listening to him...

Social life there is magnificiant ,when I was building my home ; people came from around the neighborhood bringing food and wine as an expression of love and ties ; It is the opposite of my wife 's village where everytime you go there you would run away because you have to agree about all their political and irrational opinions .

Maybe the beautifull mix of my village having a mosk , church and a sawmaa for druze is what makes it pleasant ; during lebanese civil war , Moe only fought with Joe when Joe sold him a bad bottle of wine ...

Last week I found piles of wood in front of my door ,The first impression would be that someone is throwing garbage by the door...

the note left by neighbor said :

" sorry we didn't have time to cut the wood properly and arrange them for you to use it for the new Chimney , but we have extra wood this year and thought you could use it ...".

So yes a sweet potato , near the chimney , with my kids and Wife ( if she wakes up); and a bottle of wine will be enough to bring my contentment...



So the question now would be , where would you like your retirement be :

-in a city with the most advanced tec , eating sushi and fancy food ? getting served by high tech ?

- or in a village eating sweet potato near the Chimney ?


----------



## Thundarr (Jul 4, 2012)

Zouz said:


> So the question now would be , where would you like your retirement be :
> 
> -in a city with the most advanced tec , eating sushi and fancy food ? getting served by high tech ?
> 
> - or in a village eating sweet potato near the Chimney ?


Firstly, it's awesome you can see the best (or worst) of both worlds.

I want my retirement destination to be either on or at the foot of a mountain so I can take daily hikes and stay around a extra years.


----------



## Fozzy (Jul 20, 2013)

I think technology gives us the potential to lead happier, more productive lives. It's up to us as people to be smart enough to figure out how to apply it the right way. If we don't, we end up with 16 hour work days in front of a computer, instead of 10 hour days in the sunshine.

Does anyone remember The Jetsons? Back in the 1960's everyone assumed that by the time computers became commonplace we'd all be like George Jetson--complaining about our 2-hour work days putting a cramp in our button-pushing finger. The reality is that with the potential for increased productivity came the expectation of even GREATER productivity, but with less employment. So now you have the option of busting your hump for 16 hours a day, or get fired and replaced with someone else who will.


----------

